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Columbus, Ohio – Reporting this week exposes the toll Senator Husted’s support for chaotic trade wars is taking on Ohio farmers, while Husted’s vote to cut Medicaid is threatening school children’s access to free school meals and making dental care less accessible. 

Here’s what Ohioans across the state are reading: 

Statehouse News Bureau: Ohio farmers are feeling the dual pain of uncertain tariffs and unreliable weather

• Agriculture is considered Ohio’s number-one industry. One out of every eight jobs in the Buckeye State is tied to the agriculture industry. As farmers prepare to harvest their crops, many are concerned they’ll take a hefty hit due to tariffs and weather conditions.

• The Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ty Higgins, said […] tariffs are also impacting farmers, especially those who grow soybeans.

• “China has not bought anything from U.S. farmers this year and it wasn’t long ago that a third of the soybeans we grew here in Ohio went directly to China so there’s a lot of market share that we are missing.”

• Higgins said it is also costing farmers more for the supplies, which are often imported, that they need to produce their crops.

News 5 Cleveland: New SNAP, Medicaid rules could cost many kids free school meals

• Recent changes tightening eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid could leave hundreds of thousands of families without benefits. As a result, the School Nutrition Association warns, many children could lose automatic access to free school meals.

WOUB: Dental care isn’t accessible in much of southeast Ohio. Medicaid cuts could make matters worse.

• […] the southeast region of Ohio is a federally designated dental health professional shortage area, meaning there aren’t enough dentists for the people living there. 

• Now, federal cuts to Medicaid passed in July as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have advocates concerned that those access problems will only get worse. 

• A disproportionate number of patients in Appalachian Ohio rely on Medicaid for their dental care compared to rates statewide. Advocates worry that coverage could be threatened by millions of dollars in federal Medicaid cuts signed into law in July.

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Columbus, Ohio- Amid increased calls to release the Epstein files, new reporting is taking a closer look at Vivek Ramaswamy’s sudden silence after advocating for the release of the files during his presidential campaign. Ramaswamy has refused to return multiple requests for comment.

READ: Analysis: Vivek Ramaswamy goes silent on past demands to release Epstein files, Howard Wilkinson, 09/10/2025

• Two years ago is not a long time, but Vivek Ramaswamy — now the apparent GOP nominee for Ohio governor — doesn’t seem to remember what he was saying about Jeffrey Epstein in 2023.

• He was all over social media and interviews with conservative talk shows proclaiming he was the “first” and “most vocal” public figure to call for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, which people assumed included a list of the child sex abuser’s clients whom he would hook up with under-aged girls.

• For months before that, Ramaswamy was beating the drum for releasing the Epstein files, saying at one point that “Jeffrey Epstein didn’t act alone.”

• But since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January and Ramaswamy launched his campaign for governor — with Trump’s endorsement — there’s not been a peep out of Ramaswamy on the matter.

• WVXU’s requests to Ramaswamy’s campaign staff and strategists for an interview with the candidate went unanswered.

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Columbus, Ohio- Today, Ohio House and Senate Democrats released their proposed congressional maps. Unlike Ohio’s current maps, where Republicans hold 66% of our congressional seats despite earning just 55% of the vote, Democrats have proposed a map that is more representative of Ohio’s actual political leaning based on recent election results.

In response, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde released the following statement:

“House and Senate Democrats have proposed a map that gives all Ohioans an equal voice in our elections, because Ohio Democrats believe voters should choose their elected officials, not the other way around. 

We’re calling on Republican legislators to work with us to pass a map that gives voters an equal opportunity to make their voices heard instead of the same partisan process from last time that led us to the gerrymandered maps that are required by law to be redrawn. Democrats are committed to an open, fair process, and that starts with this proposal. Voters deserve an open, fair process and that starts with today’s proposed map.”

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Eleven Rural Ohio Hospitals are At Risk of Closing as Medicaid Cuts Take Effect

Historic Medicaid cuts backed by Senator Jon Husted have put rural hospitals in Ohio at risk of closing, according to new reporting from the Athens Post.

According to the report, at least two hospitals are already at risk of closing and many others are “being forced to eliminate parts of the services they provide” in Southeast Ohio, which has the highest rates of Medicaid recipients than any other part of the state.

See for yourself:

The Athens Post: Medicaid cuts pose potential threats to rural Ohio hospitals

• President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law July 4 and includes major cuts to Medicaid, according to a report by the Associated Press. 

• Though these cuts will take time to fully roll out, many worry about potential hospital closures in the near future. Hospitals in rural areas are specifically at risk. 

• The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted research and sent a letter informing Senate Democrats of the effects the funding cuts could have on rural hospitals. 

• Two hospitals located in Southeast Ohio, the Holzer Medical Center in Jackson County and Southern Ohio Medical Center in Scioto County, were named on the list. 

• Counties in Southeast Ohio tend to have higher rates of Medicaid recipients than other regions of the state, according to a 2023 study from Georgetown University.

• Political commentator Lisa Parker resides in Jackson County and commented on the impact these cuts will have on the local community.

• “A lot of these people, I don’t think, have grasped what’s keeping their family afloat are benefits that are being cut, and they’re going to feel these cuts next fall,” Parker said. 

• According to an Associated Press article, around 10 million people are expected to lose their health insurance as a result of this bill.

• Marjie Shew, a farmer in Morgan County, said more people will be uninsured, sharing what she thinks the impact of the cuts will be on the local community members who are on Medicaid.

• “Those people die sooner,” Shew said. “That’s basically what happens, they don’t get the attention they need until they’re debilitated.”

• Cronin mentioned an additional concern for potential closures of rural hospitals. He noted that many businesses in local communities can stay open because a hospital is their biggest employer. 

• “If we lose these hospitals that are anchors to their community, the entire community shifts,” Cronin said. “There are less job opportunities, there’s less money in the economy. And I really think it’s important to look at the entire community effect when we lose something as important as a hospital.”

• Cronin also stated that even without closures, many rural hospitals are being forced to eliminate parts of the services they provide. He specifically mentioned the maternity desert crisis in Ohio, a trend where hospitals are suspending labor and delivery to stay open. 

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Columbus, Ohio- In case you missed it, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde penned an op-ed along with Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder warning voters across the country about the redistricting battle that’s coming to their states next. Ohio is the only state required by law to redraw congressional maps this year. Republicans are expected to use the opportunity to silence the voices of voters and further rig Ohio’s maps.

READ highlights from Chair Clyde and Chair Scudder below and check out the full piece here:

• As Chairs of the Democratic Party in Ohio and Texas, we have a warning for the rest of the country: Republicans will do anything they can to stay in power, including subverting basic principles of democracy because they don’t respect the voters.

• Our state parties will make sure voters don’t forget how eagerly Republicans have been willing to sell their votes to save their own seats in Congress.

• Texas was first. Ohio is next. But Ohioans and Texans have never backed down from a fight, and we don’t plan to start now. 

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