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Three candidates running for Ohio's 14th District [Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio]
[October 22, 2014]

Three candidates running for Ohio's 14th District [Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio]


(Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 22--Ashtabula County residents will have a choice between an incumbent and two new faces when they vote for their congressman on Nov. 4.

Despite their political differences, all three candidates said they are mostly concerned with developing local economies and reducing spending in Washington.

David Joyce is the Republican incumbent U.S. representative for the Ohio 14th District. He is running against Democrat Michael Wager and Libertarian David Macko. Ohio's 14th District includes Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga, Cuyahoga, Trumbull and Summit counties.



Joyce, 57, is married to Kelly Joyce and they have three children, Trenton, Keighle and Bridey.

A Novelty resident, Joyce was born in Cleveland and is a 1976 graduate of West Geauga High School. He received a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Dayton, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton in 1982.


When first elected in 2012, Joyce pledged to bring jobs back to northeastern Ohio and fix the health care system. Joyce said people, not politicians, need to lead America's economic recovery. He said American economic independence must be re-established.

Joyce said with two of his children in college, and one who just graduated, he must live within a budget like most Americans.

Joyce was a Cuyahoga County Public Defender after receiving his law degree. He was appointed, then elected, as the Geauga County Prosecuting Attorney in 1988 and served there for 25 years. He said he worked to fight crime and develop the county on behalf of the people, not developers or the courts.

He received the Ohio State Women's Bar Association's "Family Friendly Workplace Award" for providing his employees a family-oriented office environment.

He currently serves on the House Committee on Appropriations. He said he wants to reduce the scope and size of government.

If re-elected, Joyce promised to create an environment that promotes job growth, stops wasteful spending, shrinks the national debt, preserves and protects the Great Lakes, has Washington operate on a budget and fixes the health care system.

Joyce said the nation's infrastructure must be rebuilt because infrastructure jobs can't be outsourced. He said Americans should be able to buy American products.

Believing wasteful spending should be curtailed, he introduced a bill to cut $200 million in government waste and duplication programs. As an Appropriations Committee member, Joyce said he worked to get Washington on a budget and reduce discretionary spending by $165 billion.

Joyce also wants to preserve and protect the Great Lakes. More than 1 million jobs generating $62 billion in wages are connected to the Great Lakes.

Democrat Michael Wager is a Moreland Hills resident, a lawyer and partner at Taft, Strettinnius & Hollister in Cleveland. He was a partner at Squire Patton Boggs LLP (formerly Squire Sanders & Dempsey) from 2005 to 2011.

Wager graduated from Beechwood High School in 1969 and attended New York University School of Law from 1979 to 1981, graduating with a Juris Doctor in Law. Wager graduated from Columbia University in 1976 with a Master's of Art degree in Political Science/ History. He also has a bachelor's degree in Political Science/Government from American University.

He's married to Peggy Gries Wager, and they have four children, Sarabeth, Samantha, Susie and Carrie.

Wager said he will bring experience to the office, having served as a board member of the Clean Ohio Council from 2008 to 2009, a board member of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority from 2002 to 2009 and its chair from 2008 to 2009. He was a board member of Gateway Economic Development Corporation of Greater Cleveland from 1998 to 2003.

Wager was a board member of a number of other civic organizations, including the Northeast Ohio Development Fund, the National Leadership Council at University Hospital Seldman Cancer Center, the Cuyahoga County Renewable Energy Task Force, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Gateway Foundation's Task Force on Economic Development, the Mayor's Convention Center Task Force, the White House Business Council and the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.

Wager said he is seeking office to advance a set of ideas, rather than to climb the political ladder. He said he believes many congressmen are unduly influenced by PAC money, which results in bad policy, like tax and expenditure giveaways to narrow special interests.

If elected, Wager promises to call on Congress to pass a national infrastructure investment program to repair or replace bridges, roads, ports, water and wastewater systems and telecommunications infrastructure and electricity transmission.

He also will attempt to raise the federal minimum wage, which he said will have a positive ripple effect on the economy.

He also would like to see tax reform and the elimination of loopholes that allow some employers to reincorporate in off-shore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. corporate income taxes.

He said he supports immigration reform and also hopes to strengthen Medicare, make prescription drugs more affordable and protect Social Security. He said he will advocate for gender equality and paycheck fairness. He believes wasteful perks for members of Congress and lobbyist loopholes should be eliminated.

Joyce and Wager are opposed by Libertarian Party candidate David Macko.

Macko graduated from John Adams High School in Cleveland in 1960, and earned a BA degree in History from Adelbert College in 1964. He served in the Army from 1966 to 1968.

Macko was an insurance agent and adjuster for Key Bank for 28 years before retiring in 2001. He has been a member of the Libertarian Party since 1988 and has held several positions in the party since then, including chairman of the Libertarian party of Cuyahoga County.

He is a Life Member of the John Birch Society, the Gun Owners of America, the Second Amendment Association, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms, the American Legion, the American Free Press Readership Council, the National Rifle Association, Veterans for Peace, Campaign for Liberty and the National Taxpayers Union. He is a life member of Archangel Michael Orthodox Church in Broadview Heights.

Macko is a member of various Tea Party groups. If elected, Macko said he would like to disengage the federal government from the lives of American citizens by eliminating welfare and many other government programs. He said he believes this will increase personal freedom and protect property rights.

___ (c)2014 the Star Beacon (Ashtabula, Ohio) Visit the Star Beacon (Ashtabula, Ohio) at www.starbeacon.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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