Jay Goyal seeks Ohio House seat

Jay Goyal of Mansfield, Ohio, and a life-long resident of Richland County, has announced his candidacy for the Ohio House of Representatives from the 73rd District as a Democrat.

The seat is held by Democratic Representative Bill Harnett, who retires in 2006 due to term limits.

In announcing his candidacy, Goyal, who turns 25 next month, declared that, 'Richland County and the state of Ohio must focus on the issues of economic development and education. We need to attract entrepreneurs, keep our youth from moving out of state and support our existing employers.'

Goyal is the vice president of a family-owned manufacturing business, Goyal Industries, that specializes in products for the mass transit and passenger rail car industry nationwide.

'Providing a solid job base and a superior educational system will ultimately enhance the lives and protect the future of all the citizens of Ohio,' he said, adding 'we must restore the integrity of our government by ending the culture of corruption that has taken hold in Columbus. The time has come to elect officials who are concerned about enriching the citizens of Ohio, not their friends and cronies.'

Goyal, born and raised in Mansfield, and whose parents are originally from Madhya Pradesh, told rediff-India Abroad that "the seat has been held by a Democrat ever since Congressman Sherrod Brown (one of the founding members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and a senior member of the House International Relations Committee) first won in when he was 22 years old -- almost 30 years ago.

"Sherrod has offered me his full support and has been very encouraging and his mother, Emily Brown, is on my campaign team."

Goyal also claimed he had the statewide Democratic Party network behind him. "I currently have the support of a former Richland County Democratic Party chair, the current Central Committee chair, who is also a former county chair, and a former president of the Mansfield City Council."

Also supporting him, he said, were young Indian American activists like former Cleveland City Law Director Subodh Chandra, who is running for state Attorney General, Varun Nikore, founder and president of the Indian American Leadership Initiative "who have all encouraged me to run and offered their support and promised to host some fundraisers on my behalf."

He said that besides IALI, which will host a fundraiser for him in Columbus, other leading Indian American entrepreneurs in Ohio like Raj Soin and Monte Ahuja had also promised to host fundraisers for him in cities like Dayton. "I'll have a fundraiser probably in every city in Ohio."

Goyal, who will face off against Republican Phil Holloway, acknowledged that although the 73rd District has been held by Democrats

for more than three decades, "the area is now becoming a Republican leaning district and on the Republican side."

However, Goyal said his first order of business will be to discourage any Democrat from throwing his/her hat into the ring and lead to a primary. If he can have a strong fundraising number by the end of this year, he said, there likely will not be anyone to challenge him.

"I will need to raise at least $200,000 to run a viable campaign," said Goyal, who has currently about $43,000 in the bank, with three more fundraisers to go before January 1.

"I have a detailed plan on how I intend to raise the money, which includes holding fundraisers within my local community and statewide and also potentially holding a couple of fundraisers out of state," he told rediff-India Abroad.

Goyal also urged Indian Americans from around the country to contribute to his campaign online at www.jaygoyal.com.

The 73rd District has a population of 110,000, with approximately 70,000 registered voters; and the largest metropolitan area is Mansfield with a population of 50,000. However, there are only about 200-250 Indian Americans in the district, according to Goyal's estimate, while African Americans make up approximately 12 percent of the populace.

Goyal, who served as county director for the Kerry for President Campaign, is chairman of the Richland County Democratic Party's Membership Enhancement Committee, co-founder of the Ohio Heartland Young Democrats, and in 2004, was named Richland County Democrat of the Year.

He also sits on the board of directors for the Rehabilitation Center of North Central Ohio, Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio, and the University and College Access Network. Goyal serves on the United Way's Allocations and Community Relations Committees, the Richland County Citizens' Vision Board and the Progress Industries Business Advisory Committee.

He is also active with the Mansfield Indian Association, the Ohio Marwari Association and the Mansfield-Richland Chamber of Commerce.

Goyal attended Lexington High School in Richland County, where he was elected class president for four years and went to college at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, from where he graduated with a BS in industrial engineering with a concentration in business management.

During his college years, he did internships at GM Corporation and the National Cooperative Business Association.

His father, Prakash, is the founder and president of Goyal Industries, and his mother, Kiran, is an investment adviser with KeyBank. Goyal's only sibling, a sister, Anjali, 27, lives in New York and works at a non-profit that promotes Asian American literature.