Uncategorized

Columbus, OH — This week, at the Ohio State Fair, Mike DeWine made a bold prediction: “We’re not going to have any kind of change in contraception law. We’re not going to have any kind of change in regard to marriage, for heaven’s sake. It’s not going to happen.”

Anyone who has been paying attention to DeWine’s term as governor, however, knows that he’s not the guy running the show, extremists in the legislature are. So it’s very likely that DeWine sees a bill on his desk that would ban contraceptives or ban same-sex marriage. In fact, Republican Gary Click has already introduced legislation that would likely ban certain kinds of birth control.

And the question that Mike DeWine needs to answer right now is: will he veto any bill that bans contraception or same-sex marriage? 

“Mike DeWine’s legislative record has more caves than an Ohio State Park. So, it’s time for DeWine to make it clear to Ohioans right now: will he veto any bill that bans contraceptives or same-sex marriage? Any answer short of a promise to veto those bills is a signal to Ohioans that DeWine he’s willing to sign away their rights if he’s reelected in November,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

###

Vance: “And My Point Is, Domestic Violence Is Way Worse Outside Of Marriages Than It Is Within Marriage.”

Columbus, OH – In an interview on WTVN this morning, J.D. Vance doubled down and said that he “completely stands by” his comments that spouses in violent marriages should not get divorced. 

On the Brandon Boxer Show, Vance said (at 10:11), “And I think it’s disgusting for him to use this smear against me that the point I made is a very simple point, and I completely stand by it. Divorce, I think that our society’s approach to divorce has not been good for kids…That the whole point was the progressives say that we have the divorce because of domestic violence. And my point is, domestic violence is way worse outside of marriages than it is within marriage.” 

Vance is still facing the fallout this week for suggesting that spouses in violent marriages should stay in those marriages for the sake of the children. Vance also claimed that divorce makes it easier for people to “shift spouses like they change their underwear.” When VICE News asked Vance to clarify if “he thinks people in violent marriages should generally stay together or get divorced,” the campaign refused to do so and said that they felt Vance already answered the question. 

This comes after J.D. Vance cheered on the largest rollback of women’s rights in half a century, called rape “inconvenient,” and compared abortion to slavery. Vance is making it clear to Ohio women that he is dangerous and does not care about their well-being.  

“J.D. Vance is doubling down on his disgusting comments that women should put themselves in danger to stay in violent marriages. J.D. Vance is a disgrace, a danger to women everywhere, and has disqualified himself,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

###

DeWine, Vance, And Yost Have All Tried To Cover Up Their Position Of Forcing Rape Survivors To Give Birth

Columbus, OH – A trend has emerged among the Ohio GOP since Roe v. Wade was overturned: Mike DeWine, J.D. Vance and Dave Yost have all settled on a strategy of pretending not to know the consequences of the draconian abortion laws they have pushed. And the Ohio GOP is hoping Ohioans don’t notice so they can avoid accountability for the harm they have caused.

After casting doubt on the story of a 10-year-old survivor of sexual assault who had to travel to Indiana to get the health care she needed, Dave Yost lied and claimed that she could have received an abortion in Ohio under the abortion ban that he rushed to implement in the hours after Roe v. Wade was overturned – which multiple experts pointed out was false. But instead of owning the cruel consequences of his actions, Dave Yost has lied and pretended not to understand the law he rushed to put in place.

Mike DeWine promised anti-choice activists he would “go as far as we can” to rip away the freedom to choose and signed an executive order hours after Roe was overturned to implement an abortion ban that had zero exceptions for rape and incest. Now DeWine is ducking, scrubbing his campaign website of all anti-abortion language and refusing to answer as the state’s chief executive what he wants the future of abortion law to look like in Ohio.

J.D. Vance called overturning Roe v. Wade an “amazing victory” and called for a national abortion ban. Vance supports banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest and compared abortion to slavery. But after facing backlash for his extreme position, J.D. Vance tried to explain to NBC News that he doesn’t support a national abortion ban “right now” – trying to hide his extreme, dangerous and deeply unpopular agenda from Ohioans.

“Ohio Republicans like Dave Yost, Mike DeWine, and J.D. Vance own the consequences of their extreme anti-abortion agenda that forces survivors of rape and incest to give birth,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

###

Columbus, OH — With Ohio’s second primary election taking place in just a few days, there are massive concerns and chaos surrounding the unprecedented second primary. Counties are scrambling to get the required number of poll workers, many Ohioans still don’t know about the second primary or understand why it’s taking place and why all of this is costing Ohioans tens of millions of dollars.

