Thaddeus Claggett can trace his family history back more than 130 years in the low-rolling knolls of the Welsh Hills in Licking County.
The Republican representative for District 68 in the Ohio State House says his roots in his community run deep – in part because his family has lived on the same street in Newark for 130 years, and, in part, because of his commitment to serving the community.
That’s why the incumbent is running for a second term in the Ohio House of Representatives against Democrat Mike Smith.
“Everyone wants to be re-elected, but for those who don’t know me, my campaign wants a strong Licking County community,” he told The Reporting Project.
Claggett, 53, stressed the importance of voting in every election – not just when a presidential candidate is on the ballot – because local candidates focus on local issues.
“Federal affairs impact overarching issues in our country and county,” Claggett said, “but local [races] affect the nitty-gritty everyday life of our community members.”
Claggett was first elected in 2022, and was sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2023. Since then, he has co-sponsored several pieces of legislation that have been enacted in Ohio, including bills that excuse breast-feeding mothers from jury duty and increase penalties for fleeing police.
And because District 68 is home to Intel’s still-under-construction $28 billion computer-chip manufacturing plant, Claggett said he will focus on smart growth.
“Growth is good,” Claggett said, “but we have to manage that growth and consider how it will impact people’s trade and how to deal with it. The last thing we want is to make people’s lives more difficult. We need to focus on the processing and zoning of said growth.”
Claggett, who strongly opposes abortion and supports “individual freedoms,” has also supported legislation that would “prohibit discrimination” against those who declined a vaccine or pharmaceutical “for reasons of conscience, including religious convictions.”
And after Ohioans overwhelmingly voted in support of Ohio Issue 1 in 2023 – which added the right to abortion and protections for contraception to the Ohio constitution – Claggett was one of 27 signatories on a Nov. 8, 2023 letter from the Ohio House Pro-Life Caucus that opposed the issue.
“The vague, intentionally deceptive language of Issue 1 does not clarify the issues of life, parental consent, informed consent or viability including Partial Birth Abortion, but rather introduces more confusion,” the caucus wrote. “This initiative failed to mention a single, specific law. We will do everything in our power to prevent our laws from being removed based upon perception of intent. We were elected to protect the most vulnerable in our state, and we will continue that work.”
Since then, he said he has prioritized attending local meetings with business, religious and civic groups in the community to understand their needs.
As a business owner himself, he said he understands the importance of advocating for local business sustainability.
Claggett is the fourth generation in his family operating Claggett & Sons Inc., where he is both president and a civil engineer. His family has been running the business for 69 years and works in commercial and industrial construction.
He also has served in the Ohio and central Ohio chapters of the Associated Builders and Contractors boards and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB Ohio), as the president of the Licking County Library Board and was a member of the Licking County Chamber of Commerce.
Claggett married his wife, Elizabeth, 24 years ago, and they have one daughter and one son.
In 1997, Claggett was a founding member of his church congregation in Pataskala where he still serves as Deacon Chairman – a position he has held for more than two decades. His congregation meets in a church built by Claggett & Sons.
“I put my trust in God and work to honor Him in everything I do,” Claggett wrote on his election website. “I live my conservative Republican values in everything I do – because it works!”
For Claggett, it was never a question of whether he would take a position in local politics – it was a question of “when I would,” he said.
Service “has always been part of my make-up,” Claggett said. “I’m not doing anything spectacular. I’m just serving my community.”
Brin Glass writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.