Niraj Antani

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Niraj Antani
Member of the Ohio Senate
from the 6th district
Assumed office
January 4, 2021
Preceded byPeggy Lehner
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 42nd district
In office
December 2, 2014 – December 31, 2020
Preceded byTerry Blair
Succeeded byTom Young
Personal details
Born (1991-02-26) February 26, 1991 (age 30)
Ohio, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceMiamisburg, Ohio, U.S.
EducationOhio State University

Niraj J. Antani (born February 26, 1991) is an American Republican Party politician who currently serves as a state senator representing the 6th District in the Ohio State Senate. He served three terms as Representative for the 42nd district of the Ohio House of Representatives,[1]. He is a member of the Republican Party. His district, the 6th, is composed of northern, eastern, and southern Montgomery County.

Early life and education[]

Antani was born and raised in Miami Township. He currently lives in Miamisburg, Ohio.

Antani attended Miamisburg City Schools and graduated from Miamisburg High School in 2009. He went on to The Ohio State University and earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science.[2] After that, he briefly attended the University of Dayton Law School before leaving to run for State Representative.[3]

Career[]

When Representative Terry Blair died after winning the 2014 primary election for a fourth term, Antani was chosen by the Montgomery County Republican party to replace Blair on the ballot. It was a difficult win for Antani, who was at the time a political outsider, "It took four rounds for Niraj Antani of Miami Twp. to gain a majority of votes from the district’s GOP precinct captains."[3] However, Antani won the general election 64.5% to 35.5% over Democrat Patrick Merris at the age of 23.[4] Antani was sworn in to the Ohio House of Representatives to complete the remainder of Blair's term on December 2, 2014.[5]

Electoral history[]

Election results
Year Office Election Votes for Antani % Opponent Party Votes %
2014 Ohio House of Representatives General 20,440 64.50% Patrick Merris Democrat 11,248 35.50%
2016 General 33,997 63.03% Patrick Merris Democrat 19,939 36.97%
2018 General 28,079 59.30% Zach Dickerson Democrat 19,273 40.70%

Controversies[]

On March 14, 2018, Antani made headlines by appearing to suggest that students who were over the age of 18 should be allowed to bring rifles to school in their cars. The following day, after substantial press, Niraj backtracked and said that he did a poor job of stating his position.[6]

On July 21, 2020 Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was arrested in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme.[7] The federal complaint against Householder is allegedly the largest bribery and money laundering scheme in Ohio history.[8] Allegedly, Householder ran an organization, Generation Now, that funneled money to a large bipartisan group of candidates who once elected, supported him for Speaker.[8] During 2018, Antani accepted over $7000 from Friends of Larry Householder. He was never alleged to have had any involvement in the schemes, however.[9]

Personal life[]

In 2015, Niraj was added to Forbes Magazine's list of the top “30 under 30” people in the U.S. for Law & Policy in 2015.[10]

Beginning in 2018, Antani started serving on the national board of the Republican State Leadership Committee's Future Majority Project.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "The next generation of Republicans: Do they stand with Trump? - The Washington Post". July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  2. ^ DuVall, Audrey (October 28, 2014). "Recent Ohio State graduate Niraj Antani running for state House". The Lantern. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Blizzard, Nick. "UD student wins GOP nod for state rep spot". dayton-daily-news. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  4. ^ 2014 Ohio election results, Ohio Secretary of State Jon A. Husted
  5. ^ "Antani sworn in to fill Blair vacancy in Ohio House". Dayton Daily News. Dayton. 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
  6. ^ Will Garbe, Staff Writer. "Ohio lawmaker: 'Did a poor job of communicating' position on students bearing firearms". daytondailynews. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  7. ^ "Ohio House Speaker Arrested In Connection With $60 Million Bribery Scheme". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  8. ^ a b "Politicians, lawmakers react to Speaker Householder's arrest & bribery allegations". WDTN.com. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  9. ^ "Show Me - FollowTheMoney.org". www.followthemoney.org. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  10. ^ "Niraj Antani, 23". Forbes. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  11. ^ "FMP". RSLC. Retrieved 2019-03-14.

External links[]


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