The state of Ohio is no stranger to young political candidates. Ohio’s youngest elected official is Ben Nguyen, who was elected to the Tri-State School Board in 2025. Nguyen won his race at 18 years old and studies finance at Miami University.
Young candidates in Ohio have done well in the past. Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, started in the House at 23 years old. Sam Lawrence ran for the Ohio House of Representatives in 2022 as a 19-year-old, although he lost his race. Sam Cao also ran for the House in 2022, at just 17 years old.
State Representative Thomas Hall was first elected at age 25, following his education at Miami University, and Jena Powell won her House of Representatives election in 2018 at age 24.
Even Ohio University has seen its share of politicians throughout the years. Former OU student Rhyan Goodman ran for the House during his junior year of university and was elected. However, he resigned before a formal vote count following a scandal within the Student Senate.
Now, another Bobcat is stepping up to the plate, hopeful to get elected. James Joyce, a junior studying computer science and artificial intelligence, is running for the Ohio House of Representatives for the 95th District.
The 95th district covers the city of Athens and the eastern part of the county, as well as parts of Noble, Morgan, Harrison, Guernsey and Belmont County. Joyce said it is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from one end of the district to the other, and gerrymandering has become a major problem for the district.
Joyce said he knows it is a lot of work to be a full-time student and to campaign for office, but he is glad to do it.
“I have not been to other counties as much as I want to be, and that is something that I'm looking to definitely step up in the summer when school subsides for a little bit,” Joyce said.
Joyce also said he has known for a while that politics would be part of his life and career.
“I've known that I've wanted to participate in politics for a while,” Joyce said. “I didn't quite know how that was going to look, and then it was talking a lot with my high school history teacher that kind of led to me knowing that this was something I wanted to do, so last year (I (knew) State Representative is the position that would be best for me to fit into for the first time.”
Joyce is not running unopposed. His opponent is Paul Cameron, an activist and organizer, and a Progressive candidate from Belmont County. Joyce said he and Cameron have spoken before, and both men participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Athens League of Women Voters.
The forum took place Monday, April 6, and candidates spoke about their platforms and what prompted them to run for office.
“I wanted to see more and more Progressive ideology pushed within our society, (I’m) tired of seeing the status quo, one party taking things further into harm of the citizens and a second party not doing much to stop that,” Cameron said in the forum. “I felt that it was time to step up and do something.”
Other sections of the forum looked at how the candidates would handle financial issues, as well as health care, which are two major problems across the Appalachian region.
Joyce said his overall platform is economics and education-based. He said the cost of utilities is something he is greatly focused on during his campaign.
“The main thing that I'm fighting to address is the cost of utilities,” Joyce said in an interview with The Post. “The way that I'm hoping to solve this problem is by increasing access to renewable energy sources like solar power.”
Education, particularly the public education system, is another issue where Joyce is putting a lot of focus.
“I’m very tied to education,” Joyce said. “I want to be a teacher one day … The foundation of any well-functioning democracy is a well-educated citizenry. It is a citizen that's supposed to hold the government accountable, so education is extremely important, and I believe that currently, our public school system is underfunded and failing, and so I want to address the needs of the public school system.”
Cameron, in the forum, also brought up some of the issues currently plaguing the Southeastern Ohio region, including education.
“My policy priorities, we (Southeast Ohio) have a lot of problems facing us, we have a poverty problem, we have a lack of available jobs, decent-paying jobs, lack of resources, education,” Cameron said. “There are so many different aspects, but what I see as the main core of things is our communities … People have to drive further and further (for resources), and costs are rising.”
To increase jobs and businesses, Cameron said there has to be a focus on community revitalization.
Joyce said he is aware his age could be a deterrent for some voters, but he encourages them to look at his policies. He said his stances on education and the environment should draw in younger voters, while his economic policies should appeal to the older demographic of voters.
“Why me?,” Joyce said. “Because those who are currently in power have been in power for a long time, and as far as I know … the outlook of the nation, the outlook of the state, has not gotten better over 20 years, so it's time for something new. It's time for a change. It's time for a different approach, and that's what I'm hoping to be … We need change. We need drastic change in this country, and I'm hoping that I can help be part of that change.”
The primary election is May 5, and absentee and early voting began April 7. For more information on where to vote, go to the Athens County Board of Elections website.
