ATHENS, Ohio — An Ohio University student is running in a contested Democratic primary this May to represent Ohio House of Representatives District 95.
James Joyce, of Athens, will face Paul Cameron, of St. Clairsville in the Democratic primary for Ohio House District 95. The district consists of Athens County (excluding the city), rural swaths of Guernsey and Belmont counties, and all of Harrison, Morgan and Noble counties.
Cameron’s campaign Facebook page describes him as a “progressive candidate … ready to work for the interests of real people and our communities instead of billionaires and corporations.”
Joyce, 20, is an OU junior studying computer science and artificial intelligence. Joyce is originally from the Cleveland area, he told the Independent, though has ties to OU through family; his parents are alumni and his siblings were born in Athens. He has lived in Athens for three years, he said.
“I always knew that I wanted to help people in some way, and I was a huge history nerd growing up, and that kind of just led me into politics,” Joyce said. “I figured that this would be a way that I’d be able to help people and improve people’s lives that would be dramatically impactful to everyone, as government impacts everybody.”
Joyce said one of his top campaign issues concern lowering energy costs.
“Everybody’s energy is rising everywhere, with the current administration pushing us to go back to coal,” Joyce said. “We need modern energy solutions, and that’s why I’m promoting solar power. My dream is that every building and every house will be able to produce their own energy, solar and storing it.”
Joyce said that investment in solar also “means that we’re building things here in Ohio, which means that we’re creating jobs,” specifically, union jobs. “The goal is that we’re creating jobs that are well paying, that are humane.”
Joyce also said education is another top priority.
“We need a well-educated populace to ensure that government stays within its realm, that it’s actually improving the lives of this country,” Joyce said. “So I want to help fix our brokenness. That includes things like free school lunches for kids.”
He also voiced support for “funding for arts, field trips, hands-on experiences,” as well as more support for teachers and their classroom supplies.
“I think that we should be able to provide all the supplies so we don’t rely on barely paid teachers, to have their own supplies,” he said.
A third major topic of Joyce’s campaign is supporting culture and communities.
“I want to make sure there’s state funding that if the county wants to host a festival … to celebrate their own history and traditions, like so that they feel connected to where they are building a sense of community,” he said.
Part of that also is “protecting our park system, ensuring that trails are maintained, things like that, while also helping local communities host their own events,” Joyce added.
Joyce declined to comment specifically on House Bill 68, the 2024 legislation that banned gender-affirming care for minors and barred transgender girls and women from participating in public school sports. HB 68 is part of a nationwide trend of anti-trans legislation that has exploded over the past decade.
The bill went before the Ohio Supreme Court this week.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s the government’s place to limit that [gender-affirming care for minors],” Joyce said. “There’s a certain age where it shouldn’t happen, that it shouldn’t happen, necessarily.”
Joyce said he has a transgender sibling, and that “I don’t agree with like, overhanded, like ‘You shouldn’t exist,’ and like, ‘We’re not going to support you anymore.’”
Joyce also said he opposed Senate Bill 1, which banned diversity, equity and inclusion programming and practices at post-secondary institutions statewide. Like anti-trans legislation, anti-DEI legislation is a nationwide trend that took off in 2023.
At Ohio University, the bill prompted layoffs, the closure of university centers; defunded student organizations, and more.
“I think that we have such bigger problems,” Joyce said. “The state has bigger problems to be worrying about than whether or not DEI is ruining our upper education system. So I think that these are examples where the state government is using fear-mongering to maintain power and hurting everyone.”
Joyce founded an OU club that educates and advocates for ranked-choice voting, which Ohio just banned. The issue is not a platform in his campaign.
Joyce said he is running as a Democrat for the “institutional knowledge and support” that a political party offers. He said he would have run as an independent if he thought he had a chance.
“I disagree with the two-party system, but you have to work within the reality that you are in,” he said.
Ohio House District 95 is currently represented by Rep. Ty Moore (R-Caldwell), who was appointed to the office when former Rep. Don Jones resigned in 2025. Incumbent Moore is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
Joyce and Cameron will participate in a virtual League of Women Voters of Athens County candidate forum at 7 p.m. Monday, April 6. Watch the forum live on YouTube or Facebook.
Another OU student, Rhyan Goodman, briefly ran for Ohio House District 94 in 2024, before dropping out of the race.
The last day to register to vote in the May 5 primary is April 6. Find more voting information from the Athens County Board of Elections.
