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Cincinnati, OH — Today, Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action, stood with Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters, Mayor Aftab Pureval, Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey and Councilmember Greg Landsman, candidate for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District, to lay out the stakes of November’s election. 

“For four years, when given a choice between doing what’s right and doing what’s politically expedient, DeWine caved every time. Ohioans deserve better. They deserve a leader like Nan Whaley and leaders like those joining us here today who will put the interests of Ohioans over their own personal, political interests and never back down from a fight,” said Watts. 

Ohio Republicans have pushed a number of measures that make Ohioans less safe, including:

• A bill that would put more guns in our classrooms, signed into law by Mike DeWine over objections of Ohio law enforcement, teachers and students.
• A bill that waives requirements for background checks, licenses or training to carry a gun, which makes Ohio law enforcement officers less safe. 

“Ohio can do better. We can elect Nan Whaley, Greg Landsman and Ohio Democrats up and down the ballot who will look out for us and our loved ones. Who will keep their promises to ‘do something’ to combat gun violence. And who will finally stand up to the gun lobby once and for all,” said Chair Walters. 

“DeWine and his Republican friends in the state legislature are only making our jobs harder. By caving to their gun lobby donors, radical Republicans are making our state less safe,” said Mayor Pureval. 

Ohio Democrats are offering a better way forward: keeping Ohio families safe from gun violence instead of caving to the gun lobby and putting more guns in our schools and on our streets. 

“We deserve leadership that will make our streets safer for all of us – law enforcement officers and the communities we serve. That’s why I’m supporting Nan Whaley, Greg Landsman and Democrats up and down the ticket to put our state back on the right path and make our communities safer,” said Sheriff McGuffey. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to get to work putting Ohio families first next year in Congress, and I know our rest of our candidates feel the same,” said Councilmember Landsman.

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Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Morgan Trau with WEWS-TV in Cleveland investigated the realities of voter fraud amid the bluster and tough-guy acts we’ve seen from Ohio Republicans recently. As Trau reported, “Voter fraud is incredibly rare in Ohio.” Meanwhile, LaRose, Faber and GOP politicians up and down the ballot are using the threat of voter fraud to scare voters and beef up their credentials with MAGA Republicans to pursue their own political ambitions. 

“Voter fraud is incredibly rare in Ohio. Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent 75 allegations of fraud during the 2020 election to law enforcement, which is just .001%. However, when News 5 asked his team how many of these claims have been substantiated, they said they did not know,” reports WEWS-TV’s Morgan Trau. 

Earlier this month, LaRose created a taxpayer-funded solution to a problem that doesn’t exist in Ohio by creating a “Public Integrity Unit” to investigate voter fraud, even though he sent less than 100 alleged cases of voter fraud to law enforcement during the 2020 election. LaRose knows better, but he wants to run for Senate in two years, is scared of the other election denier he’s running against and needs the support of MAGA Republicans. So he’s pulling this political stunt at taxpayer expense. 

Then there’s Keith Faber who recently floated a bizarre conspiracy that boards of election will use “special paper” to print fake ballots and rig elections. Cleveland.com’s Today in Ohio podcast called Faber’s remarks “one of the most shameful things an Ohio politician has done this year.”  

Read more from WEWS-TV here and below: 

• Despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud, election security has become one of the main talking points for some Ohio Republicans.
• Voter fraud is incredibly rare in Ohio. Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent 75 allegations of fraud during the 2020 election to law enforcement, which is just .001%. However, when News 5 asked his team how many of these claims have been substantiated, they said they did not know.
• But creating a Public Integrity Division just reiterates the ‘Big Lie,’ which is the baseless claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, according to Northeast Ohio voter Courtney Flynn. She is a Democrat and helps register people to vote with the Ohio Voter Coalition.
• “They’re creating these organizations and committees to look into this type of stuff, but the things that they’re seeing are just like made up or just completely exacerbated to make it seem like it’s worse than it,” she added.
• Flynn trusts Ohio’s election process, and it’s frustrating to hear politicians put forward unsubstantiated claims of widespread voting fraud, she said. “I go into every single election voting knowing that my vote counts,” she said.
• However, the rhetoric around voter fraud isn’t really meant to benefit security, Flynn said, but rather for candidates who lose their races.
• “Unfortunately, I feel like this is one tactic that’s used very often to show that if an election turnout doesn’t go the way that [some] want to be, people can fall back on this excuse,” she said.
• Going into this election with people already having concerns with voter security is defeating, she added. She doesn’t want to have to deal with people contesting elections when they clearly lost, thus ignoring reality.

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Donors Appointed to State Positions Have Given Nearly One Million Dollars to DeWine-Husted Since 2018 Gubernatorial Campaign

Columbus, OH — Mike DeWine, who has long been plagued by questions of pay-to-play misdeeds, has appointed nearly 200 of his campaign donors to various state boards and commissions since his term as governor began in 2019. In total, those donors have given nearly a million dollars to the DeWine-Husted campaign since 2017. It’s the latest example of DeWine looking out for his own political interests and the interests of the wealthy and well-connected instead of doing his job and looking out for the interests of working Ohioans.

• At least 190 DeWine Husted donors were appointed to various government boards and commissions:
  • DeWine appointees gave a combined total of at least $927,400.42 to Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, and Pat DeWine.
  • The 188 donors gave a collective $825,642.63 to DeWine’s gubernatorial campaign and transition fund.
  • The DeWine family, (Mike & Pat) received a combined $863,013.46 from DeWine appointees.
• Find a full list of DeWine donors who have been appointed to state boards and commissions HERE. 

Ohioans deserve to know whether these appointments were politically-motivated and if any promises were made by the governor and/or his staff in exchange for political contributions. 

“After dodging questions about rewarding those in his inner circles for years with backroom deals at all levels of government, it appears DeWine has rewarded his campaign donors with cushy state appointments. DeWine has tried to hide the truth for too long, and Ohioans deserve answers about how these appointments came about and whether they were politically motivated,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

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Columbus, OH – Today, J.D. Vance is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Senator Lindsey Graham, whose national abortion ban legislation Vance endorsed as “reasonable” – even as other Republicans scrambled to distance themselves from this dangerous attack on women’s reproductive freedom.

J.D. Vance has made his extreme feelings on abortion known – he’s compared abortion to slavery and called rape “inconvenient.” His position even puts him at odds with Senator Rob Portman, and Donald Trump, who has previously stated his support for abortion exceptions for rape and incest. 

“J.D. Vance standing arm-in-arm with the biggest cheerleader of a national abortion ban is further proof that he will stop at nothing to restrict the health and freedom of Ohio women. Today’s visit sends a clear message to Ohio women: J.D. Vance and Graham are two politicians obsessed with inserting themselves into deeply personal decisions that belong between Ohio women and their doctors,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

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Watch the new Digital Ad HERE

Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party released a new digital ad “Dangerous” that outlines the extreme agenda of Ohio Supreme Court candidates Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer. Both candidates have been endorsed by Ohio Right to Life, which has made clear that they only endorse candidates who don’t support abortion in cases of rape or incest. The ad will run digitally statewide, and is backed by a six-figure buy. 

“Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer are too dangerous for Ohio. They have made their stances on abortion abudently clear: they’re ready to rip reproductive rights away from Ohio women, even in cases of rape or incest. Abortion rights are on the ballot this November, and we’re showing Ohioans just how dangerous DeWine and Fischer really are,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Both DeWine and Fischer have taken heat for their extreme abortion stances, from Fischer comparing abortion to slavery to DeWine saying that Ohioans don’t have extensive rights to due process under the Ohio Constitution to both candidates making their anti-choice opinions known as abortion lawsuits are set to reach the court as early as next year. 

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