Ohio — 7th District

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio – Former Bay Village school board member Scott Schulz, 47, has devoted most of his life to education, but he has now set his sights on winning a seat in Congress.

Schulz, who has a doctorate in higher education from the University of Arizona, left his full-time job at Baldwin Wallace University as vice president for student experience and enrollment management, and he now hopes to win election to Ohio’s 7th Congressional District. He is one of eight Democrats to file for the seat. They will face off in a May 5 primary with the winner running against incumbent Republican Max Miller.

Schultz said he will take a bipartisan approach to solving what he sees as the many problems facing Ohioans today related to inflation, jobs, education, and health care.

“My life has been in education,” Schulz said in an interview with cleveland.com. “My mom was a teacher. My grandmother was a teacher. It felt almost inevitable that I would end up in the education field. I spent 20 years in higher education. Eleven of those years were at Baldwin Wallace University.”

Schulz was born and raised in Alaska.

Schulz spent 11 years leading Baldwin Wallace’s admission and financial aid areas, saying he is proud to have helped thousands of students “become the best versions of themselves,” pursue their dreams, and do amazing things.

Schulz said he felt drawn to public service, which is why he served five years on the Bay Village Board of Education, including part of the time as president.

“I was initially appointed to fill a vacant seat in 2020 and then retained my seat in 2021 with an election,” Schulz said. “It was really a time of crisis in the community. With COVID, I’m sure there were many school crises throughout the region, but we had 50-75 people showing up, shouting at us, frustrated and afraid. I understood that. I have two girls. Both are at Bay High School right now. So, I understood those concerns. They wanted to know that everything was going to be OK and that there were people who had their best interests in mind. We worked collaboratively and dialed down the temperature. We were able to accomplish quite a few things with a multi-year strategic plan that we put in place.”

During his tenure, the Ohio Department of Education designated the Bay Village City School District as a Purple Star District for its commitment to military families, Schulz said.

Schulz’s term on the school board ended in December, but he said his experience on the board made him feel compelled to do more in the area of pubic service.

“I really did see the benefit of leadership and bringing people together and getting things done,” Schulz said. “With the state of politics today, particularly in Washington, it felt like there was more to be contributed in that way. I thought that my elected experience, combined with my background in education, would potentially bring about great change, which we need in Washington, D.C.

“Right now, it feels like Washington, D.C., is absolutely in a position that could use that kind of mindset, where you’re not so partisan and entrenched, but willing to listen and work with people to get things done.”

Schulz, if he wins the Democratic primary, would run in the general election as a Democrat. Voters in the district in 2022 and 2024 elected Republican Max Miller, who is seeking re-election. However, Schultz said he thinks district residents may be ready for a change.

Schultz said he identifies as a Democrat because he is more closely aligned with the party on issues including social justice, equality, and opportunity.

“I think that’s super important and exactly what our district is longing for,” Schulz said. “I think there’s an opening here because the reality is there are a number of independents and Reagan Republicans who are disenchanted with Max Miller.”

Schulz said the “One Big Beautiful Bill” has “gutted our social safety net.” He said there will be reduced SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and Medicaid funding, while “giving massive tax giveaways to millionaires and billionaires.”

Schulz also said tariffs are hurting farmers in the 7th district’s Ashland, Medina, and Wayne counties, including driving up their costs of doing business by inflating prices of farm equipment and equipment parts, many of which are manufactured overseas. In addition, the overseas markets have been closed off in many ways because of those tariffs, he said

“I think that there’s an opening there that people will say that maybe it’s time for something different,” Schulz said.

Schulz described himself as a centrist committed to bringing people together, building bridges, and finishing out his term.

Improving educational opportunities could play an important role in addressing affordability issues and driving sustainable wage growth, Schulz said.

“Universal pre-K (pre-kindergarten) is one way that we can do that by giving students a strong head start from the outset,” Schulz said.

He also spoke in favor of reinstating funding from the Department of Education for special needs education and funding for low-income school districts.

Schulz advocated capping tuition rate increases at colleges and for job training programs to match the rate of inflation.

Schulz said reforming Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “absolutely critical.”

“I would take a lot of the money, those additional investments that are going to ICE, and think about modernizing our asylum process, because right now, we’re losing the moral high ground,” Schulz said. “We used to be the place where people from oppressed countries could come, and we know that it can take months and years for them to get that hearing.”

He said people with pending asylum claims are now caught in limbo.

“We can do better than that,” Schulz said.

Other Democrats running for the Ohio 7th District Congressional seat include: John R. Butchko, Ann Marie Donegan, Michael Eisner, Ed FitzGerald, Keith Mundy, Brian K. Poindexter, and Laura Rodriguez-Carbone. Brian Duvall-Gambino has filed to run as a Libertarian write-in candidate. Max Miller has filed as a Republican.