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Wes Goodman
Wesley A. "Wes" Goodman is a former Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 87 from 2016 to 2017. Goodman resigned on November 14, 2017, after accusations that he engaged in inappropriate behavior in his office with a person not employed by the legislature. The interaction was described as consensual.[1]
Biography
Goodman graduated from Cardington-Lincoln High School in 2002 and Ohio Wesleyan University in 2006. He worked on the congressional campaign of Jim Jordan from 2007-2013 and is now managing director for Conservative Action Project and the owner of Goodman Strategies, LLC.[2]
Organizations and affiliations
- National Rifle Association
- Buckeye Firearms Association
- Ohio Farm Bureau
- Voice of Hope Pregnancy Center
- Harding Area Young Republicans
- Morrow County Young Professionals
- Sons of the American Legion
- Forge Leadership Network[2]
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Ohio committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Federalism and Interstate Relations |
| • Higher Education and Workforce Development |
| • State and Local Government |
| • Ways and Means |
Campaign themes
2016
Goodman issued the following statement regarding his bid for office:
| “ | As I have traveled our district, knocking on over 5,000 doors, I have heard a common theme. Government does not seem to be on our side anymore. It does not seem like the people we elect listen to us and advance an agenda that matters to us. No one is willing to stand up and fight for the conservative values and principles we care about.
I am a conservative because I believe the greatness of our nation is found in the goodness of our people, the power of our ideas, and the strength of our communities. I believe that too often today, government is stifling that greatness and that we need new conservative leadership to restore our optimistic spirit and reignite the promise of the American Dream for all Americans. For most of the last decade I have dedicated my career to being an effective conservative in and around legislatures. I know the tough work ahead. That is why I have identified two major priorities that I believe we must tackle to make sure that all Ohioans have the best shot at freedom, prosperity, and virtue. First, we must use our authority as a state to stand up to an out-of-control Washington that far too often steps outside the bounds of the Constitution. The Founders intended the states to be the first line of defense to secure the freedom of their citizens and ensure that government remained as close to the people as possible. I believe that we create more opportunity for our citizens by taking power out of Washington and putting it back into the hands of the people. Second, our state must continue to focus on becoming more economically competitive. We need to trim the state budget to produce savings for taxpayers and eliminate the state income tax so families can keep more of what they earn and spend it how they want. We need to make regulations more affordable and predictable. We need to invest in an energy future that lowers costs for Ohioans and creates jobs. We need to support health care choices, quality, and affordability by ending Obamacare, and we need to invest in our children by giving parents, families, and communities the education choices they deserve. [3] |
” |
| —Wes Goodman, [2] | ||
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Ohio House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 15, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 16, 2015. Incumbent Jeffrey McClain (R) resigned from the state House on October 2, 2016.
Wes Goodman ran unopposed in the Ohio House of Representatives District 87 general election.[4]
| Ohio House of Representatives, District 87 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Wes Goodman (unopposed) | |
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State | ||
Wes Goodman defeated Steve Reinhard and Tom Whiston in the Ohio House of Representatives District 87 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Ohio House of Representatives District 87, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Wes Goodman |
41.05% | 8,951 | |
| Republican | Steve Reinhard | 32.98% | 7,192 | |
| Republican | Tom Whiston | 25.97% | 5,663 | |
| Total Votes | 21,806 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Endorsements
2016
In 2016, Goodman's endorsements included the following:[7]
|
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Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Ohio scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31.
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2016, the 131st Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 5 through December 31.
|
Noteworthy events
Resignation following sexual misconduct allegations (2017)
On November 14, 2017, Goodman announced that he was resigning from office after the Columbus-Dispatch reported that the behavior involved consensual sexual activity with a man in Goodman's office.[8] House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger (R) said Goodman's resignation was due to "inappropriate behavior related to his state office."
On November 20, the Independent Journal Review reported that Goodman had been "accused by dozens of people of sexual misconduct." Among the accusations were that Goodman had made unsolicited sexually suggestive remarks to young men and that he fondled an 18-year old college student while he was sleeping.[9]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Wes Goodman Ohio House. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Ohio House of Representatives
- Ohio House of Representatives District 87
- Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Ohio State Legislature
External links
- Candidate list
- Ohio House of Representatives
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook account
- Twitter account
- Instagram account
Footnotes
- ↑ Metro News, "Ohio Rep. Wes Goodman resigns over 'inappropriate behavior'," November 15, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on February 23, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing By Office," accessed February 8, 2016
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "2016 Official Elections Results," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ Wes Goodman, "Endorsements," accessed March 7, 2016
- ↑ Fox News, "Wes Goodman, Ohio state rep, quits over reported 'inappropriate behavior' with male," November 17, 2017
- ↑ Independent Journal Review, "EXCLUSIVE: 30 Sources Expose Sexually Explicit Evidence of Harassment by Ohio GOP Rep. Wes Goodman," November 20, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Ohio House of Representatives, District 87 2016-2017 |
Succeeded by Riordan McClain (R) |
