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COLUMBUS — The Ohio Democratic Party released the following statement from Chairwoman Liz Walters in response to Sen. Rob Portman’s announcement today that he will not run for re-election in 2022:

“Over the past four years, Rob Portman has been one of Donald Trump’s biggest defenders, so his attempt today to rewrite that history is ridiculous. This is the guy who, when asked about Trump’s decision to attack peaceful protesters with tear gas, said he was ‘late for lunch.’ This is the guy who backed Mitch McConnell’s theft of a Supreme Court seat from President Barack Obama. If Portman wants to complain about the death of civility and the triumph of partisan gridlock, he should take a long, hard look in the mirror and think about what he wants to be his legacy.

“The truth is, Portman is looking at the same data we are — the Ohio Senate seat was going to be a hard road for him, after he backed failed policies like the Trump tax scam and the Affordable Care Act repeal. In 2022 Ohioans want to send someone to the U.S. Senate who fights for them, not for special interests. This was always going to be a competitive race, and now it’s even more competitive.”

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COLUMBUS — The Ohio Democratic Party released the following statements in recognition of the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris:

From Chairwoman Liz Walters:

“Last November, Americans turned out in record numbers to elect new leaders who will bring us together, heal our country and restore the soul of our nation. Starting today and in the coming days and weeks, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver much-needed relief and ensure justice for all Americans. We look forward with resolve and restored hope in our shared future.

“We celebrate today’s inauguration as a historic day for the American people, as we see the first woman and the first African American and Asian American sworn in as our vice president, by the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Across this nation little girls and boys are watching and seeing themselves represented at our nation’s highest levels of leadership, and they know they can truly do anything.”

From Vice Chairman Andre Washington:

“On Day One, President Biden and Vice President Harris are getting right to work to address the coronavirus crisis, provide economic relief for American families, support workers, advance racial equity, tackle climate change and help create good union jobs. Working together, we will build back better.”

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Walters Gets To Work Immediately On Efforts To Strengthen The Party, Names Malik Hubbard As Interim Executive Director

Hubbard Has Extensive Experience In Ohio Politics, Will Be First Black ED In State Party History

COLUMBUS — Today newly elected Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters announced Ohio native Malik Hubbard will serve as interim Executive Director for the state party as Walters gets to work immediately strengthening the party and fighting for a better Ohio. Hubbard, who has extensive experience in Ohio politics, will help oversee the transition process and support Walters as she takes over as Chair. Hubbard will be the first Black Executive Director of ODP after Walters made history earlier this week as the first woman elected to serve as ODP Chair.

Walters has committed to a transparent hiring process, which will include input from party stakeholders, that Hubbard will help implement and oversee. Hubbard will serve as interim Executive Director, until the position is filled permanently.

“We’re thrilled to have Malik onboard as we hit the ground running on day one, fighting for a better, more inclusive Ohio and putting our state back on the right track. Malik’s experience will help us operate at a high level as we begin to lay the foundation for a stronger Ohio Democratic Party in the months and years ahead,” said Walters.

“I’m honored to join ODP as interim Executive Director, supporting Chair Walters and her vision of a stronger Ohio Democratic Party. Knowing that our work couldn’t come at a more important time, I’m excited to get to work right away, fighting for Democratic values and moving our party forward,” said Hubbard.

Hubbard is a veteran Ohio political operative from Cleveland with interdepartmental expertise in the engagement and turnout of African Americans and other voters of color. In the 2016 presidential election, Malik served as the National Deputy African-American Vote Director for Hillary for America, where he led the in-state national African-American voter engagement program. Previously, Malik has had a number of campaign leadership roles in Ohio, including a large-scale field effort as the Co-Founder of Moving Ohio Forward, Ohio for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, Gov. Ted Strickland’s administration and the Political Director of the Ohio Democratic Party in 2008. Hubbard also served as the State Field Director of the Ohio Democratic Coordinated Campaign in 2006 that led to the election of Ted Strickland as Governor and Sherrod Brown as U.S. Senator.

