Democratic state Rep. Michele Grim will face off against Republican Wendi Hendricks, a small-business owner from Ottawa Hills, in a race voters in Ohio’s 43rd House District have seen before.
The two candidates ran against each other in 2022, with Ms. Grim coming out on top.
In the past two years, Ms. Grim has served as the only member from Lucas County on the finance committee, where she helped secure funding for the Northwest Ohio Glass Innovation Hub and the Ohio Maritime Assistant Program. She also helped pass the largest infrastructure investment in the bipartisan transportation budget, as well as the bipartisan capital budget.
“We got $48.5 million dollars for Lucas County, which is the largest that we’ve had in a long time,” Ms. Grim said.
While Ms. Grim has been busy in the statehouse, Ms. Hendricks has been busy running her own talent agency, Starbound Models and Talent. Through her business, she’s talked with local residents in the district about their concerns.
“Our whole job is to bring our constituents' voices to Columbus,” she said. “It’s not Wendi’s voice, it’s not what Wendi wants. That’s not what this job is about at all. It’s about the personality and the complexities of everyone that’s living in my district knowing what the majority is asking for.”
While she’s been door knocking, she said the most common concern people have is safety. She is endorsed by the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association and the Toledo Police Command Officers Association. She said if elected, she will work to organize programs that encourage people to enter into the field of law enforcement, secure funding for local police departments, and support qualified immunity, which protects officers from being sued in civil situations.
“If you don’t have safety, there’s no other issues that matter,” Ms. Hendricks said.
But Ms. Hendricks does have other issues she’s focusing her campaign on. In addition to safety, she’s concerned about helping small businesses in the community, bringing businesses to the Toledo area, and working to increase transparency in schools between teachers and parents.
“All of a sudden we can’t talk to parents about what’s going on with their child, and I think that’s absurd, and I will push hard to get rid of that stigma,” Ms. Hendricks said. “And [create] a law that says that the teachers and principals do need to communicate with the parents.”
Ohio Revised Code requires the board of education in each school district to adopt a policy on the level of parental involvement in the schools of the district, which includes communication between the parents and teachers.
But Ms. Grim is hoping her time isn’t done in the statehouse. If elected in November, she said her focus will be on increasing funding for local public schools and championing for infrastructure and economic dollars. She said she also wants to work with members of both parties to get property tax relief for Ohio residents, crack down on junk fees, and lower the cost of insulin in the state.
Last year, Ms. Grim was a staunch advocate for passing the state’s ballot initiative that protected one’s right to carry out reproductive decisions in the state’s constitution. She also worked with both parties to fund violence shelters and rape crisis centers and the right to know the status of a rape kit. If elected, she hopes to continue her work to protect reproductive rights in Ohio.
“Even though reproductive rights was enshrined in the constitution last year, we still have a number of TRAP laws … it’s basically laws that make it more difficult to obtain an abortion in states,” Ms. Grim said.
TRAP laws, or targeted restriction on abortion providers, regulate abortion providers and women’s health clinics. Ms. Grim pointed to the state’s 24-hour waiting period, which was temporarily blocked by a Franklin County judge. Before it was blocked, patients had to make two in-person clinic visits 24 hours apart to receive state-mandated information before continuing with the procedure.
She is endorsed by multiple labor unions, including the Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Education Association, Ohio Nurses Association, and the United Auto Workers.
Originally from Ashland, Ohio, Ms. Grim moved to the area to attend the University of Toledo in 2001. She and her husband left the area but then came back during the pandemic. She decided to run for Toledo City Council, where she served from 2022 until she was sworn into the statehouse in 2023. She said her time serving the city prepared her for the statehouse.
“The legislature is much larger than city council. … I know that Toledo City Council is mostly Democrats, but I was able to work with my colleagues on city council to get some things done like medical debt relief,” Ms. Grim said. “So working with colleagues on different pieces of legislation to working with community partners on how to better Toledo really prepared me well for the statehouse.”
Ms. Hendricks has lived in the Toledo area her whole life, and she thinks her experience of running her own business will give her a unique perspective in the statehouse.
“I know how to listen to people,” she said. “I know how to take their information and decipher what they’re saying and what they want to do because that’s what I have to do with my job, and I’ve been doing that very well for many years.”
Ms. Grim said she always considered working in politics, but Ms. Hendricks said it was never a career path she thought she would pursue.
Ohio’s 43rd District covers parts of West, South, and North Toledo, Ottawa Hills, and parts of Washington and Sylvania townships in Lucas County.
Candidates at a glance:
MICHELE GRIM
Age: 42
Residence: Toledo
Party: Democratic
Current office: State representative, House District 43 (2023-present)
Prior office: Toledo city councilman at-large (2022-2023)
Education: Bachelor’s in women’s and gender studies, University of Toledo; Master of public health, University of Toledo; Doctor of law and policy, Northeastern University
Website: michelegrim.com
WENDI HENDRICKS
Age: 62
Residence: Ottawa Hills
Party: Republican
Website: wendihendricks.us
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