It’s all because Frank LaRose voted for GOP-gerrymandered maps time and time again, ignored  pleas from elections officials to avoid two primaries and failed to provide the necessary guidance to Ohioans about the second primary election.

In the meantime, LaRose has been taking trips overseas and out-of-state rather than working here in Ohio to make sure our elections officials have the workers, resources and guidance they need and increasing awareness and turnout ahead of the unprecedented second primary election.

“Instead of Frank LaRose doing all he can to support county election officials in the final days leading up to this costly second primary, he’s nowhere to be found. He created this election chaos and confusion and left working Ohioans to fend for themselves. Ohioans deserve better,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

Read more below:

Knox Pages: Aug. 2 special election causes confusion for Knox County voters

Cheryl Splain

July 28, 2022

• If Knox County residents are confused about the Aug. 2 special election, it’s with good reason.
• A federal court ordered Ohio to hold a special election because the Ohio Redistricting Commission could not come up with a map the Ohio Supreme Court considered constitutional.
• As a result of the redistricting process, Knox County is split into two districts for the Ohio House. 
• There are no maps that show exactly where the dividing line is.
• “No one is happy about the split districts,” said Kathleen Tate, chair of the Knox County Democratic Party. “First, the way the maps were drawn without following the guidelines set down in the Ohio Constitution, and secondly, the way the Ohio Supreme Court decisions were totally ignored, have not endeared the state senate and governor to many Knox County voters.”
• “People are confused because of the number of maps that were presented, the length of time it took to get a final map, and the back-and-forth between the legislature and the courts,” Thom Collier, chair of the Knox County Republican Party, said. “Adding a special primary for a limited number of races has added to voter confusion and disconnect.
• “The voting process is being hindered because people don’t know there is an election,” Tate said. “Some even consider this to be an illegal election. Fewer poll workers are willing to put in the time to support the election.”
• “Constituents want to be engaged, but it is difficult to educate them with the constant changes and inconsistencies,” Collier said. “Most people I talk to think it is ridiculous, unnecessary, and confusing. We do what we can to educate voters, but mass communication is expensive. We have made several attempts, but no one source reaches all of the people without spending large amounts of money we don’t have locally.”

91.7 WVXU: Analysis: A primary election in August? Thank the Ohio GOP

Howard Wilkinson

July 27, 2022

• Last week in this space we took a stab at explaining the pretzel logic and Republican scamming of the system which has led us to an embarrassing and illogical position: In November, we will hold an election for Ohio’s 15 congressional districts using a map that has already been ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court.
• Next week, Ohio is about to do it again. In a primary election where a turnout of 10% will be considered remarkable.
• Because the Republicans who control the redistricting process in Ohio wanted to do an end run around that pesky Ohio Supreme Court, which kept insisting they follow the law.
• They found a group of Ohio GOP voters — headed by Mike Gonidakis, the president of Ohio Right to Life — to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court here asking the court to essentially take over the state legislative redistricting process.
• They ended up with a friendly three-judge panel to hear their case — two of the judges were Trump appointees.
• That panel, of course, sided with the plaintiffs, Gonidakis et al, and set an election date of Aug. 2, which Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (a member of the redistricting commission) argued was the latest date on which a primary could be held without bumping up against the official election calendar of the November election.

The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County says it doesn’t need 829 poll workers state says it’s short for Aug. 2 primary

Nathaniel Shuda

July 27, 2022

• Franklin County is 829 poll workers short of the staffing needed for Tuesday’s primary election, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s poll worker tracker.
• As far as why there aren’t that many poll workers for the state’s second or split primary on Aug. 2, Sellers attributed the shortage to the time of year. While the state’s elections calendar allows for August contests, it’s usually reserved for special elections, with primaries happening in May.
• On July 14, the county Board of Elections released 12 pages of polling location changes, saying standard polling places were unavailable “because of pre-planned events and other activities” due to the timing of the Aug. 2 primary.
• The districts are based on a set of maps the Ohio Supreme Court twice rejected as unconstitutional, saying they unfairly favored Republicans.
• A back-and-forth battle over redistricting prevented state House and Senate races from appearing on the May ballot. Instead, two federal judges ordered the state to use the unconstitutional maps and set an Aug. 2 primary.
• “We were hoping that the redistricting process would be done and we could have the primary in May,” Sellers said.

###

Columbus, OH – Ohioans are reading and watching J.D. Vance’s radical views on the freedom to choose, and hearing from Black leaders holding him accountable for comparing abortion to slavery.

When asked to explain his extreme comments, Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles reported: “Vance has not returned calls for comment. In fact, Vance isn’t speaking out in public forums in Ohio much these days.”

