(LAGRANGE) – A LaGrange resident has filed to run for the Indiana State House.

Dr. Rhonda Sharp, has filed as a candidate for State Representative for Indiana’s 51st House District. The 51st District has been represented by Dr. Denny Zent since 2012, and he has announced his decision not to seek another term this coming May.

In a media release, Sharp says over 20 years ago, she became a physician, and running for office was nowhere on the horizon. Sharp says as she has continued in her career, it has become more and more obvious that there are many forces at work on the physical, mental and economic health of the patients, the physicians, and the communities.

Sharp says these forces are detrimental to many of Hoosier values. She says she believes that the public needs strong, Christian, conservative leadership willing to fight for our values and all Northeast Indiana, and she looks forward to being that person and to earning the trust of residents in LaGrange and Steuben Counties.

The 51st Indiana House District in made up of LaGrange County and a portion of Steuben County.

Sharp says if she is blessed with the opportunity to serve, voters can count on her to be uncompromising fighter for the region. Sharp says she is not a politician and doesn’t pretend to be one. She says she is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a physician, and a conservative, and is committed to serving the District to the best of her ability.