Uncategorized

“But we cannot grow if it [Ohio] is not welcoming. That’s bad for our businesses and terrible for our people.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board outlined all the ways that Republicans like Mike DeWine are bad for business in Ohio. DeWine continues to serve as a rubber stamp for extremists in the legislature who are pushing policies that drive businesses and workers away and keep them away. From ripping away abortion rights to politicians inserting themselves into the classroom, DeWine is sacrificing jobs and workers here in Ohio all to embrace the extremism of Republican politicians who deeply distrust him. At a time when too many working families are struggling to get by, DeWine is only focused on keeping one job: his own. 

“Innovation is steeped in Ohio’s history, and with the announcement in January that Intel plans to spend $20 billion to build two plants in New Albany, there is renewed hope that innovation will help shift the state from the “Rust Belt” to the “Silicon Heartland.” That bright future might be compromised if state lawmakers continue to push an agenda that makes many feel unwelcomed,” writes the Dispatch Editorial Board. 

Read more from the Columbus Dispatch editorial here and below: 

• Innovation is steeped in Ohio’s history and, with the announcement in January that Intel plans to spend $20 billion to build two plants in New Albany, there is renewed hope that innovation will help shift the state from the “Rust Belt” to the “Silicon Heartland.” 
• That bright future might be compromised if state lawmakers continue to push an agenda that makes many feel unwelcomed.
• Around the nation, companies and their potential employees are paying attention to the laws state legislature are passing regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, and abortion access — seen as a human right by many on both sides of the issues.
• According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 74% of adults younger than 30 say abortions should be legal in all or most cases, as do 62% of adults in their 30s and 40s.
• If the employee shortage prompted by the pandemic taught us one thing, that thing is that workers have options, and many want to work for places that share their values.
• About 80% of American workers who took part in a 2021 CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workforce Survey said that they want to work for a company that values diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Sought after workers want to work for companies that value diversity, so it reasons that companies want to be located in cities and states that value diversity.
• Ohio’s new abortion law is even more restrictive than the one in Indiana, banning most abortions — even those that resulted from rape and incest — after a heartbeat can be detected, typically around six weeks of pregnancy.
• The conservative Ohio Chamber of Commerce is among several business groups that have spoken against House Bill 616, which would suppress what teachers can teach kids about the LGBTQ community, racism and history. 
• “Ohio needs to be a welcoming place for all. We should focus on ways to cultivate and harness the talents of Ohioans, while also attracting out-of-state workers to relocate here,” an April statement from the Chamber reads. “The Chamber is concerned that that some of the language in this bill may impede Ohio’s ability to lure the best and brightest minds to fill these openings and put down roots in the Buckeye State; however we trust that through the legislative process everyone will get a chance to have their voice heard.”
• We believe the Buckeye state remains the heart of this nation.
• But we cannot grow if it is not welcoming.
• That’s bad for our businesses and terrible for our people.

###

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Ohio Capital Journal today showed how Mike DeWine is playing politics when it comes to respecting the courts and the rule of law in Ohio. DeWine has praised the court and followed the law when it does what he wants while he’s been critical and broken the law when it doesn’t. For example, despite several Supreme Court order to pass fair maps, DeWine ignored those orders and rubberstamped GOP-gerrymandered maps time and time again. 

It’s the latest example of how DeWine will always put his own political interests over the interests of the working Ohioans he was elected to represent. 

“Mike DeWine’s politicization of the courts and the rule of law is another reminder to Ohio voters that he’s only looking out for himself and the special interests lining his pockets. This isn’t leadership, it’s political phoniness, and Ohio voters deserve better, ” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes. 

Read more from Ohio Capital Journal’s Marty Schladen here and below: 

• Just after he signed a bill dramatically restricting abortion on April 11, 2019, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine expressed great respect for the courts and the rule of law. But more than three years later — in a case involving Republican gerrymandering — DeWine’s staff seems to be saying he doesn’t have to listen to the courts if he disagrees with their reasoning.

• While abortion and redistricting are separate issues, one of the most prominent journalists in the United States earlier this month showed how they’re related. Gerrymandered statehouses — particularly Ohio’s — are responsible for corruption and increasingly extreme, unpopular laws, such as Ohio’s abortion restrictions, she reported. 

