ABOUT KATHERINE SHUTTE FOR 
OHIO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DISTRICT 70

​

A few years before announcing her campaign to run for the Ohio House of Representatives in the 70th District, seeking public office had never entered Katherine Shutte’s mind.

She was content with her life as a business professional, wife, and grandmother. Politics, she thought, was something for high-powered lawyers and executives. Then the COVID-19 crisis arrived. Like many Ohioans, she was astonished by the tyrannical overreach from Gov. Mike DeWine, and the blatant inaction by the state legislature. On paper, Ohio has a super-majority in the House and the Senate. Based on how these elected officials vote, their actions reflect a platform that leans to the left. These factors motivated Katherine to run for state representative.

“Mask mandates, business closures and restrictions, vaccine mandates, and school shutdowns and restrictions are among the unnecessary decisions influenced by Gov. DeWine, the Ohio Department of Health, and county health departments,” Katherine said. “Before 2020, I had the mindset that an everyday citizen cannot run for an office like state representative, but the last two years have shown all of us that not only can citizens seek office, but that it is extremely important to stand up and get involved as our founding father intended.”

Brian Lampton is the current state representative in the 70th district. Serving his first term, Lampton has not supported health freedom for Ohioans, and his lack of communication and transparency with constituents is a common complaint.

“We deserve better representation than we currently have. If elected officials are not going to adhere to the oath of the office they took, then why are they there?” Katherine said. “If they are not upholding the Ohio and United States Constitutions and actively protecting our rights every single day, then why are they there? Sometimes inaction shows us someone's true character and intentions.”

Katherine has an extensive background in hospitality management, which she believes will serve her well as a state representative. She has owned two bars, and she served as a manager for Bar Louie and then general manager for Noodles & Company – both at The Greene in Beavercreek. She earned bachelor’s degree in business management from Park University in 2013, graduating Magna Cum Laude.

From her hospitality management experience, Katherine said she understands that government has long told businesses what they can and cannot do.

“Take the bar business as an example. We have a liquor license and we are told when we can open and close, who can be in our place of business, and when they have to leave,” she explained. “There are guidelines that tell you what you can purchase to sell and how much you can sell it for. Of course, there are labor laws, ADA guidelines, and other requirements.”

Concerned about the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Katherine joined a group that met with Lampton last November.

“He said that he does not support 248 because he doesn’t think the government has a right to determine what businesses can and cannot do. When asked what he would support, he mentioned a bill that he felt would pass, but he didn’t know which one and what it said.

“He has shown he won’t support any bill that would protect our medical freedom because he would rather protect freedom of businesses to force a vaccine that does not prevent transmission or infection, causes adverse reactions and even death, and has unknown long-term health implications as a condition of employment,” she added. “Any elected official who believes that does not have the best interests – health-wise and financially – of his constituents in mind and demonstrates a staggering lack of courage.”

A Bethel High School graduate, Katherine lives in Beavercreek with her husband and their granddaughter – 6-year-old Spencer Olivia. She experienced one of life’s greatest tragedies – the loss of a child – when her son, Drake, died of a fentanyl overdose in 2015 at the age of 21.

Drake was a welder who was talking to an Army recruiter about enlisting. There were no signs of drug use, Katherine said. An amount of fentanyl equal to three grains of salt reacted with an anti-depressant, which stopped his heart, she learned.

“When you are a parent and lose your child, it changes you in ways that are difficult to express in words alone,” Katherine said. “He was an only child. I felt that, when I lost him, I lost my purpose in life. My granddaughter helped me quickly re-discover my purpose.

“I’ve always been someone who is outspoken and is not afraid to stand up for what I believe,” she added. “Once you experience the worst thing imaginable, you lose all fear of anything else.”

Ohio continues to battle a drug overdose epidemic, and that is an issue that is a priority for Katherine. So is medical freedom, honoring the Second Amendment, and the America First constitutional conservative platform as a whole.

“The foundation of our wonderful country is being chipped away every day. It is time for us to stand up and fight against this,” Katherine said. “I am not a politician, I am a daughter, a mother, a wife, a grandmother, and a patriot who loves her country. I am done watching the people we elect to represent us forget that they are our voice, not our rulers.

“If I am fortunate enough to be elected, I will be the voice of every citizen who is watching their freedoms being stolen from them every day,” she added. “I will be the voice of every terrified parent who worries for the country we are leaving for our children. I will be active, available, and accountable to the citizens in my district.”