Ashley Wnek Begins Late Campaign in City Council Race

When Ashley Wnek’s name went on the ballot as the Republican candidate for City Council, it wasn’t meant to remain there. She was tapped as a “placeholder” when filling out the paperwork for the position while the local GOP sought someone else to run in the head-to-head race against appointed incumbent Democrat candidate Shannon Hardin. It was reported by The Dispatch in June that no replacement candidate was selected and Wnek opted to not run a campaign this year, even though her name will officially appear on the ballot. That reversed about a month ago when Wnek changed her mind, launched a Facebook campaign page, and started making public appearances in the race for City Council.

“Quite honestly, the placeholder terminology is not used favorably,” explained Wnek in an interview with Columbus Underground. “I’ve decided that I’m really excited about this. Initially, the Republican party asked me to consider remaining on the ballot, and I was excited to remain. And after the news of the scandals came out — the more you dig, it’s more and more disgusting — so I was more motivated by those things.”

Originally from Cincinnati, Wnek has called Columbus home for over ten years, and currently lives and works in German Village as a Law Clerk, though she stated that she’ll be changing jobs next week and reverse commuting to Dublin to work for a new firm. She graduated from OSU with a double major in Political Science and Economics, and obtained her Law Doctorate from Capital University.

“There’s a lot of great things I love about Columbus, and I’m open to new ideas,” she said. “We need to be encouraging businesses to stay in Columbus, so people can have an actual job here in the city. The current mass transit system is not conducive to people living here, and there are routes inefficiencies that need immediate change. As Columbus grows, that’s what people want. It’s a young city, and Millennials love mass transit, so we need it to retain OSU students and to appeal as a large city.”

Without a whole lot of time spent campaigning thus far, Wnek didn’t provide too many specifics on a campaign platform.  She wants to see incentives provided to small businesses in areas like Franklinton and the South Side of Columbus to help those neighborhoods attract new jobs and increase homeownership, and she thinks the permitting process at the city of Columbus is too cumbersome and complex. Mostly though, she’s working right now just to get her name in front of the public before election day.

“I’m not well funded, and I haven’t been in office as long as my opponent,” said Wnek. “It’s certainly not ideal, but I remain motivated to meet as many people as I can and get to as many events as I can.”