In episode 194, we sit down with Scott Charland and Laura Sirot, two Democrats challenging red Ohio Senate districts, to talk about the issues driving their campaigns and what success looks like to them.
Scott Charland is running for Ohio Senate District 19 which includes Delaware, Coshocton, Holmes, and Knox Counties. Scott received his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and his master’s degree in Education from the University of Alabama- Birmingham. Scott is a former national and state champion powerlifter and has been a strength and conditioning coach for over 25 years. He currently works in health care as a Manager of Human Performance.
Scott is running to make Ohio’s public schools stronger, to implement stronger protection of Ohio’s natural resources, and to enact strong working class economic policies. Scott believes that politicians have lost sight of who they should really be serving, the working class and underrepresented, and have instead focused almost entirely on helping the wealthy and large corporations.
Scott is active in the community and serves on the Orange Township Parks Advisory Committee and is an active volunteer for the Ohio Nature Conservancy, Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, Friends of the Lower Olentangy (FLOW) and the American Red Cross.
Scott and his wife Tonya have been married 25 years and have a son who attends Ohio State University and a daughter in the Olentangy School District.
Scott’s Resources:
Social Media:
Laura Sirot is running for State Senate in District 31 which includes Wooster, New Philadelphia and Zanesville, and parts of Massillon and Cambridge. She lives in Wooster, Ohio with her husband, Pete, and their two sons. She is a professor of Biology at The College of Wooster and has worked and lived in Wooster for the past 16 years. Her research mainly relates to understanding the reproductive biology of insect vectors of human pathogens and agricultural pests.
Laura is very involved in her local community in the areas of children and family services, sustainability, animal rescue, and science communication. She is co-founder and co-coordinator of the Wooster Science Café (now in its 14th year) which is a monthly forum for discussing science-related issues of public interest. She has been a foster parent for Wayne County Children Services and adopted a child through foster care. She continues to serve Wayne County Children Services as a Board member and through mentoring families and children. She has created programs for local animal rescue agencies, such as the K9 coach program where she trains students to work with recent adopters of dogs on common behavioral issues to decrease the number of returned dogs. She is very passionate about making Ohio and the world a safer place for current and future generations.
Laura’s Resources:
Social Media:
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This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:
