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Central Ohio farmer and business owner Joe Blystone is running for governor, joining the Republican primary challenge to Gov. Mike DeWine.
Blystone runs a farm, restaurant, and butcher shop in Canal Winchester. He says he experienced first-hand how the state's COVID-19 shutdown orders hurt businesses.
"We saw that our government here in Ohio decided that because of a pandemic, they could take our constitutional rights and throw them out the back door, and that's wrong," Blystone said.
He says Ohio needs a governor who can break the mold of "decades of bad policy."
"We're going to need somebody, an outsider to do that. Somebody who is not afraid to make hard decisions. And is not afraid to shake the system up," Blystone said.
Blystone is running on what he calls a "Constitutional Conservative" platform which includes expanding gun rights, restricting abortion, cutting the state budget, and setting restrictions on teaching about race and racism in Ohio schools.
He faces former Congressman Jim Renacci and Gov. Mike DeWine in the Republican primary.
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