An educator with more than 30 years under his belt has decided to take a shot at state-level politics.

Monday, December 31, 2001

An educator with more than 30 years under his belt has decided to take a shot at state-level politics.

Harold R. "Bud" Sayre, a Republican and Scioto County native, has announced his candidacy for state representative, running for the 89th District seat. The district includes all of Scioto County, the western part of Lawrence County and the eastern section of Adams County. The district replaces the 92nd District, currently represented by Bill Ogg who is term-limited.

Sayre has worked 33 years in the field of education, currently serving as principal of South Webster High School. He has also served as superintendent of the Eastern (Pike County) and Union Scioto (Ross County) school districts and as a teacher, coach and principal at Portsmouth West High School.

On three different occasions he was elected to the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Southeast District Board of Control and served as both president and vice president. He was elected to the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Board of Control. During his coaching career, he was named conference coach of the year, and was the first recipient of the Portsmouth’s Chapter of Basketball Officials’ Sportsmanship award.

He also has served as president of the Pilasco Ross Governing Board and was a member of the SCOCA Governing Board. In 1997, he was named Outstanding Administrator in the Southeast Region by the Ohio School Boards Association.

In addition, he was a founder and long-time president of the Earl Thomas Conley Scholarship Committee. He has served on the River Days Committee and is a past chairman of the Heart Fund, Cancer Society and St. Jude Hospital fund drives in West Portsmouth. He coached both little league and Del Rice league baseball.

He is a member of the Masonic Lodge 769 in West Portsmouth and the Scottish Rite Bodies in the Valley of Columbus.

He and his wife, Connie, reside in Friendship. They are the parents of two children, Jodi, a teacher at Portsmouth West Middle School, and Chad, an attorney in Portsmouth. They have two grandchildren, Jordan and Chandler.