William McHenry

Senator Croft Mourns the Loss of John Glenn CLEVELAND, OHIO - Following the death of former U.S. Senator from Ohio and astronaut John Glenn, Senator Will Croft has issued the following statement: "My husband and I send our heartfelt condolences to Annie Glenn and the entire Glenn family on the loss of a great American and consumate Ohioan, John Glenn. As a lifelong Ohioan, I have a personal connecting to John and a unique understanding of his unprecedented achievements and contributions to our national story. Every child growing up in Ohio learns about John from an early age. We learn about his historic role in advancing America's dominance in the space race, and of his continued commitment to our state as one of our most prolific Senators. This is a sad day for our country, but it is a very sad day for the people of Ohio. John, of course, wouldn't want us to be sad. He was a true optimist, with an adventurer's spirit. So it is with that spirit in mind that I humbly suggest that we use this moment to celebrate John's achievements. It is because of men like John that every American alive today knows that, both metaphorically and literally, the sky is not the limit to our people's potential. It is by John's example that we now know that American ingenuity, strength, and bravery has the capacity to break past the dominion of our planet and forge a new path beyond the stars. We are a better country because of John's decades of service, and he is yet another reason that millions of us are proud to call Ohio home."

Will Croft for Ohio Putting the people of Ohio before the Washington insiders.

Name: Will Croft Media Outlet: CNN Reason: Election Outcome Obviously, this election was a disappointing one for the Republican Party. While I am incredibly grateful that election night saw the people of Ohio trust me to represent them in the United States Senate, the outcome nationally was not what our party had hoped for. Today, we are presented with a situation in which both the White House and the Senate are controlled by the Democratic Party, enabling them to continue their near total grip on power in Washington. Given the disastrous policies our country has dealt with over the last eight years, this should not have been the outcome of the election. It was, however, and as Republicans we must take stock of what went wrong to ensure we start winning elections again. The bottom line is this: our country is not better off today than it was eight years ago. My friends across the aisle can spin the facts as much as they want, but the reality remains that we are a weaker, poorer, less secure country today than we were when President Obama took office. Our immigration system remains broken and our borders are left open. We are less respected on the world stage, at a time when we are faced with a resurgent Russia and a substantial rise in terrorism as the result of the advent of ISIS. Economic growth remains, at best, sluggish. In his best year, 2015, annual GDP growth stood at just 1.5% - markedly lower for the annual growth achieved by every other President since Truman. Despite all of this, Republicans still failed to convince the American people that we were prepared to govern on their behalf. The question we have to ask ourselves today is simple: why? In the face of historically unpopular policies and a President that routinely put politics above good governance, our party still failed to win the American people over. I believe the answer is as simple as the question: Republicans have failed to express a positive message about America's future, rooted in the commonsense principles that underscore our nation's founding. Rather than spending time talking about what we are against, it's past time that we tell the American people what we're for. Thankfully, we have the opportunity to do just that by leveraging our control of the House of Representatives to put forth a positive, bold, dynamic legislative agenda for our country's future. That agenda must show the American people what the Republicans affirmatively believe in. Now is the time to present pro-growth policies that cut taxes and slash regulations, pro-individual choice policies that allow parents to send their children to the school that makes sense for them, and pro-security policies that will build up our military and secure our nation's borders. This isn't hard to do, we just need to once again act like we are the party that is prepared to lead America forward. As Ohio's freshman Senator, and as a life long conservative, I hope to play a role in this redirection of the Republican Party. I will champion commonsense, conservative policies that are decidedly pro-family, pro-growth, and pro-worker. I have enormous confidence in the future of our party, but we will only start really winning again if we are prepared to firmly establish ourselves as the party of opportunity, individual freedom, and security. When we do that, when we start talking to the American people about our plans to address the issues they care about, I have no doubt we will return to power.

Thanks so much, guys! Excited to be getting back into the game at such an exciting time.

Name: William (Will) Croft State and Seat: Ohio - 3 Political Party: Republican Avatar: Ryan Gosling Major Caucus: Freedom Caucus Date of Birth: November 13, 1978 (age 38 - 20 points) Place of Birth: North Canton, Ohio Current Place of Residence: Youngstown, Ohio Family/Background/Education Age: 38 years old Sexuality: Openly Gay (40 points) Husband: Jake Ireland Children: Two, ages 10 and 8 Ethnicity: White Religion: Catholic Education: Bachelors of Science in Agriculture, Ohio State University Professional Background: - Following college, Croft worked on his family's farm in North Canton, Ohio - Following his parents' retirement, Croft took over the farm, expanded it across central Ohio (Blue Collar Management - 15 points) Political Background: - While living in North Canton, Croft became increasingly involved in the Jackson County Republican Party, eventually becoming a more vocal member and activist - In 2010, during the height of the Tea Party Movement, Croft was selected as the Republican nominee for Ohio's 6th Congressional District, a seat he successfully won - Since his election, he served three terms in the House of Representatives (6 points, not including current term) - At the beginning of his third term, Croft became the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare (2 points) - Following the announcement that Ohio Senator Rob Portman would not be seeking another term, Mr. Croft announced his candidacy for the seat. After a heated primary content, Croft emerged as the Republican nominee for the Senate seat, besting Democrat Ted Strickland to become the junior Senator from Ohio - While serving his third term, Croft wrote a book of essays entitled, "Our Forgotten Founding - Returning to the Principles that Make America Great" (10 points) Voting History - American Taxpayer Relief Act (Vote: No) - VAWA Reauthorization (Vote: No) - Bipartisan Budget Act (Vote: No)