A Yellow Springs resident hopes to be the one to unseat longtime Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Turner in November’s general election. But first, she must clinch the Democratic nomination in the upcoming May 5 primary.

Kristina Knickerbocker, 35, seeks to represent the 10th Congressional District, which includes all of Montgomery County, Greene County, some of Clark County, and after redistricting last year, northeast Butler County.

The villager is up against five other Democratic candidates — Janice Beckett, David Esrati, Manuel Foggie, Jan Kinner and Tony Pombo — in the May 5 primary.

What Knickerbocker believes sets her apart from these other candidates, she told the News in an interview last week, is her fresh perspective on politics granted by her experiences as a nurse, veteran and mother.

“I know the needs of our community because I’ve been a servant of the people the entire time I’ve lived here,” Knickerbocker said. “I haven’t been steeped in politics my whole life, so I have this fresh perspective on the challenges we face, and I have the experience to address them.”

She said the three main pillars of her campaign are addressing issues around affordability; reducing costs and deficiencies in the healthcare system; and ridding politics of corruption and corporate financing.

She moved to the area a little over a decade ago when she was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as a nurse practitioner. She landed in Yellow Springs not long after meeting her husband — of the local Knickerbocker Pools family. After serving in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve, she continued her nursing career in neuro-oncology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

“I never saw myself getting into politics, but I began thinking about running after years of seeing so many people really struggling — people who can’t afford insurance to deal with uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension, people who can’t get off work or find transportation to make it to their appointment,” Knickerbocker said.

She continued: “In Dayton, in Xenia, in the cancer hospital — I’m seeing the same thing: people of all backgrounds getting better treatments and better medications, but worse and worse insurance coverage. It’s just not OK that people have to suffer and choose between medicine and groceries.”

Having almost died from childbirth, Knickerbocker takes the failing healthcare system personally.

“Thanks to so many Medicaid cuts and corruption in Washington, we have one of the worst maternal and infant mortality rates in the country,” she said. “Thankfully I wasn’t a statistic to add to that, but there are so many women who don’t look like me who have been. They’re who I want to stand up for.”

Knickerbocker isn’t the only Democrat focusing on healthcare hoping to win in November.

Since last year’s record-setting lapse in healthcare funding from the federal government — notably the monthlong government shutdown over the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” which gutted nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, potentially causing 10 million people to lose coverage — healthcare has been a top priority in campaigns across the country, national reporting shows.

“And so much else has been cut — SNAP benefits, grant funding for nonprofits and small businesses,” Knickerbocker. “So many people are being hurt, so it’s important to elect leaders who actually understand the value of investing in community versus corporate interests.”

Now just a few months into her campaign for Congress, Knickerbocker said she’s become a target for her political opponents — the very ones she claims are backed by those corporate interests.

The Montgomery County Republican Party has filed three complaints against Knickerbocker’s campaign, alleging that she violated federal law by failing to file financial documents in a timely manner, that she engaged in promotional activities before her official campaign launch in January and that she implied that the military endorsed her in a campaign video.

All three of these allegations, Knickerbocker said, are untrue.

“All my bases are covered. I have taken great pains to make sure I’ve been in compliance since the very beginning and I’m not making a single dollar running this campaign,” she said. “It’s so frustrating and sad that, as a working mom taking time away from my family and my job to run for office, Mike Turner and the Republicans are grasping to discredit me.”

As the Dayton Daily News reported earlier, Turner or the local GOP have filed various complaints with the Federal Election Commission against congressman’s political opponents in 2024, 2020, 2018, 2016 and 2013. Turner has never lost a congressional race since his career began in 2003.

As the Cook Political Report notes, Ohio’s 10th Congressional District is a “solid R,” meaning that Republican candidates maintain a strong advantage here.

Turner has represented the 10th district since 2013 and previously served as Dayton’s mayor. He assumed his present position after beating another Yellow Springs resident, Sharen Neuhardt, in the 2012 election with about 60% of the state’s votes. Turner won the last general election against Democrat Amy Cox in 2024 by more than 70,000 votes.

Despite all those odds, Knickerbocker is optimistic for not just the upcoming primary, but the Democratic Party’s overall chances of defeating Turner and turning the district blue in November.

“There’s this big wave of Democrats taking back Republican-led districts,” she said. “This seat is on the map to do just that. I’m the only candidate who’s gotten both state and national recognition — people know I can flip the seat.”

The primary election is Tuesday, May 5. As in past elections, all Yellow Springs residents will vote at Antioch University Midwest, 900 Dayton St. Polls will be open 6:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m.

Early voting has begun and can be done at the Greene County Board of Elections, 551 Ledbetter Road in Xenia. For more information and to see a preview of the primary ballot, go to http://www.boe.ohio.gov/greene