Rick Carfagna

Carfagna was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio where his family owns and operates a small Italian grocery. He graduated from St. Francis DeSales High School before attending John Carroll University. Following graduation, Carfagna served on the Ohio Legislative Service Commission’s Fellowship Program and later worked as a legislative aide in the Ohio House of Representatives. He then worked as the Government Relations Manager for Time Warner Cable.[1]

In 2009, Carfagna was elected as a Genoa Township Trustee, and was re-elected in 2013. He would serve as the Boards President for three terms, and was known as a fiscal conservative.[2] Carfagna is married with one daughter.[3]

In 2016 four-term incumbent Ohio state representative Margaret Ruhl was term-limited. With the seat heavily Republican, the seat attracted a number of Republicans including Carfagna. In a five-way primary, two candidates were from Delaware County and three from Knox. However, Carfagna's family name recognition and Statehouse ties made him an early favorite.[4] His closest adversary was said to be Beth Lear, another former legislative staffer.[5]

In the end, Carfagna easily bested all four of his opponents, taking a plurality of nearly 43% of the vote, with Lear taking 34%.[6] In the general election, facing Democrat John Russell and write-in candidate Douglas Crowl,[7] Carfagna won to secure his first term with 65.97%.[8]

• Ohio State Representative Rick Carfagna official site