As an architect, Lyndsey Stough has designed and managed complex projects, balancing competing needs, tight budgets and deadlines while interacting with owners, local governments, community members, construction workers and engineers.
As the daughter of longtime Sylvania Mayor Craig Stough, who stepped down in 2024 after 29 years in public service, she was able to “peek behind the curtain” on what it takes to weigh different sides and make a level-headed decision to benefit the community. It’s the same attitude she carries with her as a member of Sylvania City Council today.
As an Independent, Stough has watched the divisiveness of a two-party system get in the way of finding solutions that could benefit northwest Ohioans. The time is right for an Independent to represent District 44 in the Statehouse, she said.
“As an Independent, I answer directly to District 44, not parties, special interest donors or lobbyists – just the people I represent,” she said. “I’m not an Independent that’s secretly a Democrat or a Republican. I’ve never been part of a political party. There’s a lot of discontent and hyper-partisanship that is taking away from what we have in common. Why don’t we solve the issues that are bothering us together?”
A January 2025 Gallup poll shows that 45 percent of adults in the United States identify as political independents, who outnumber the 27 percent who affiliate as Democrat and the 27 percent who identify as Republican, she said. Yet the system isn’t set up for an Independent to run. To get on the ballot, she had to collect five times the number of signatures that a party candidate had to submit.
“I’m going to draw the interest of both Republicans and Democrats: Republicans who know and don’t like that a vote for a Republican right now is probably a vote for the Trump way of doing things; and a vote for a Democrat is a vote for the same things that have been happening. I think this year, having an independent – especially if they (House Republicans) lose a supermajority – I become that voice of reason and a way to cut through some of the pandering and be able to bring up issues that neither party wants to talk about.”
To Stough and her constituents, the top three issues are public education, lowering costs, and voter access and integrity.
Public education
As the daughter of a retired eighth-grade science teacher, Stough understands the value of an excellent public education – and how investing in a good education turns around and benefits the community.
“Public education is valuable and important, but it needs to be properly funded,” she said.
The Fair School Funding Plan was passed by both parties as a solution to the unconstitutional plan that was in place, but the current budget bill is underfunded by $400 million – undermining the efforts to fairly distribute funds among the school districts. Stough wants to figure out why that’s the case, and hold leaders accountable to what was approved when they passed the Fair School Funding Act.
“I think the current voucher system is outside of what its original intention was…to give students in struggling school districts a chance at a better opportunity. It was not meant to discount the cost of private education for higher income families, and especially if they’re in successful school districts,” she said. “I would want to look at why we’re are at this point. It’s weakening good school systems. This is placing undue burden on local municipalities and local school systems and contributing to higher property taxes.”
Lowering costs
“We all feel it. We are stretched thin mentally, monetarily and emotionally,” she said. “I would like to find ways to lower common recurring costs.”
To do that, Stough wants to bring more money back home by restoring the Local Government Fund, which was enacted to make sure that what the state was taking away was going back into the communities paying into it.
“The Local Government Fund has been reduced since Covid and hasn’t gotten back [to pre-Covid levels],” she said.
Stough also plans to work on getting more state funding for local capital improvement projects, like the Sylvania bridge over I-475 and street repairs.
“I know how big of a difference having local capital improvement dollars can make,” she said.
Bringing state dollars back to local communities reduces the burden on villages, cities and townships in District 44, and their constituents, she said.
Looking back at the state’s largest corruption case – the 2019 FirstEnergy bribery scandal – Stough said the statehouse needs to have stricter oversight on anti-corruption and consumer protection laws.
“I think it’s necessary to keep costs down for utilities, groceries, health care and more,” she said. “Are we offering deductions or credits to things that maybe aren’t being good stewards of the public money? Are we doing a good job of ensuring that everyday people have a reasonable level of protection?”
Voting access and integrity
Voting in elections must be fair, accessible and secure, said Stough, who said she supports voter ID but opposes making it harder for eligible citizens to vote.
“Voting by mail and ballot drop boxes are longstanding, reliable methods that are both accessible and secure,” said Stough. “I think open primaries, ranked place voting, ending gerrymandering and maintaining the ballot initiative process should be nonpartisan issues to ensure that every vote counts and that the government properly represents its citizens.”
The river-crossing C-shape of District 44 is evidence that partisan gerrymandering is an ongoing issue in Ohio, she said.
“How are we going to get the things that matter to us done if the people representing us don’t actually represent us? If we don’t address it now, it’s only going to get worse,” Stough said.
Weighing issues, making decisions
As a member of Sylvania City Council since 2020, Stough looks at each issue independently – and plans to bring that same approach to District 44.
“On council, there are some issues that align one way or another. I look at the facts, talk to neighbors and experts, and come up with my own conclusions,” she said. “I like diving into nuance, talking to the experts, and finding the right way forward.”
A Sylvania Southview graduate, Stough earned her B.S. in Architecture from The Ohio State University and M.A. in Architecture from the University of Michigan. She now represents the third generation in Stough & Stough Architects, and has designed notable projects including Veterans Hall at Owens Community College, the TARTA Downtown Hub, the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center at Lourdes University, and the Community Center for The Ability Center of Greater Toledo, which is currently under construction.
Her role is to work with owners, contractors, engineers, boards, employees and end-users, and balance that with the creative side and the government side – including permitting, fire and zoning codes – to find a solution that meets the needs of all while complementing the surrounding community.
“My job is to interpret the essence of what they want and achieve that goal by putting the pieces together. The role of an architect and the role of an independent overlap,” she said. “It’s not about being a specialist on one thing, it’s about being able to know enough to connect the dots and know who to talk to when something needs to be solved. You need to be able to work with a lot of different people and people need to want to work with you.”
Stough is recently married and, in her spare time, likes riding a Vespa, attending the Toledo Opera, and playing a ukulele on her front porch.
