Former Butler County auditor seeks GOP nod for Congress

Mar. 15—U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, is being challenged by a former Butler County auditor for his congressional seat.

Kay Rogers, of West Chester Twp., hopes to unseat Davidson by winning Tuesday's GOP primary and then take on one of the three Democrats seeking that party's nomination for the 8th Congressional District race in November.

"We keep putting the same people in, and nothing happens," Rogers said to the Journal-News. "At some point, to get change, we have to start changing who's there. If it's one or two at a time, then it's one or two at a time."

The 8th Congressional District consists of all of Butler, Darke and Preble counties, half of Hamilton County, and a portion of western Miami County.

In-office early voting ends Sunday, but anyone who has received an absentee ballot can hand-deliver it to the Board of Elections on Monday or by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Absentee ballots can still be mailed but must be done so (and postmarked) by Monday.

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and anyone in line when polls close are able to cast a ballot.

Davidson is seeking his fifth full two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served a half-year prior to his first full term in the 15-person race to replace former Rep. John Boehner, a Republican from Butler County.

Attempts to reach Davidson through his campaign were unsuccessful, but according to his campaign website, the West Point graduate noted the issues he'd continue to address if re-elected include immigration, the right to life, the 2nd Amendment, religious liberty, national security, the economy and health care.

On immigration, Davidson wrote:

"With a secure border where all who enter America can be positively identified, with visa overstays effectively eliminated, I favor creating a new conditional visa. People who present themselves to an embassy or consulate in their home countries could apply for a conditional three-year visa that allows them to live, work, or go to school in the USA. It would make them ineligible for all means-tested programs or unemployment benefits and require immediate removal for felony offenses."

Rogers told the Journal-News that Davidson has had nearly eight years to work to secure the border.

"Is the border any more secure today than when he started almost eight years ago?" she asked. "The answer is 'no.'"

"We've got to get that under control because there's a direct correlation between that issue and our budget," she said. "We got all these people coming in here and there's extra costs."

Rogers said instead of hiring tens of thousands of IRS agents ― reports indicate it could be nearly 87,000 by 2031 ― half of those agents could be assigned at the immigration department "to speed up the process to get them in here so that they are legitimately working and paying taxes."

She also said he has not worked to rebuild the economy, which is another campaign issue of the former Army Ranger.

"You should be coming up with programs to get people to work," she said.

One of the biggest issues Rogers will push is for reform of the U.S. Department of Justice. Rogers resigned as Butler County auditor in March 2008 amid a fiber optics scandal that led to what is known as the Dynus scandal. She pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud, charged with signing off on a $4 million loan from Butler County. Rogers insists there was no loan documentation, and claims the federal government either could not or would not provide her with that piece of evidence when she requested it.

Calling it "our unjust justice system," Rogers said it's "a system that most people cannot afford."

Though she is a convicted felon, the U.S. Constitution allows felons to serve as members of Congress.

A third issue she would address is Congress's inability to pass a balanced budget without taking on additional debt.

"We have to lay a plan out because that debt needs to start being paid down," she said. "We make a cap on how much the debt this country can have but then we go ahead and override it. Why even have a cap when you know everybody's going to override it? Who takes this seriously? But at some point, kicking the can down the road isn't going to work anymore."

Other issues Davidson plans to address, according to his website:

-Allowing individuals to choose the combination of care, coverage, and cost they find best from a range of high-quality alternatives "in a truly competitive market."

-Require healthcare providers to provide one bill per visit and not multiple bills, which would eliminate surprise billing and apply pressure to contain costs.

-Protect the 2nd Amendment by opposing gun control measures, such as red flag laws, expanded restrictions on lawful transfers and magazine bans. "Restrictions should be limited to people convicted of prior gun crimes, persons lawfully adjudicated mentally dangerous to themselves or others, and non-citizens," he said.

The winner of the GOP nomination vote on Tuesday will compete against the winner in the Democratic Party's nomination race. Butler County residents Vanessa Enoch, of West Chester Twp., and David Gelb, of West Chester Twp., and Hamilton County resident Nathaniel Hawkins, of Cleves, hope to win Tuesday's primary.