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Athens, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters and the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) hosted a press conference at Armory Park in Athens with local leaders, including Athens City Councilmember Sarah Grace and President Ted Linscott of the Southeastern Ohio AFL-CIO. The press event in Athens was the latest stop on ODP’s ‘Democrats Deliver’ tour, which will make stops in rural communities across the state this week to outline the ways Democrats are delivering for working families in every corner of Ohio as Republicans oppose these efforts every step of the way.

“We’re here today to talk about all the success we’ve already seen under Democratic leadership, especially in communities like Athens that have too long been left behind by Columbus and Washington. While Democrats are laser focused on creating opportunities for working families, GOP politicians in Columbus and Washington remain focused only on helping the wealthy and well-connected,” said Chair Walters.

“Thanks to Democratic leadership, we’ve been able to make substantial progress for working families right here in our community, and it’s important for voters to hear about them: from vaccines to the child tax credit to infrastructure investments, Ohio is on the road to recovery,” said Councilmember Grace.

“Earlier this month, the Senate voted to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with the support of President Biden and Senator Sherrod Brown, which included $9.2 billion for roads and $483 million for bridge replacement and repairs. That’s an historic investment in not only Ohio’s roads and bridges, but in good-paying jobs that will help our workers compete with the rest of the world. It’s past time for us to make upgrades to our roads, bridges, and broadband internet and it’s past time for Republicans to stop playing politics with the well-being of working families across our state and support this bill,” said President Linscott.

Thanks to Ohio Democrats, the American Rescue Plan is helping rural Ohio to recover from the pandemic and rebuild their economies. Every Ohio Republican in Congress and running for Senate would have voted against the American Rescue Plan, which included $1,400 checks for most Ohioans, a massive tax credit to help working families raise their children, and funding millions of dollars for rural health centers.

And while Ohio Republicans have been too busy defending their political careers to care about rural Ohio, Democrats have been laser-focused on delivering much-needed infrastructure investments to improve our roads, bridges, water pipes, and high-speed internet.

The infrastructure proposal would create jobs for communities across the state like Fremont and includes critical investments for Ohio, including:

• $9.2 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs and $483 million for bridge replacement and repairs
• $1.2 billion over five years to improve public transportation options across the state.
• $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, which would improve access to the at least 259,000 Ohioans who currently lack it.

And Ohio Democrats will continue fighting like hell for rural communities, pursuing economic policies that put Ohio workers first, even as Republicans leave them behind.

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Columbus, OH — As summer comes to a close, we’re looking back at how Ohio’s Republican Senate candidates spent their time making this primary even nastier, more chaotic, and more expensive — and making conservatives “deeply worried” about the prospects of Republicans losing this seat. 

“GOP Senate candidates spent this summer injecting even more nasty personal attacks, more chaos, and more money into this out-of-control primary, all at the expense of Ohio voters and the issues they care about. No matter which millionaire politician emerges from this crowded primary field, the damage from these messy summer months will last well into the general election,” said Michael Beyer, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

NASTY: 

• Mandel regularly took swipes at Vance over social media, sharing clips where Mandel claimed Vance was agreeing with Obama and comparing him to anti-Trump former Governor John Kasich. Mandel also tried to tie Timken to Kasich.
• Timken supporters wrote a letter to support her, calling her a “Trump Champion” and attacking Vance, Mandel, and others for their insufficient support for the former president.
• Vance was repeatedly attacked by way of anonymous text messages for being a “never Trumper” before he had even announced his candidacy.
• The rivalry between Vance and Mandel has heated up, with Mandel accusing Vance of taking the money from his non-profit and using it for his political campaign.

CHAOTIC: 

• Vance’s entrance into the race added more chaos to an already unwieldy and crowded primary. 
• Leading candidates continued to trade blows over their history with and allegiance to Donald Trump, and showed no signs of slowing down. 
• Timken came under fire for highlighting a photo of her and Trump under her website’s “endorsements” page. 
• Vance deleted his tweets that were critical of Trump in an attempt to shield himself against criticism.