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COLUMBUS — Tonight during a special meeting of the Ohio Democratic Party, Elizabeth Walters was unanimously elected Chair to the Ohio Democratic Party. Walters, at 37 years old, is the first woman to be elected chair. Walters currently serves as a County Councilmember for Summit County and resides in Akron. She previously worked at the Ohio Democratic Party as Executive Director in 2014.

In addition to Walters, the Party’s Executive Committee also elected Andre Washington to the First Vice Chair position. The rules of the Democratic National Committee require the First Vice Chair to be the opposite gender from the Chair. Washington is a Field Representative/Special Projects Coordinator for the Ohio Association of Public School Employees/AFSCME Local 4 and serves as the President of the Ohio State Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI).

“I am honored by this responsibility. I have faith in our party. The conversations I have had with all of you over the last few weeks have given me immense confidence in the commitment and passion of Ohio Democrats,” Walters said to the Executive Committee. “The work ahead for our party will be hard, and no doubt we will have many tough conversations and many detailed plans about our strategy and our tactics. But ultimately our work is about people. We must keep people at the center of our organization and our plans, make space for and honor their stories.”

“I want to thank the Executive Committee for electing me as Vice Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party,” said Washington. “I have spent my career serving others, and I am honored to continue that service in this new position. We have a lot of work to do, but I have never been afraid to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I’m excited to work side-by-side with our new Chair, Elizabeth Walters, our elected officials, and brothers and sisters in Labor.”

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January 7, 2021

Happy Friday, and welcome to “Buckeye Brawl,” a weekly newsletter from the Ohio Democratic Party highlighting the nasty, chaotic, and expensive Republican primary for Senate. This out-of-control primary is making conservatives “deeply worried” about the prospects of Republicans losing this seat. 

As the Republican Senate primary continues to sink lower and lower, these GOP candidates are injecting even more nasty personal attacks, more chaos, and more money into this race. We’re here to help you keep track of all of it. 

WVXU’s Howard Wilkinson said this GOP Senate primary may be “Ohio’s ugliest ever.” And Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser said that “the showdown is fast becoming the most expensive and ugly GOP Senate contest.” 

Here’s what you may have missed:

DESPERATE AND BEGGING FOR ENDORSEMENTS. Vance booster Ryan James Girdusky said, “Timken is becoming desperate, begging for endorsements and then putting out this nonsense poll.” Another Vance surrogate said, “Probably worth mentioning that the first independent poll of the race came out in mid December (post-anti Vance tv buys) and told a completely different story than Timken’s desperate internal….” It seems every month Jane Timken “has momentum!” and “is surging!” But is actually stuck in the teens and hasn’t cracked her own peak support from May 2021 when she was at 19 percent. Shoutout to the comms staffer who has to spin Timken’s stagnating support every seemingly monthly internal poll.

NEVER IN THE BATTLE. In a race all about Trump, Jane Timken continues to try and paint herself as the Trump candidate despite her endorsement this week from a Trump critic and saying a congressman’s decision to vote to impeach Trump was “rational.” Trying to remain relevant, Timken went on the attack during an interview on Steve Bannon’s War Room, saying, “Josh Mandel says he’s a Trump warrior but was never in the battle. He was nowhere to be found in 2020. And J.D. Vance has said terrible things about President Trump and he’s suffering the consequences from it.” This is a similar line of attack Timken used last year, saying on the Ruthless podcast, “I’m not a Johnny come lately, I didn’t just show up.” It may be a new year, but the race is still about phony millionaires sucking up to Trump. 

RESIDENT SHAPESHIFTER. Following Washington Post reporting exposing Bernie Moreno changing his position on the attempted insurrection in order to remain relevant in this primary, Matt Dolan consultant Chris Pack tweeted that Moreno was a “resident shapeshifter.” This follows Pack last month going after Moreno for also changing his position on whether the 2020 presidential election was legitimate, tweeting that “2020 @berniemoreno is blowing up 2021 Bernie Moreno’s #OHSEN campaign in spectacular fashion. The reality is that few Ohio Republicans know Bernie, but those who do are rejecting his desperate schtick.” To be fair, all of the leading candidates have had to shapeshift to be relevant in this primary, so it’s a who’s who of desperate schticks. 

Thanks for reading along – that’s all for the Buckeye Brawl this week. If you have questions, my email is [email protected]. Have a great weekend!