• In 2019, DeWine signed Senate Bill 23, which bans all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy unless it can be shown that they pose an imminent threat of killing or seriously impairing the mother. 

• In the 2019 speech celebrating the new abortion restrictions, DeWine expressed a deep reverence for the courts and the rule of law.

• But that hasn’t been the case when it comes to DeWine’s service on the Republican-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission. The body was set up pursuant to constitutional amendments overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2015 and 2018 that were aimed at easing partisan gerrymandering in Ohio, one of the most gerrymandered states.

• Political scientists say that by drawing districts that aren’t competitive, legislatures fuel extremism. That’s because elections are essentially decided in party primaries, in which the most passionate members of the parties’ bases are most likely to vote. And that gives elected officials a powerful incentive to cater to those voters.

• In The New Yorker earlier this month, journalist Jane Mayer wrote that because of supermajorities elected by the most extreme elements of the Republican base, the legislature is passing bills such as the 2019 abortion law. It did so even though its provisions are very unpopular with most Ohioans, she wrote. 
• Mayer also wrote that uncompetitive elections have produced policies that have hollowed out Ohio’s public school system and produced epic corruption scandals, such as one in which a utility corruptly spent $61 million to get lawmakers to pass a $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout, which DeWine signed into law.

• The deeper harm caused by extreme gerrymandering in Ohio and elsewhere is reflected in the article’s title. Under images of the Buckeye State, it says “State Legislatures are Torching Democracy.”

• When more than 70% of voters supported legislative redistricting reform in 2015, most believed they were voting for a legislature that more closely resembles the partisan makeup of the state. But the five Republicans on the seven-member redistricting commission have repeatedly passed maps that would give up only a little power in a Statehouse they dominate so thoroughly and disproportionately.

• DeWine and the rest of the Republican majority have five times submitted maps that the Republican-controlled Ohio Supreme Court has rejected as unconstitutional. And they have been rejected over the “yes” votes of DeWine’s son, a justice who has refused to recuse himself even though some ethics experts say he has a clear conflict of interest because his father is a member of the commission.

###

Watch Our Launch Video HERE
 

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democrats launched a new website: Ohiodems.org – a new and improved version of our site that will allow Ohioans to easily get the information and resources they need to help us flip Ohio blue. Ohio Democrats are also rolling out a new logo and branding that reflect a more modern, worker-centric party. And it couldn’t come at a more important time: just months ahead of the most consequential elections in Ohio history.

• Visit the new website HERE. 
• Watch the launch video HERE.  

“Ohio Democrats are campaigning to meet the moment this year – running modern, effective campaigns to meet people where they are and bring them onto our team. Our new website and branding reflect that. We’re talking to voters – online and in person – to show them we’re on their side and drawing the stark contrast between Ohio Democrats who are laser-focused on the needs of working families and out-of-touch Republicans who are only looking out for themselves. We encourage Ohioans to visit the new Ohiodems.org and see more for themselves,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. 

###

Columbus, OH — Mike DeWine’s repeated pattern of taking credit for money that would not exist if DeWine had his way is officially getting old, but that doesn’t mean we will stop calling him out every time he tries. Once again, DeWine turned a critical American Rescue Plan grant-funded project into a political photo op to make it look like he’s got law enforcement’s back, this time in the Columbus suburb of Whitehall. But the funds were only made possible by the Democrat-led American Rescue Plan, the same legislation Ohio Democrats fought to pass while Mike DeWine said he would have voted against it if he was still in Congress.

“If Mike DeWine had his way, local law enforcement would not have this important grant funding. Thanks to the efforts of Ohio Democrats who made this critical funding a reality, Mike DeWine is doing little more than once again shamelessly campaigning and claiming credit for the hard work of Democrats who secured these critical resources for Ohio law enforcement,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes. 

This is just the latest example of DeWine’s desperation and hypocrisy. Just over a week ago, DeWine promised millions in ARPA money to local police agencies to fight violent crime. And back in May, DeWine similarly used Ohio law enforcement officers as political pawns when he announced funding for the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab and Cleveland’s critical Real Time Crime Center, also made possible by the American Rescue Plan.   

###