The race for the new 40th Ohio House District is a rematch of the 2010 contest for the 36th Ohio House seat, pitting incumbent Rep. Mike Henne, R-Clayton, against Democratic challenger Carl D. Fisher of Huber Heights.

Henne hopes this race will be a repeat of two years ago, when he won nearly two-thirds of the vote.

But Fisher said the freshman representative should not coast to victory this time, because he has little to show for his time in office, and the 40th district has more democrats than the old 36th district.

Henne, who described Fisher as a critic who lacks real solutions, said he deserves a second term in office because he supported and passed legislation that have improved the state’s business climate and economic conditions. He said he has more plans to remove burdens on Ohio businesses, such as creating uniform filing rules for municipal income taxes.

Fisher said if he is elected he will fight to eliminate property taxes as a future source of funding for public education, and vows to restore some local government funds removed by the state.

The the new 40th district contains parts of Butler Twp., Clay Twp., Clayton, northeast Dayton, Englewood, Huber Heights, Riverside and Vandalia. Between 57 and 60 percent of voters in the new 40th House district have voted Republican in past elections, according to estimates by multiple organizations that focus on redistricting.

Henne, 50, of Clay Twp., said he is proud of the Republican-controlled state Legislature and Gov. John Kasich for balancing the budget and fixing an $8 billion budget gap without raising taxes. He said state lawmakers deserve credit for introducing and passing business friendly reforms that he says reversed job losses experienced under former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.

“The previous administration lost 400,000 jobs, and so far, this General Assembly in Ohio has created 120,000 jobs, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job,” said Henne, who is the co-owner of Boord-Henne Insurance Agency in Englewood.

Henne said he voted in favor of creating JobsOhio — a private, nonprofit organization that now handles job retention and creation responsibilities — and the organization has helped new and existing businesses invest in Ohio. “It allows the state to be much more responsive to the business community on their capital needs,” he said.

Henne said he is a conservative, and his voting record reflects this.

Henne voted with his party 97 percent of the time, and he co-sponsored the “heartbeat” bill, which would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. He also voted in favor of allowing Ohioans with concealed carry permits to bring handguns into establishments that sell alcohol. He voted in favor of Senate Bill 5, which would have cut collective bargaining and made other changes for public employees.

Henne said his support S.B. 5 — which voters overwhelmingly defeated in 2011 — stemmed from a desire to give taxpayers more control over how their tax dollars are spent.

But Fisher, 59, who is serving his 23rd year on the Huber Heights City Schools Board of Education, said he was angered by Henne’s vote S.B. 5, because the legislation was a misguided attack on public employees and teachers.

Fisher, whose campaign donors include labor organizations, said the governor and state lawmakers have not solved Ohio’s budget problems, but instead shifted the burden of taxation from the state to the local communities. He said this is proven by the many schools and safety forces seeking new levies to avoid budget cuts.

Fisher said schools desperately need new revenue, but they are struggling to pass levies because many community members — especially seniors on fixed incomes — cannot afford to pay higher property taxes. Fisher said the Ohio Supreme Court twice has ruled it unconstitutional to use property taxes as a funding source for schools, and yet the activity continues. He said he wants in to use sales taxes in the future to fund public education, which he calls more equitable.

“I think the community is getting fed up with the fact that school districts have to keep coming back and asking for money,” he said.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, Ohioans will vote on 1,434 tax issues in the Nov. 6 election.

Fisher, a manager at Joe Kiss Hickory Bar-B-Q and professional Realtor whose license is inactive, said “fixing” how public education is funded his top priority, but he also pledged to restore state funding to local governments.

He said safety forces need adequate staffing levels, but he did not specify what his plans were for raising taxes. On his website, Fisher said he might support increasing taxes on gambling revenue from the state’s new casinos or ask for higher taxes on the fracking industry.

Fisher said he voted for the referendum on S.B. 5, opposed allowing concealed handguns into businesses that serve alcohol and opposes the heartbeat bill. He said H.B. 444, which Henne introduced, does not remedy public school budget cuts, but instead is a “token” piece of legislation. The bill would allow public school districts in Montgomery County to sell services for profit.

“I don’t think Mike is going to offer any solutions, I just think he will piggyback on what his leadership is promoting,” Fisher said. “I can do better than that.”

Henne has sponsored five bills since heading to Columbus. One sought to revise Ohio’s workers’ compensation laws to allow university hospitals to participate in self-insured pools. Another bill would require businesses that buy and sell precious metals to obtain licenses and keep records to help deter theft. His one bill that became law — H.B. 341 — provides more consumer protections on insurance products purchased through fraternal organizations.

Henne said he and other state lawmakers are working on legislation that would clarify the definition of income and simplify the rules of filing municipal income taxes for businesses and contractors.

“Virtually every city that taxes income does it a little bit differently, and it is a complex and burdensome process,” Henne said. “We have been working more than a year and a half on a bill to help make it uniform across the state.”