Plummer announces Senate bid, setting up primary race between feuding lawmakers

Yahoo

15-07-2025

Jul. 15—State Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp., has announced he will run for the state Senate seat held by term-limited Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Troy.
This means Plummer will face off in the 2026 GOP primary against state Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, to represent the district covering all of Preble and Miami counties and parts of Butler, Montgomery and Darke.
Plummer is also term-limited in the House and cannot run for reelection. Creech, serving his third term in the Ohio House, opted for a Senate run instead of running for reelection in the House.
Creech announced his candidacy in early May, shortly after the Dayton Daily News requested comment from him regarding a previously unreported state criminal investigation that concluded with no charges.
Plummer spoke to state investigators in 2023 as part of the state probe, saying Creech made "appalling" comments about the sexual imposition allegations against Creech.
Creech told this outlet in May that he considered Plummer's cooperation to be politically motivated, though Plummer said he had not yet decided whether to run for Senate or some other office.
To state investigators, Plummer said there was a chance he'd run against Creech in 2026, but denied that his involvement in the state's investigation was politically motivated.
"I'm not doing this for political motivation. I'll beat him any day of the week," Plummer told state investigators. "He ain't even on my radar."
Plummer v. Creech
Creech, a farmer, started this year as chair of the House Agriculture Committee, though he was stripped of all his committee assignments by Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, shortly before the Dayton Daily News first reported on the state's criminal investigation.
In his candidacy announcement, Creech characterized himself as a "rock solid, America First conservative who will fight to bring our values to Columbus."
Creech also aligned himself with Ohio's leading Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. He vouched for ideas such as eliminating the state income tax, "putting an end to DEI," and creating an Ohio "Department of Government Efficiency," which Ramaswamy helped champion at the federal level.
Plummer, a longtime Montgomery County sheriff, aligned himself more directly with President Donald Trump and his supposed mandate to "restore America." Plummer said there was work to do on growing jobs, stabilizing the economy and alleviating property taxes.
"I'm running because results and integrity matter," Plummer said. "The citizens of the 5th Senate District deserve no less. Getting results, serving with integrity — that's what I have done throughout my career and that is how I will continue to lead in the state Senate."
Neither lawmaker, nor any other would-be candidate, have turned in the necessary forms to become an official candidate just yet, according to Montgomery County Board of Elections Director Jeff Rezabek. The filing deadline is 90 days before the May 5, 2026 primary.
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