T-L Photo/SHELLEY HANSON
OUTGOING Ohio Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, speaks to The Times Leader about his time in the Senate, and what he is most proud of in his career so far.

MARTINS FERRY — State Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, completed his term in the 131st General Assembly this month, and sat down with The Times Leader to talk about how he got into politics, his work in the Ohio Legislature, and his passion for serving the people of Eastern Ohio.

Gentile was defeated in the November general election by Republican challenger Frank Hoagland, a retired Navy SEAL and entrepreneur.

While earning his degree in political science at West Virginia University, Gentile worked closely with WVU Chief of Staff David Satterfield while working in student government. Satterfield recommended Gentile for his first job out of college, as an aide for Gov. Bob Wise of West Virginia in 2001.

After a short time working for Wise, Gentile came back to Ohio to work for Gov. Ted Strickland in 2002, serving as his campaign field director, and worked for his at his district office in Martins Ferry. He left Strickland at the end of 2003 to work for Dick Gephardt’s presidential campaign in Iowa.

“I walked away from a pretty good job then to work on that campaign. I was really young, and really wanted to work on campaigns. At that time in my life I really enjoyed the campaign politics, the pace of it, the interaction with people. I’ve always had a passion for public service, I’ve always wanted to be in public office. But it was never really clear how to get there. A lot of it has to do with timing, for better or worse,” Gentile said.

After the Gephardt campaign, Gentile was asked in 2005 to work on the Strickland campaign for governor. Strickland was elected, and Gentile was appointed as assistant director of the Governor’s office of Appalachia.

“I could have stayed in Columbus, but wanted to work in the Eastern Ohio region,” Gentile said. “It gave me an opportunity to get around these communities to help with infrastructure and economic development. We funded projects in 32 counties.”

Gentile worked in that capacity from 2007-09, managing $10 million in state and federal grant funding.

“I would go to Columbus two or three days a week, worked with groups like OMEGA to get projects funded,” he said.

After leaving that office, Gentile ran for Ohio state representative in 2010, winning a five-way primary in May with 52 percent of the vote. He was elected in November and served as Ohio representative for 11 months. He was then appointed to the Senate after a Senate seat was vacated by Jason Wilson, who took a job with Gov. John Kasich. He was re-elected in 2012 to his first full term, which ends in January.

“When I left the House and was appointed to the Senate, I gave a ‘goodbye’ speech and an ‘I’m here’ speech, thank you very much, the same day. I was thinking it’s pretty neat. My grandfather was an Italian immigrant, came over on a boat. He never would have thought that his grandson would sit in the Ohio House and Ohio Senate. I think about him and about his struggle, and it frankly reminds me of who I’ve been charged to serve over many years — people who want those same kind of opportunities,” Gentile said. “I was always committed to helping other people, making sure there are opportunities for working people, and understanding their struggles.”

Gentile sees his work in the Ohio Senate as fulfilling his goals of helping working families. During his entire term, the Democrat party was in the minority. Despite that, he believes he got a lot done for the district despite the uphill climb against the Republican party majority.

“As an advocate, I think I’ve been instrumental at standing up for the people of this area, whether it be the workers at Ormet who lost their jobs … standing up for the Mine Safety Training Center … I’ve been on the front lines fighting for construction workers in the oil and gas fields, trying to keep people hired locally, embracing the industry and wanting it to develop while making sure it benefits us locally,” Gentile said.

Other legislative acts include getting a $200,000 state-funded scholarship for Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville for oil and gas industry training, securing investment funding for Belmont College, providing tax incentives for businesses to hire veterans, fighting for the Homestead exemption for seniors, and fighting for veterans to get college credit for their service and training. Gentile also fought for coal miners’ pensions.

“My agenda has been one that is viewed on both sides as positive … I’m proud of our accomplishments. I am very grateful for the opportunity the voters gave me to serve this district. I am deeply committed to public service. It has never been about me or what’s in it for me. It’s about what I can do to help advance this area. I was born and raised here and live here. This is the area I’m from, and the people I care about,” Gentile said.

He noted there are “countless” things that he has to be proud of with his staff, who have worked to provide the districts’ constituents with “around the clock 24-7 service.”

“My staff is the best. They treat all constituents like family. The first thing I ask of people that work for me is to treat the people we serve like family,” he said.

In the years he served in the Senate, Gentile racked up 197,000 miles on his car, traveling around the district and listening to the needs of his constituents.

“I believe in this work of public service… I think that this election wasn’t really about me, it was about the top of the ticket … I would agree with Tim Ryan when he said that the national Democrat party is viewed as a party that is bi-coastal, not connected at all with Midwestern states. A lot of candidates on the down ballot have lost because of this. But I do respect that people voted the way they did … Trump represented change — from the White House to the courthouse,” he said.

In the upcoming term, Gentile hopes the 132nd General Assembly will pass legislation to make e-schools and charter schools more accountable to taxpayers, and will be responsible with budgeting in light of Kasich’s warning about a possible recession and a $1 billion revenue shortfall that was not expected at the end of this year.

“I am worried that if there is less money, there will be less investment for job creation and economic development in our area. I hope that because of the shortfall our public school students and local communities aren’t asked to shoulder more of the burden like they have had to in the past,” Gentile said.

Gentile said he is proud to be an example of someone who has “worked his way up from the bottom,” and that he chose to stay focused on helping people in the Eastern Ohio region, rather than “cozying up to the power brokers in Columbus.”

“Everybody wants to know they can work their way up from the bottom. You just have to be willing to take some risks, and I was. I could have gotten really comfortable in Columbus, but I had a passion to create change here at home,” Gentile said. “It seemed no matter what I did — working for the West Virginia governor, Ohio governor or working on campaigns — something always was calling me to go back home and fight for the people in the valley.”

Gentile said he is evaluating all available career options in the short term, always with an eye toward future public service.

“I am exploring many different options available to me in the short term, always with an open mind towards opportunities for public service in the future. I will always be interested in public service,” Gentile said.