Former Koziura rep Dan Ramos running to succeed him

Filed by Chronicle-Telegram Staff January 12th, 2010 in Top Stories.

LORAIN — Dan Ramos, of Lorain, a former aide to state Rep. Joe Koziura, D-Lorain, is running to succeed him in the Legislature.

Ramos

Until last month, Ramos, 28, was senior policy analyst in the office of Armond Budish, Democratic speaker of the state House. He served as Koziura’s sole aide from 2005 to 2007.

In his most recent job, which Ramos gave up to seek Koziura’s seat, he advised Budish and the Democratic Party leadership and oversaw a team of policy analysts, according to his resume. He concentrated on the issues of health care and higher education funding.

Ramos, who is a graduate of Admiral King High School and The Ohio State University, has not held elective office, spending most of his career working for the Democratic Party and its leaders in the House.

“I’m the only person who has Statehouse experience,” he said in response to a question about why voters should elect him. “That’s what we need, somebody who can hit the ground running.”

Koziura is leaving the House because of term limits, and his 56th District seat already has attracted the attention of another Democrat, Jose Candelario, who announced last month that he intended to seek the seat and resign his post as director of the Lorain County Board of Elections.

The deadline to file petitions to seek the seat is Feb. 18.

The district includes Lorain, Sheffield Lake, Oberlin and South Amherst; Amherst, New Russia and Sheffield townships; and parts of Elyria, Amherst and Carlisle and Elyria townships.