An Ohio city councilwoman wants to breathe new life into St. Marys and a new future for the Statehouse

When Arienne Childrey came to Ohio from Virginia as a teenager, she decided it was the right decision.

“Ohio really felt like home,” Childrey said. “It was the first place I lived because I chose it.”

The Virginia native, the daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of a miner, is now the wife of a union worker working for the people of St. Marys in Auglaize County and hopes to represent her fellow Ohioans at the Ohio Statehouse in the future.

Childrey happens to be one one of only two transgender Ohioans in office in the state and is the only one to serve as a city council. She was appointed to this position with the consent of the outgoing city councilor whom she replaced.

Childrey’s new position on the St. Patrick’s City Council. Mary’s involves issues that officials at the Statehouse don’t deal with on a day-to-day basis, such as alley maintenance and pothole complaints. These are the types of issues Childrey wants to address to make the city more attractive to businesses and residents, especially after the loss of stores like K-Mart, Big Lots and Rite Aid.

“If you shop, I want you to be able to do it in St. Marys and not have to go to Celina or anywhere else,” Childrey told the Capital Journal.

She said she plans to employ her position to ensure residents can live freely, but that her identity as a transgender woman should not affect whether she can do the job.

“I don’t know of any trance way of fixing holes. I’m pretty sure it works the same no matter what,” Childrey said.

Her role on the city council focuses on care in compact towns, but she realizes that measures taken by the registrar can have a major impact on the functioning of her city.

That’s why in the last election she he tried to get off Republican state Rep. Angela King in the deep red 84th House District.

“I looked at my husband and said, ‘I think I’m about to do something really stupid,’” Childrey said. “I think I’m about to run against Angie.”

This wasn’t the first time Childrey stated she was opposing her representative in the 84th District. After King introduced House Bill 245 – banning “adult cabaret performances,” including drag queen performances, in areas other than private businesses – Childrey organized a protest against the bill in Mercer County. The measure was considered by the Ohio House of Representatives Committee on Criminal Justice but never made it past the committee stage, meaning it would have to be reintroduced in the new term of the General Assembly to be considered again.

Childrey also spoke at local Democratic Party events about LGBTQ+ rights, which prompted her to consider running against King.

“I just saw our current representation focusing on the battles of the culture wars and, in my opinion, focusing on who they could harm rather than who they could help,” Childrey said. “If you’re going to target my community, I guess I’ll be your competition.”

She said it was an “aggressive” campaign, taking tables at county fairs in the area to reach people who didn’t attend typical political fundraising events or weren’t necessarily supporters, and the campaign was run so , like defeating an incumbent Republican.

But Childrey was no fool when it came to the political leanings (or full tilt) of her home region. In the 2022 election, King received nearly 83% of the vote against her Democratic opponent, similar to the margin that her predecessor Susan Manchester had when she defeated her Democratic opponent in 2020 with 85% of the vote.

We came expecting to lose, but we fought to win,” she said.

King would receive 83.8% of the vote against Childrey in the 2024 general election.

The campaign was as “hostile” as Childrey expected, but it had its positive moments.

“The level of hate and vitriol we experienced was difficult, but the level of support we received was inspiring,” she said.

What she really wanted in all of this was to show Ohioans that she wanted the same thing they wanted, which was to be heard and to see good change from the Statehouse, not a bunch of “negative bills” like anti-transgender bills and eliminating gender-affirming care for minors that doesn’t improves Ohio for most residents.

“You’ll never hear me talk about one of these terrible bills that’s being talked about, let alone one of the positive bills that’s being ignored,” Childrey said, citing housing reform and a cure for the nursing shortage as examples of measures being left behind after other, more controversial acts.

Childrey also hoped to narrow the gap between Democrats and Republicans, even in deep red districts, and plant the idea of ​​becoming an elected official in the minds of others across the state.

“I fully expect that in 2026 there will not be a single seat in the House without a Democratic challenger,” she said. “Even if we lose, we have to start working on the margins. The Republican Party didn’t win in rural areas overnight, they played the long game.”

She plans to be one of those candidates, wanting to represent her district again. Until then, a member of the St. City Council. Marys plans to do everything she can for her residents, looking to the future – hers and theirs.

“There are people in our community who always feel like they’re not being listened to, and it’s for a variety of reasons,” Childrey said. “It’s about showing them you want to listen to them.”