All elections are important in their own way, and tend to have a unique narrative that reflects the times and the challenges faced. In Ohio in 2014, the story will center on the Republicans who were swept into office in 2010 and how they’ve performed.

Of course the entire Ohio House and half of the Ohio Senate were also up in 2012, but the state as well as the country were sidetracked with the presidential race. Next year will be solely about state government (with the exception of a couple interesting congressional races). The referendum will be headlined by the gubernatorial race, but considering both chambers of the Statehouse are controlled by the GOP, Ohioans will more generally decide whether they think Republicans are doing the right things for our state.

So here we are two months from the Feb. 5 candidate filing deadline for next year’s election. A lot of candidates have already declared though, particularly in open seats where contested primaries are common and campaigns have to start earlier. There are currently a total of 20 open seats in the House, and four in the Senate. That’s typically where the greatest opportunities exist for party turnover.

Over the next few days, I will introduce you to many of the candidates currently running for these open seats. The lineup of posts will look something like this:

Tuesday: Senate
Wednesday: House Republican-held
Thursday: House Democrat-held

There is nowhere else you can go to find this information in comprehensive fashion, and I hope you find it useful. I’m looking forward to guiding the chamber’s process of evaluating these candidates over the next few months and ultimately supporting those who will do the best to create a better business climate and foster economic freedom in the state of Ohio!