Flanders is a nurse practitioner. She has never held an elected office before, but she said she feels that is what voters are looking for.
“I am one of us,” Flanders said. “I am a regular person.”
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Flanders said she would like to address government waste if elected to represent Ohio's 10th congressional district which includes all of Montgomery and Greene counties and part of Fayette County.
“Congress wastes all of our time and our money on these hearings and investigations, while legislation just sits in committee,” Flanders said.
She also thinks the U.S. border with Mexico should be closed.
“I would love to see our border closed,” Flanders said. “We aren’t taking care of our own, so how can we take care of immigrants?”
Turner, R-Dayton, has easily won re-election since he was first elected to Congress in 2002. He has served in the House of Representatives since 2003, after serving two terms as mayor of Dayton from 1994-2002.
Turner faced a primary challenge from John Mitchel in 2018. Turner defeated Mitchel, 80% to 9%.
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Turner’s office declined to comment at this time.
Although Turner has represented the district for a number of years, Flanders said she thinks she is the change District 10 needs.
“It’s time to turn the page and I think I have a big enough voice to get it done,” Flanders said.
Desiree Tims, who is running for the Democratic nomination in the race in 2020, said she thinks now is the time to put women in charge.
“I obviously have very different beliefs and approaches (from Flanders) as to how to solve our problems and to make our counties, our state and our country a much stronger place. To help contribute to making the union more perfect,” Tims said. “But women are… we’re doing it.”
The Ohio primary is scheduled for March 17, 2020. The general election is Nov. 3.
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