Read more below: 
WCMH: JD Vance Compares Abortion To Slavery
July 25, 2022

JENNIFER BULLOCK, NBC4 ANCHOR: It has been just over a month since Roe v. Wade was overturned and the Ohio Democratic Party is calling out Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance for comparing abortion to slavery.

BRAD JOHANSEN, NBC4 ANCHOR: The ODP says that Vance has made extreme and out-of-touch comments cheering on the largest rollback of women’s rights in a half century. Party leaders say that Vance’s comments were dangerous and out of bounds.

Statehouse News Bureau: Black Ohio Democratic lawmakers criticize Vance over comments about abortion
Jo Ingles
July 25, 2022

• Some Democratic members of Ohio’s Black Legislative Caucus are blasting Republican U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance for comments he’s made about abortion recently.
• In a press conference organized by the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP), the Black state lawmakers took issue with Vance for calling rape “inconvenient” and comparing abortion to slavery.
• Ohio Legislative Black Caucus President Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) said the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the right to legal abortion nationwide, and Ohio’s new abortion ban that makes the practice illegal at the first signs of fetal heart activity, which usually happens around six weeks into a pregnancy, is taking a toll on Black women.
• “We have seen a huge threat on the access to health care when it comes to women having abortions here within the state of Ohio,” Brent said. “As we look at this decision, we look at the ignorance that candidate J.D. Vance has decided to put out there comparing abortion to slavery…This person has decided to compare one to the two.”
• Rep. Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati) said it’s appalling, especially when you consider Black women have higher maternal mortality rates, less access to health care and poorer health outcomes.
• “The idea that he would talk about slavery and the disproportionate impact on Black females, how dare he?,” Ingram asked.
• Vance is also coming under fire from Democrats for statements he’s made about divorce. This comes after Vice reported Vance said in a speech that Americans would be better off staying in unhappy and “even violent” marriages.
• Vance has not returned calls for comment. In fact, Vance isn’t speaking out in public forums in Ohio much these days. He has been criticized by some Republicans for not being on the campaign trail enough this summer and for not raising enough political campaign money. But Vance is endorsed by Ohio Right to Life as well as most of the Ohio organizations that oppose abortion in most or all cases.

Ohio Capital Journal: Black state lawmakers take aim at Vance over comments likening abortion to slavery
Nick Evans
July 26, 2022

• A month out from the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Ohio Democrats are doing their best to keep abortion on voters’ minds. The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus is criticizing Republican U.S. Senate nominee J.D. Vance over comments likening the impact of slavery to that of abortion.
• In an interview with the Catholic Current last year, Vance emphasized the societal impact of abortion in describing his opposition to the procedure.
• “There’s something comparable between abortion and slavery,” Vance said, “and that while the people who obviously suffer the most are those subjected to it, I think it has this morally distorting effect on the entire society.”
• He went on to invoke Abraham Lincoln’s “I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master,” and opine that many people now see children as “inconveniences to be discarded instead of blessings to cherish.”
• State Rep. Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland, called Vance’s comments “dangerous” and “out of bounds.”
• “J.D. Vance’s disgusting views on abortion are an outrage and Ohioans are taking note,” he said.
• Upchurch argued Vance owes Ohioans an apology. But Rep. Catherine Ingram, D-Cincinnati, doesn’t want to hear it.
• “I don’t want his apology as a Black female here in the state of Ohio,” she said. “Looking at Black maternal health issues that we have, and how desperate the health care is, how desperate our housing is, and then you have the audacity to take away a decision that women can make for themselves?”
• “How dare you insult Black women?” she added.
• Vance’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
• Rep. Juanita Brent, D-Cleveland, who heads up the OLBC didn’t mince words about Vance’s comments.

The Root: J.D. Vance Compares Slavery to Abortion
Kalyn Womak
July 26, 2022

• Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, everyone’s been sharing their hot takes about abortion and whether women should have the right to do what they want with their bodies. In an interview with Catholic Current, Rep. Senate nominee J.D. Vance shared his take: that he thinks there’s something “comparable” between abortion and slavery.

• “- while the people who obviously suffer the most are those subjected to it, I think it has this morally distorting effect on the entire society – I really think abortion has really done something very socially destructive to us as people in how we see the most vulnerable and the most dependent among us. I think that’s one of the under-appreciated facts about abortion. It’s really distorted our entire society,” said Vance in the interview.
• This interview was back in October of 2021 but resurfaced just in time as Vance had won the Republican Senate primary in May, reports say. Members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus criticized his comments.

###