TIFFIN, Ohio — Republican state House candidate Eric Watson is urging party leaders and political organizations to remain neutral in the GOP primary for Ohio’s 88th House District, as the contest against incumbent Gary Click grows increasingly hostile.

In a statement released Feb. 4, Watson said Republican primaries should be decided by voters rather than by party insiders, calling for what he described as a fair and open nomination process ahead of the May 5 election.

“Primaries exist to give voters a choice,” Watson said. “The people of District 88 deserve the opportunity to hear from all candidates and decide for themselves who they want representing them.”

Watson’s appeal comes as the Republican primary has taken on a sharply personal edge. Click, a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, former community theater actor, and three-term lawmaker from Vickery seeking what would be his final term before term limits, has publicly derided Watson’s challenge — telling the Fremont News-Messenger that Watson’s campaign is “in the ditch.”

“You move to the right of Gary Click and you’re in the ditch,” Click said when asked about Watson’s candidacy.

Rather than responding in kind, Watson has publicly rejected name-calling and personal attacks, telling TiffinOhio.net earlier this week that insults are “not needed” in a race that should focus on issues affecting voters in Seneca and Sandusky counties.

Still, the policy disputes underlying the race have grown sharper. Watson has criticized Click’s legislative record on digital identification, election administration, tax policy, and corporate-backed economic development initiatives, while pointing to Click’s heavy reliance on corporate political action committee fundraising.

Campaign finance records show Click has raised more than $312,000 since taking office, with a majority of that money coming from PACs and out-of-district donors — a fact Watson has repeatedly cited as evidence of what he describes as entrenched Columbus influence.

The increasingly hostile tone of the primary reflects broader fractures within Ohio’s Republican Party, where contested primaries have increasingly spilled into public feuds rather than remaining confined to policy disagreements.

The Republican primary election for Ohio’s 88th House District will be held May 5. Early in-person voting begins April 7. The winner will advance to the Nov. 3 general election, where they will face Democratic nominee Aaron Jones, a U.S. Army veteran, longtime manufacturing supervisor, and Tiffin City Councilman.