TIFFIN, Ohio — The United Auto Workers have endorsed Democrat Aaron Jones in the race for Ohio House District 88, the Jones campaign announced Monday — a labor nod in a two-county district where manufacturing employs more people than any other sector.

According to the campaign, the endorsement was made by the executive committee of the UAW Ohio State CAP Council on the recommendation of the Fostoria Area UAW Community Action Program, which represents members in Seneca County. That route matches the process the union describes publicly: candidates are vetted by UAW Region 2B’s area Community Action Program councils, which then make recommendations to the Ohio or Indiana state CAP boards, made up of rank-and-file members and retirees.

The endorsement lands in a district built on factory work. Manufacturing is the largest employment sector in both Seneca and Sandusky counties, with roughly 7,000 workers in each — about a quarter of employed residents in each county — according to U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates.

Jones has spent more than 20 years as a production supervisor at JVIS Tiffin USA, formerly Toledo Molding & Die. Before that, he served four years in the U.S. Army as an airborne infantryman with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment — the Old Guard — the Army’s official ceremonial unit. He has represented Tiffin’s 1st Ward on City Council since 2024.

“I’ve spent two decades on a plant floor in Tiffin,” Jones said in the campaign’s announcement. “I know what it means when a line goes down, when a shift gets cut, when a plant that’s been here for generations starts talking about consolidation. The people who build things in Seneca and Sandusky County don’t need somebody in Columbus who’s never done it. They need somebody who has.”

The campaign also said Jones does not accept corporate PAC money, that more than 90 percent of the money he has raised this cycle has come from donors inside House District 88, and that his average contribution is about $73.

Campaign money was a live issue in the district this spring. During the Republican primary, challenger Eric Watson repeatedly criticized incumbent Rep. Gary Click over filings showing Click drew the bulk of his fundraising from corporate political action committees and donors outside the district.

A district Click nearly lost

Click, R-Vickery, is a three-term incumbent who is term-limited after the coming cycle and is seeking a fourth and final two-year term. He survived the May 5 Republican primary by fewer than 600 votes, finishing with 6,859 votes to Watson’s 6,260 — 52.28 percent to 47.72 percent — according to returns from the Sandusky and Seneca county boards of elections. Click carried his home county of Sandusky but lost Seneca County, where Jones lives and holds elected office. Watson declined to endorse Click after the race.

Jones ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The UAW endorsement adds to a growing list of labor and veterans’ backing for his campaign: the national veterans group VoteVets endorsed Jones in March, and the Ohio Federation of Teachers endorsed him in a June 18 letter from union President Melissa Cropper.

Ohio’s 88th House District covers all of Seneca and Sandusky counties. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

More information about the Jones campaign is available at jonesforohio.com.