Neuhardt runs for Congress

Sharen Neuhardt is seeking the Ohio 7th District Congressional seat.

By Diane Chiddister

A Yellow Springs community member who played a critical role in saving Whitehall Farm will run for the open Ohio 7th District Congressional seat currently held by Republican David Hobson, who has announced his retirement after serving eight terms.

Last Friday Sharen Neuhardt, a Dayton attorney, announced that she filed her nominating petitions at the Greene County Board of Elections. A Democrat, Neuhardt seeks a seat which has been under Republican control for many years.

It’s a good time for a Democrat to seek the 7th District Congressional seat, Neuhardt said.

“In 2008, the people of the 7th District have the opportunity to be part of a movement which is sweeping across America, a movement aimed at changing who is leading our government, the priorities of our government and how our government operates,” she said in an interview this week.

Party affiliation is not as important to voters as a candidate’s ability to get things done, Neuhardt said, and she believes she is a candidate who can win voters’ trust.

In her more than three decades as a Dayton-area business lawyer, she has many times collaborated with regional leaders to “do what is right for the region, without regard to whether those leaders are Republicans or Democrats,” she said. “I believe the skillset I developed in my practice will serve me well.”

Neuhardt identified working to end the war in Iraq, bringing jobs to the 7th District, reforming the health care system and moving the country toward energy independence as her top priorities if she is elected.

In Yellow Springs, Neuhardt is best known for the pivotal role she and her husband, David, who is also a Dayton attorney, played in saving Whitehall Farm. During the February 1999 auction of the farm, the Neuhardts, who live in the Whitehall Farm house, surprised almost everyone — including themselves, Neuhardt said at the time — by stepping up to purchase the 954-acre farm, with the help of the $1.2 million raised by the Tecumseh Land Trust and the Yellow Springs community. The couple used the money to purchase conservation easements on the land, so that it would remain undeveloped into perpetuity, and then sold several hundred acres to area farmers, keeping more than 500 acres in order to “put the farm and the house back together again.”

“At the end of the day, the entire northern border of Yellow Springs is now protected,” she said. “Dave and I are proud that we had the opportunity to be a part of that.”

The Neuhardts have remained active in the Tecumseh Land Trust, working with local communities and farmers to preserve green space, according to her press release. She was also active in the Community Resources effort to keep Antioch University McGregor in Yellow Springs.

Raised in Dayton, Neuhardt is the daughter of a Dayton policeman. She attended Fairview High School and received a degree in political science from Northwestern University, after which she received her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

After law school, she returned to Ohio to practice law at Smith & Schnacke, which later became Thompson Hine, LLP. She currently serves as the firmwide head of Thompson Hine’s corporate transactions and securities practice group.

The Neuhardts moved to Yellow Springs in 1994, at which time they purchased the Whitehall Farm house along with the 36 acres that at the time came with the house.

Neuhardt has two children, Ann and Robert Gage, who are both helping with her campaign. However, she could use all the help she can get, Neuhardt said, and she hopes her local community rallies behind her.

“It will take a village to get this candidate elected,” she said. “It’s a big district. For a Democrat to win, the people in Yellow Springs need to stand up and be counted.”

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com