06/22/2026
Two Records, One Choice: John Barbo and David Thomas in Ohio's 65th District
This November, voters in Ohio's 65th House District will choose between Geneva City Council President John Barbo, a 28-year science teacher at Geneva High School, and the Republican incumbent, David Thomas of Jefferson. The two men agree that property taxes have become a real burden for families across Ashtabula and Trumbull counties. They disagree, fundamentally, about what is causing that burden and how to fix it.
The property tax question
David Thomas has built his political identity on property taxes. He came to the Statehouse from the Ashtabula County Auditor's office, he now serves as Vice Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and he has sponsored or co-sponsored the major property tax bills moving through Columbus, including House Bills 129, 309, and 335. He describes this work as the most significant property tax reform in Ohio in decades.
But a closer look at how that relief is built tells a different story. The centerpiece of the approach, a cap on how much money school districts can carry over from year to year, has been criticized even by members of his own chamber as relief that does not address the underlying problem. State Representative Bride Rose Sweeney called it "fake property tax relief" that solves no long-term issue and could push local tax bills higher down the road. Thomas's own House Bill 335 drew an even sharper assessment from the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, which described it as the largest single reduction in school funding in Ohio history.
That is the heart of Barbo's argument. You cannot claim to be lowering the property tax burden while voting for the policies that create it.
Where the burden actually comes from
Barbo, who has spent nearly three decades inside a public school, traces the property tax problem back to a single decision in Columbus: the choice not to fully fund public schools.
"Unfortunately, our legislators in Columbus have chosen not to properly fund our schools, instead funneling increasing amounts of taxpayer money into private school voucher programs," Barbo said. "This forces school districts to make cuts that hurt students while placing greater financial pressure on local communities to make up the difference. The result is higher property taxes that create a real burden for many homeowners."
The record backs him up. The two-year state budget that Thomas voted for, House Bill 96, did not fully implement the bipartisan Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan as it was designed. Instead of updating the cost data the formula relies on, the budget froze those figures at 2022 levels, which education advocates say falls well short of the funding schools were promised. At the same time, the budget continued Ohio's rapid expansion of private school vouchers. State spending on vouchers topped one billion dollars in fiscal year 2025, and the near-universal EdChoice Expansion now sends taxpayer money to families regardless of income, including thousands already paying private tuition without help from the state.
When the state does not fully fund schools and steers more money to vouchers, local districts are left to cover the gap. They do that through levies, and that lands on local property tax bills. Barbo's position is direct: if Columbus showed the same commitment to fully funding the Fair School Funding Plan that it shows to expanding vouchers, schools would have what they need and would lean far less on local property owners.
Corporate giveaways and Ohio's resources
The two candidates also part ways on how Ohio treats large corporations. Barbo has pledged to end what he calls the wholesale giveaway of Ohio tax dollars and natural resources to big companies, pointing to the explosive growth of data centers across the state.
The numbers explain his concern. Ohio's sales tax exemption for data centers cost the state roughly 1.6 billion dollars in 2025, about eleven times what officials had projected. Governor DeWine was forced to pause new exemptions while lawmakers study the damage, and the facilities are straining the electrical grid in ways that threaten to push up electricity prices for ordinary households. Thomas sits on the House Energy Committee and has focused his energy work on expanding production. Barbo's focus is different: making sure Ohio's tax dollars and resources serve the people who live here, not the balance sheets of the largest corporations.
A teacher and a neighbor
Barbo's case rests on a simple credential. He has spent 28 years in a Geneva High School classroom, where he chairs the science department and has coached basketball and football, and he is serving his second term on Geneva City Council, currently as Council President. He has seen, up close, what strong public schools do for a community and what happens when the state walks away from them.
"As an educator, council member, and longtime resident of Geneva, I have seen firsthand the positive impact strong public schools have on their communities," Barbo said.
After more than three decades of one-party control in Columbus, Barbo's message to the 65th District is that the people closest to the problem, the teachers, the families, and the homeowners, deserve a representative who will fix the cause instead of managing the symptoms.
"It's time for a change."
