Voters in Wayne and Pike counties will soon choose a new state representative in a special election to replace Joe Adams.
Adams resigned his state House seat last week for personal reasons. But his term doesn’t end until November 30. So a special election on April 23 will decide who serves the rest of his term.
Two men want the Republican nomination. One is Jeffrey Olsommer. He‘s a Sterling Township supervisor and owns an insurance agency. He thinks the election will
center on core Republican goals.
“Trying to keep costs at a minimum, trying to increase first responders, health care in our rural neighborhoods is extremely important,” Olsommer said. “Working with schools to help better train our children for the workforce of tomorrow.”
The other Republican is Matthew Contreras. He lives in Milford Township and owns a staffing company. He said he’ll remain a parental rights advocate. He opposed mask and vaccination mandates during the pandemic.
Robin Skibber is the Democrats’ likely nominee because she’s the only candidate.
“I know people are concerned about their taxes, their roads, their safety, but there's also concerns about food insecurity, rights to women's health, things like that that I think can't be ignored,” Skibber said.
For the special, the Wayne and Pike Republican and Democratic parties will soon pick the candidates. So the special will have Skibber facing either Olsommer or Contreras.
All voters can vote in the special. The primary election is the same day and only Democrats and Republicans can vote in that.
Skibber is almost certain to win on the Democratic side because she’s the only candidate. On the Republican side, the primary means Republican voters instead of the party choose between the two candidates.
The primary winners square off in November and that winner serves the next two years.
