Mike Turner (R), the current representative for Ohio’s third congressional district, will be challenged in the upcoming election by Sharen Neuhardt (D) in the first election involving the newly-drawn district 10. The winner of this election will serve as the representative in Washington for the Miami Valley, including Wright State. The new district 10 will include all of Greene, Fayette and Pickaway counties, as well as most of Montgomery and Fairfield counties. The new congressional map was passed in 2011 and will become effective after the upcoming election. Wright State is currently included in district seven, and represented by Steve Austria (R), who will be retiring after the current term. Incumbent Mike Turner has represented district three since 2003 and served as the mayor of Dayton from 1994 to 2002. He was raised in the Dayton area and serves as the Chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s parliamentary assembly. Challenger Sharen Neuhardt is also from the Dayton area and has served as an attorney for the firm Thomson Hine. She has also served on the general council for Lexis Nexis, a company that offers business software and solutions.
