With 28 days until the May 5 Republican primary, State Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) has adopted a markedly more combative public posture — swapping out his official profile photo for an image of himself aiming a scoped shotgun, trading accusations publicly with the executive director of Ohio Gun Owners, and calling a gun rights leader a “fraud” and a “stalker” in posts visible on his official state representative Facebook page.

The shift in tone is notable for a legislator who built his statehouse identity around social conservatism, religious credentials, and quiet committee work — and who, until recently, was best known in Second Amendment circles for a C-minus rating from Ohio Gun Owners and refusing the organization’s candidate survey two election cycles running.

A new profile photo — and a new attitude

Click replaced his previous Facebook headshot — a standard professional photo — with an image of himself in hunting attire, shouldering what Ohio Gun Owners Executive Director Chris Dorr later identified as a Remington 870 pump-action shotgun with a slug barrel and scope. The update appeared simultaneously on Click’s official state representative page and his personal account on April 2.

The photo change came the same day Dorr posted a video to the Ohio Gun Owners Facebook page drawing a direct contrast between Click and Republican primary challenger Eric Watson of Tiffin on gun issues.

“In the Republican primary for House District 88, this race is pretty simple,” Dorr said in the video. “Eric Watson filled out the Ohio Gun Owners survey 100% pro-gun. He didn’t dodge any of the questions. He didn’t hesitate. In fact, he demanded this survey in order to be held accountable to gun voters. Gary Click refused this survey.”

Dorr said Click declined to co-sponsor the Ohio Freedom to Carry Act, the Ohio Self-Defense Act, and the Ohio Second Amendment Protection Act — and that Click broke with the majority of House Republicans in December 2024 to vote against the Second Amendment Preservation Act. In December 2024, the Ohio House voted 56-35 to table an amendment that would have folded the Second Amendment Preservation Act into a separate gun bill, with multiple Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition.

Click goes on offense

Click responded on Facebook the same day with a lengthy post calling Dorr a “fraud” and detailing a series of allegations against him.

“Let’s set the record straight,” Click wrote. “Chris Dorr is a fraud. I completed his surveys once and he literally changed my answers. Why would I ever complete it again?”

Click also alleged that Dorr insulted Seneca County Sheriffs Christopher Hilton and Frederick W. Stevens by calling them “F’ing idiots” after they requested amendments to the Second Amendment Preservation Act — amendments Click said the bill’s latest version now incorporates, which he described as “the Click amendments.”

Click further alleged that Dorr “stalked female legislators in the parking garage harassing them about his bill,” a claim he called “creepy.”

“I trust our local law enforcement more than a guy from PA with a bad reputation,” Click wrote. “I know he will double down on his attacks. That’s okay. I value integrity.”

Dorr denied each allegation in a follow-up video, calling Click “a damned liar” on the parking garage claim, denying he altered survey answers, and saying Click himself had admitted he never read the bill. TiffinOhio.net was unable to independently verify either Click’s original allegations or Dorr’s denials. Both men’s accounts are based solely on their own public statements. A full account of Dorr’s response is available in our earlier reporting on the exchange.

A record that precedes the persona

Click’s aggressive social media turn arrives amid a documented legislative record that complicates the tough-guy framing. In the current session, Click is the primary sponsor of House Bill 649, which would require child care providers to install real-time video surveillance systems and grant state investigators expanded access to footage — a bill that drew hundreds of critical public comments after TiffinOhio.net reported on the public backlash. He has also co-sponsored legislation that would reduce state funding for public schools in Seneca County.

As TiffinOhio.net first reported in February, Click quietly stepped down as senior pastor of Fremont Baptist Temple in 2025 after 19 years leading the congregation, assuming the honorary title of pastor emeritus with no public announcement to his congregation. The church’s Facebook page subsequently identified Rick Ash as the new pastor. Click’s faith-based identity has been central to his political brand throughout his legislative career.

Click has received an “A” rating and endorsement from the Buckeye Firearms Association, Ohio’s largest gun rights organization, which he cites prominently in response to Ohio Gun Owners’ attacks. BFA and Ohio Gun Owners have been publicly at odds for years; BFA has published an investigation alleging the Dorr family’s network of gun organizations functions primarily as a fundraising operation. Dorr moved to Ohio from Iowa in 2016 to found Ohio Gun Owners.

Dorr addressed the new profile photo directly in his follow-up video, identifying Click’s firearm as a deer hunting gun rather than a centerpiece of gun rights advocacy.

“If that’s proving your Second Amendment bona fides, that’s pretty sad,” Dorr said, adding that Click’s pose appeared “clearly unnatural.”

Watson’s endorsement coalition keeps growing

Watson, a Tiffin resident and the owner of an Arizona-based hat shop, completed the Ohio Gun Owners candidate survey with what the organization says is a 100% pro-gun score. As TiffinOhio.net previously reported, he has also received endorsements from End Abortion Ohio, Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox, former Maricopa County Sheriff Mark Lamb, and the Coalition of Concerned Voters of Ohio.

Click, meanwhile, has drawn support from the state Republican establishment: Speaker Matt Huffman, Treasurer Robert Sprague, and House GOP Whip Nick Santucci have all publicly backed his re-election bid. TiffinOhio.net has previously reported that 65.6% of Click’s total fundraising since 2020 has come from corporate PACs and industry groups, while individual donors within the 88th District account for just 13.9% of his campaign war chest. In 2025 alone, Click transferred $39,000 to OHROC — the Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee, the House GOP’s campaign PAC controlled by Speaker Huffman.

Democrat Aaron Jones of Tiffin, a U.S. Army veteran, factory supervisor, and Tiffin City Council member, is running in the general election regardless of the primary outcome.

Early voting began Tuesday, April 7. Election Day for the primary is May 5, 2026.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correct the names of Treasurer Robert Sprague and House GOP Whip Nick Santucci.