EXPENSIVE: 

• California tech billionaire Peter Thiel dumped $10 million into a super PAC supporting Vance, who entered the race this summer. Since his entrance into the race, he’s been fundraising in the ritzy Hamptons currying favor from other millionaires.  
• The packed GOP field revealed their “eye-popping” financial disclosures that showed their vast wealth and highlighted there are significant resources for many candidates still to spend. 
• Gibbons is already spending $10 million on TV and radio and has loaned millions of dollars to his campaign. Moreno has argued he raised the most money and is ready to spend it on this costly primary.  
• At least one more wealthy Republican — State Senator Matt Dolan — is expected to enter the race, in a crowded primary with many well-funded candidates sure to make the race more expensive. 

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Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters blasted state legislative ‘maps’ proposed by Ohio Republicans that clearly fly in the face of the Ohio Constitution and what Ohio voters called for twice when they voted for fair districts and fair representation. The GOP maps are even more gerrymandered than the 2011 map, taking our state even further backward in the fight for issues that Ohioans care about, from education to healthcare to the economy. 

Republicans, when presenting their maps, went so far as to admit they didn’t take racial demographics or election results into account, making clear that Republicans care about nothing other than protecting their own political futures. 

“​​The so-called ‘maps’ proposed by the Ohio GOP are a betrayal of Ohio voters and the issues that they care about. These maps are not only unacceptable, they’re offensive to Ohioans who voted overwhelmingly twice for fair representation. Ohioans are tired of politicians choosing their voters rather than the other way around. Ohio Democrats will stand with Ohioans in opposing these sham maps and fighting Republican efforts to once again silence the voices of Ohio voters,” said Chair Walters.  

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Columbus, OH — Today, Theodore Decker of the Columbus Dispatch reminded us all just how far Mike DeWine has fallen in the last year. Facing a messy primary challenge, with another reported challenger set to emerge, DeWine is putting politics over the health and safety of Ohioans, too weak to stand up to his own party and do what’s right for the Ohioans he is supposed to serve.

Decker outlines how DeWine has shifted from listening to health experts like Dr. Amy Acton and doing what’s best for his constituents amid the COVID-19 pandemic to backing down to extreme Republicans within his own party who are putting the health of Ohioans at risk.

“Facing muzzles like this and being up for reelection in 2022, DeWine must have seen the threats of schoolyard bullies scrawled on the wall. He began to back down. The same issues that once would have yielded his unflinching assessment now yield only generalities that foist responsibility onto his constituents,” writes Decker.

“Ohioans expect their Governor to lead in the face of adversity, DeWine has instead wilted away to save his own political hide. If DeWine is too weak to stand up to his own party amid a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, how can he be expected to lead on any other issue that matters to Ohioans? If Mike DeWine doesn’t want to make the tough calls, he doesn’t deserve the job,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

Read more from the Columbus Dispatch HERE and below:

• Facing muzzles like this and being up for reelection in 2022, DeWine must have seen the threats of schoolyard bullies scrawled on the wall.
• He began to back down. The same issues that once would have yielded his unflinching assessment now yield only generalities that foist responsibility onto his constituents.
• That’s what’s known as passing the buck.

• As COVID-19 infections among children soar and hospital systems have undertaken an advertising campaign that begs Ohioans to get vaccinated, we are left with tepid sentiments from the governor, like this one about the recent trend of taking a horse dewormer unapproved for treatment of COVID-19.
• You can almost see him eyeing the exits.

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Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party blasted Republicans on the GOP-led Ohio Redistricting Commission who have yet to release proposed maps after they ignored the first constitutional deadline last week, in which the Commission was — by law –supposed to have produced maps and held public hearings. With less than one week until the final deadline, Republicans on the Commission still have not produced maps and are rushing the process through without giving Ohioans adequate time to weigh in on the proposed maps that will affect every issue important to voters — from healthcare to education to the economy.

“Ohioans twice voted overwhelmingly to reform redistricting to give voters a say in the process that has too often been politicized by the Ohio GOP. This Republican-led Commission has one week to adopt a fair map that reflects the preferences of the voters of Ohio. We expect this Commission to fulfill that core duty, even though they ignored other constitutional requirements at earlier stages in the process. Ohioans voted for transparency and accountability, not more one-sided political games that leave Ohioans in the dark,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

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