J. Allen Burger
J. Allen Burger (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 10. He lost in the Democratic primary on April 28, 2020.
Burger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
J. Allen Burger was born in Massillon, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree from Kent State University in 2006 and a graduate degree from Cleveland State University in 2008. Burger's career experience includes working as a college professor.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 10
Incumbent Terrence Upchurch won election in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 10 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Terrence Upchurch (D) | 100.0 | 28,453 |
| Total votes: 28,453 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 10
Incumbent Terrence Upchurch defeated J. Allen Burger in the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 10 on April 28, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Terrence Upchurch | 81.9 | 6,151 |
 | J. Allen Burger | 18.1 | 1,355 | |
| Total votes: 7,506 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
J. Allen Burger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Burger's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name is J. Allen Burger and I am running for the Ohio House of Representatives from District Ten. I teach American history, government and politics at Tri-C, so I believe I have a well-founded understanding of what works for the people of our great country and what does not. I would use the principles and ideas we learn about in the classroom on a daily basis and apply them to pass common sense legislation that benefits the majority of hard-working Ohioans. On day one I will push for a higher minimum wage for all the working people of Ohio. Hard work should always be rewarded with financial security. I want to reduce the costs associated with healthcare, including prescription drugs. The costs that we pay to remain alive, healthy and productive are an undue burden on Ohioans and I want to help fix this corrupt system. Another "first day" initiative of mine will be to become available to my constituents. I will have a town hall style meeting in District Ten at least every three months. Ideally, I would want to meet my fellow citizens every eight weeks.
- I will always push for giant corporations and the very wealthy to pay their fair share. Our government cannot function properly while being strangled by those unwilling to pay their fair share.
- I want to fix the corrupt, broken healthcare system that currently operates with impunity in our great country and state. Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, not a privilege afforded to only the wealthy.
- Politicians should be approachable and available to their fellow citizens. I promise to hold a town-hall style meeting at least every three months, but ideally every eight weeks. As voters we have the right to know what's being done on our behalf.
As a university level professor, I am pro-science. I will always vote with the evidence and science of a topic. It's so sad that we have to make that announcement in the United States in 2020. Here is how I stand on common national political concerns......
-Pro-choice (Any decision-making is between a woman and her doctor.)
-Strongly in favor of common-sense gun control (My right to live a safe, meaningful, productive life trumps someone's "right" to carry a military style weapon.
-Strongly in favor of lowering the costs associated with health care and prescription drugs. (The fact that some people have to choose between purchasing their life-saving medication or paying bills is sickening. It's a total embarrassment that in the wealthiest country in human history some people are dying due to lack of medical treatment and prescriptions drugs.)
-Strongly in favor of giant corporations and the very wealthy paying significantly more in taxes. A government of, for and by the people cannot function properly while being smothered by those unwilling to pay their fair share.
My historical idol is Abraham Lincoln. As a college history teacher, I have studied hundreds of historical figures and he is the most admirable of them all. From humble beginnings, he rose up to be one of the most influential humans in history. The one character trait I admire most about President Lincoln is his never-ending thirst for knowledge. He had a passion for reading and incorporating that information into his decision making. More than 150 years later, President Lincoln is still impacting all our lives on a daily basis.
I am seeking this office because I believe I have a unique combination of compassion, intelligence and the ability to speak to people, plainly and honestly
Honesty and integrity are possibly the most important attributes of any meaningful politician. The ability to compassionately and intelligently serve is so rare in American politics. I never understand why it's so hard to tell the truth for politicians. Make the decision based on science, facts and evidence and then tell us why you reached that conclusion. It should not be hard, yet it is so rare.
Thoughtful service, compassion and integrity
I have flashes of events that happened in the late 1980s, but I honestly was too young to form concrete opinions. The first event that had real impact in my life was the presidential election of 2000. I had missed the cutoff to be able to vote by a few months. I begged all my older friends to vote for Al Gore. Even at age 17, I knew a vote for George W. Bush was a disaster. I still wish I could have voted against George W. Bush.
I was 16 and started working on the grounds crew of a local golf course. It was very early hours, long days and extremely high temperatures. I worked with a handful of my closest friends, so we worked our butts off and had a blast doing it. I worked at this golf course for five years.
"Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It's the best biography of my favorite person.
"Girls just want to have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper
Having a deeply religious family while not sharing their gift of faith has been a consistent problem in my life.
I think that there can be benefits of having political experience, but there can also be significant disadvantages of being submerged in the political the system. Lifetime political candidates can certainly fall victim to complacency and stagnation. For some politicians, their office is a way to collect a paycheck and a pension. On the flip side, new politicians can often times come in to the job with fresh, new ideas. I have absolutely no interest in being a politician for the rest of my life. I enjoy teaching way too much. So for me, running for office is about getting our state and country on the right track and then handing the torch to a new generation.
Having relationships with other legislators, of both parties, is very important. That's how most things get accomplished. With that being said, it is so easy to fall into a quid pro quo system of give and take. As a legislator, I will never sacrifice my integrity or ethics to get a specific piece of legislation passed. My oath to serve the Constitution and the people of my district will always trump any agenda.
I would only ever consider such a role in so much as I believe I have the peoples' support, I have the faith I can compassionately serve and have the proper support staff to effectively serve the best interests of the majority of my constituents.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 4, 2020
