Ahead of State of the State Address, Ohio Democrats Call Out Mike DeWine for Failing to Do His Most Basic Job
March 23, 2022
For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters, Ohio Auditor candidate Taylor Sappington and Ohio Secretary of State candidate Chelsea Clark held a statehouse press conference to lay out how DeWine and his fellow Republicans have failed to do their jobs and pass fair maps, a violation of their oaths of office to protect and defend Ohio’s constitution.
“Now, as Ohio finds itself amid a constitutional crisis, Mike DeWine and his fellow Republicans are solely to blame. So all the bombast and bluster we’ll hear from Mike DeWine today ultimately means nothing. Because when it comes down to it, the state of our state is broken. And that’s because Mike DeWine caved to his fellow Republicans and failed to do his most important job: putting the interests of Ohioans first,” said Chair Walters.
The redistricting commission first met in August 2021. In the seven months since, DeWine and his fellow Republicans have blown past constitutional deadlines, passed five separate sets of GOP-gerrymandered maps and each time ignored the directives of Ohio voters and the Ohio Supreme Court. They are solely to blame for the election chaos that has been created by their failure to do their job.
“Republicans have made clear that the only interests they’re protecting are their own – the will of Ohio voters be damned – as they push through gerrymandered maps that reflect an Ohio Republican Party wishlist more than the political realities of our state. In Nelsonville, we don’t point fingers or run out the clock when things don’t go our way. We wake up every day, put politics aside and do our jobs to deliver for the people we were elected to serve,” said Ohio Auditor candidate Taylor Sappington.
“Despite what DeWine, LaRose and Republicans on the commission would have you believe, it’s not that complicated of a task to complete. If they’d done the right thing from day one and worked with Democrats to pass a fair map, we wouldn’t be in the middle of this election chaos,” said Ohio Secretary of State candidate Chelsea Clark.
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