Another CMA Physician Running for Ohio Legislature

Following this week’s special legislative primary elections, Ohio voters will now turn to the November general election to choose 99 members of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Columbus Medical Association member, Dr. Anita Somani, is among the candidates in this election. Dr. Somani is the second CMA member physician to be on this year’s November ballot, joining incumbent State Representative, Dr. Beth Liston. Because of legislative redistricting, Franklin County has new districts for the Ohio House of Representatives. Dr. Somani is running for the open seat in the 11th District in NW Franklin County, including parts of Hilliard, Dublin, and NW Columbus.

Dr. Somani is an OB-GYN who has over practiced for over 30 years in Central Ohio. She graduated from the Medical College of Ohio and did her residency at Mt. Carmel. As a member of the Columbus Medical Association, she has served on the Board of Directors and in 2017-2018 she was the CMA’s President. Additionally, Dr. Somani has served on the CMA’s Physician Leadership Academy Board, and she is a graduate of the PLA’s inaugural class.

For many years Dr. Somani has been active in the CMA’s Public Policy efforts as an advocate for evidence-based health care policy.

Practicing physicians who can serve in the Legislature are not common. Doctors can bring real-world experience to their legislative colleagues regarding the impacts of their policy decisions.

Should Drs. Somani and Liston be elected in this November’s election, it will likely be the first time in Ohio history to have two physicians from the same local community serve together in the Legislature.

This year’s general election is on November 8th. Early voting starts on October 12th, the day after the voter registration deadline of October 11th.