MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP — If John Keim were to take a picture of this moment in his life, it would display a long road, fog obstructing its destination.
Keim is Montgomery Township’s newest trustee.
The 20-year-old triple-major Ashland University student earned 35.7% of the vote, edging incumbent Hugh B. Troth by 10 percentage points. He is set to begin a four-year term in January.
His honest reaction soon after Election Day was that of surprise.
“I mean, I was going against two incumbents who had been there eight-plus years,” he said.
He’ll join Stephen Uhler, 56, who in January will begin his third term in office, and trustee Joshua Boley, 43.
“Elections always favor (incumbents),” Keim said.
He added that his young age and inexperience also made him have doubts.
So Keim, who also works in photography to pay for tuition, said the road ahead, though murky, excites him.
“I’m excited to travel down that road, not scared — knowing there’s going to be times that are going to come that are going to be hard. I’m looking forward to traveling it,” Keim said.
That road, it seems, is already getting rocky for the county’s youngest trustee.
‘Minion’ or public servant?
On Dec. 12, around 40 friends and family amassed inside the Ashland County Common Pleas courtroom to celebrate Keim’s win and to witness his swearing in.
Keim, joined by his parents — John and Miriam — solemnly swore to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the U.S. and Ohio.
Before the ceremony began, Judge David Stimpert foreshadowed the work involved in being a township trustee. He shared that he watched his grandfather serve as a Weller Township trustee.
“I remember watching him farm all day and he’d come inside and then go to work on the township business. So it’s a tough job, but you seem ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work,” Stimpert said.
The “work” has already started, his parents said.
His father, John Keim, said people have expressed concern over his son’s closeness to Ashland Mayor Matt Miller. He said some perceive that as “being a minion” of Miller’s.
“And that’s … just no,” he said. “When you fight amongst each other, you’re not effective. And that’s gotta stop. It’s alright to disagree, but you won’t be effective fighting one another.”
Keim and Miller have known each other for years. Miller rejected the notion that Keim is “a minion” of his.
“I don’t have any minions,” Miller said.
Miller, like Keim, ran for public office as an Ashbrook Scholar at Ashland University. Miller ran again once he graduated and won a seat on the Ashland County Board of Commissioners, at age 22.
“People always connected me with John Keim because he had such a love for America and American politics,” the mayor said.
Miller said Keim approached him just before he pulled petitions to run for trustee.
“My advice to him was ‘just run a good, clean campaign. There’s no reason for you to have to talk negatively about your opponent. You just let everyone know what you will do if you get elected. And it won’t harm you if you don’t make it,'” Miller said.
The mayor attended Keim’s swearing-in ceremony.
Miller said Keim will serve one of the townships that Ashland is the most involved with when it comes to economic development and the city’s growth.
“We look forward to working with him and the trustees,” Miller said. “But no — no one recruited him to run or anything.”
And Keim?
“I’m my own person,” he said.
Annexation: a sore subject
Keim said the rub seems to be with annexation, something the township has experienced recently. So are Keim and Miller in cahoots?
The answer is no, Keim said.
“I’ve known (Matt Miller) for a long time. And I want to be abundantly clear. I do not agree with him when it comes to township-related issues. I love rural areas, that’s what I keep telling people.
“My intention is to keep the township the way it is.”
Boley and Uhler declined to comment for this story.
Montgomery Township trustees have historically expressed concern over annexation into Ashland. The mostly rural township has lost more than 100 acres to the city since 2017.
In 2017, 17.3 acres of the township annexed into the city in order to extend sanitary sewer service to some properties. The city grew by 91 acres in 2023 when Montgomery Township land out by U.S. Route 250 and Interstate 71 went to Ashland.
At the time, trustee Hugh Troth expressed concern, citing township residents who desire to keep their township more rural.
“Some people are really against this,” he said. “If you look at Medina, it’s basically just a growth out of Cleveland. And they took over that town. There’s just people moving in and keep moving in.
“The population is going to keep growing, and that’s great. But I hope we can protect as much of the rural area as we can. That’s what I hear from most of my constituents,” Troth said in a 2023 article.
In 2025, news broke that Scott Conery — a local investor behind numerous businesses in Ashland — petitioned the city for annexation of 120 acres in Montgomery Township.
The plan there, on the farmland, was to possibly build a housing subdivision. Trustee Uhler, at the time, expressed opposition to the annexation and said the township would author a formal letter expressing its perspective.
Ashland City Council planned on holding a special meeting in March to discuss the annexation, but it was canceled. As of Dec. 17, there has been no movement on that prospect, Miller said.
Political interest started young
Keim was 19 when he decided to run, but was younger still when he first discovered an interest in politics.
It’s an interest his father, who grew up Amish, doesn’t understand.
“It’s not what I would pursue,” his dad said.
But he can’t deny that his son has a natural knack for politics. At the end of the day, he supports his son’s choice to get involved.
At 12, Keim volunteered for Janet Folger Porter during her 2016 Republican primary race for Ohio State Senate District 22 against incumbent Larry Obhof.
Porter ended up losing her primary bid against Obhof, but the experience of door knocking for her made an impact.
“She really instilled in me the passion for politics,” he said.
Keim said he will take that passion to his newly elected township role, which he said will focus on financial transparency, annexation and zoning.
To do that, he’ll have to cut down on college club activity. He currently wears nine hats around campus, from shooting photos for The Collegian (the university’s student-run newspaper) to serving as “Executive Residence Life Rep” for the university’s student senate.
“I’ll be giving up some of my executive roles in clubs to devote fully to being a township trustee,” he said.
Keim cannot see where the road in his mind’s picture goes. It’s foggy, he said. When asked about his political aspirations beyond Montgomery Township, he said he didn’t know.
“I’m a Christian. So I believe God has a calling in all of our lives. So I’m just taking it day by day. We’ll see what God has for me,” he said.
The future
Keim acknowledges that some people might be wary of his youthfulness and inexperience.
“There’s not much else I can go off of other than my word,” he said, adding his absent voting record as an elected official.
He encouraged people with doubts and questions to approach him.
“Please talk to me. I’m very willing to talk to people,” he said.
One of his role models, Stan Kopp, predicts a bright future — both as a township trustee and beyond.
Kopp is Keim’s 75-year-old neighbor, and said he prides himself on spotting potential leaders. Kopp serves as Republican central committeeman for Montgomery Township, but he’s also had a long history with the Ohio Lions Club and was recently honored as a 33rd-degree Mason.
“Part of the role is finding new leaders,” he said.
That’s exactly what he did with Keim. At the time, he was surprised to learn of his young age.
“I thought he was older,” he said with a chuckle. “He certainly carries himself as much older.”
Keim was the youngest person Kopp’s ever voted for. It was because he’s convinced the youngster will be a good trustee.
“Also, it’s time for some fresh blood. John is intelligent, he’s an intelligent kid. There’s really no such thing as too young or too old,” Kopp said.
As parents, Keim’s mom and dad have worries, mostly about their son taking on too much. But Keim’s advice to his son when things get tough, or when the road ahead gets murky, is simple.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and all of these things you’re looking for, the wisdom, He will guide you in all truth,” he said.