Jena Powell

Jena Powell (born December 25, 1993) is an American politician who has served in the Ohio House of Representatives from the 80th district since 2019. Representative Jena Powell is serving her second term in the Ohio House of Representatives. She represents the 80th District, which encompasses Miami County, as well as a portion of Darke County.

Jena Powell
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 80th district
Assumed office
January 7, 2019
Preceded bySteve Huffman
Personal details
Born (1993-12-25) December 25, 1993
Arcanum, Ohio
Political partyRepublican
EducationLiberty University

Representative Powell is from southern Darke County where her family has been farming for generations. She received a bachelor’s degree from Liberty University in Business. She is the VP of Sales and Marketing at a billboard company founded by her brother, Huntington Billboard Company.[1] Powell stated that she was motivated to run for state office because of frustration with zoning regulations related to billboard placement.[2]

Powell was encouraged to run for office by her brother, stating in an interview, “well, my brother tricked me into entering politics, no really, he tricked me because he knows how mad I get about things!”[3]

Connection to Larry Householder Scandal

Powell was a member of the so-called “Team Householder” candidates supported by Larry Householder in the 2018 primary elections.[4] Powell’s campaign received $20,416 from Householder’s campaign, $16,430 from indicted Householder associate’s law firm JPL & Associates, $12,700 from First Energy Corp PAC and $12,500 from Murray Energy PAC.[4] A Householder aligned PAC called Growth and Opportunity spent $27,135 on mailers benefiting Powell.[4] Powell voted for Householder for speaker of the house.[4] In July 2020, Householder was arrested by the FBI on federal bribery and racketeering charges in connection with Ohio House Bill 6.[5]

COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Powell has been a vocal critic of public health measures instituted to limit the spread of COVID-19. On June 3rd, 2020, Powell was one of 19 lawmakers that signed a letter stating “Ohio smashed the curve long ago. Mission Accomplished!”[6] The letter argued that the peak of the virus was well past over and it was time for the public health orders to be cancelled.[6] Ohio’s average cases per day skyrocketed in subsequent months, to as high as 27 times what was seen in June.[7]

Powell’s district became a hotspot for the virus in November, after residents received conflicting messages from public officials.[8] Powell disagreed with Governor Mike DeWine’s request to wear face masks, writing, “No. It’s our freedom and it’s being ripped from us through executive force.”[8] Powell responded positively to the Union City Police Department announcing that they would not be enforcing the governor’s orders, writing, “Great news!” on their Facebook post.[8] In December, Darke County had the highest incidence of COVID-19 in the state.[8] Powell did not tell constituents about the free pop-up testing happening in her district, but instead chose to focus on Christmas decorations at the state house and advocating for banning transgender high school athletes from competing in sports that day.[8]

References
  1. "Our Story". Huntington Billboard Company. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  2. "Jena Powell". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  3. "Ohio State Rep. Jena Powell on What's Worth Fighting For". America's Future. 2019-02-11. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  4. Enquirer, Jessie Balmert Cincinnati. "Why this sole member of Team Householder opposed the $1.3B nuclear bailout in House Bill 6". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  5. Kovac, Marc. "Larry Householder, Ohio house speaker arrested in FBI $60M bribery investigation: What we know". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  6. "19 lawmakers declared victory over COVID-19 in June. Now it's spreading in their districts". Ohio Capital Journal. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  7. Times, The New York (2020-04-01). "Ohio Coronavirus Map and Case Count". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  8. "An Ohio county heard mixed messages on COVID-19. Now it's a hotspot". WEWS. 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
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