Ohio state Sen. Bob Gibbs is in the 2010 race to unseat Democratic Rep. Zack Space.

Gibbs, a Republican, recently filed a statement of candidacy and a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission to initiate a campaign in Ohio’s 18th, a mostly rural and culturally conservative area of east-central and south-central Ohio that includes Zanesville and Chillicothe. Gibbs also has set up a rudimentary campaign Web site.

Gibbs was elected to the Ohio House in 2002 and served three two-year terms, then was elected to the Ohio Senate in 2008 with 59 percent of the vote in a district that includes all of Holmes, Medina and Wayne Counties and part of Ashland County.