Chair Walters, Domestic Violence Survivor and Advocate Call Out Republicans for Disgusting Ad Misrepresenting Sykes’ Record
September 27, 2022
Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters and Ms. Diona Clark, a domestic violence survivor and advocate, held a virtual press conference to denounce disgusting Republican ads that lie about Rep. Emilia Sykes’ record. Rep. Sykes has been a leading champion of legislation that better protects victims of domestic violence and keeps Ohioans safe.
“Rep. Emilia Sykes has spent her whole career championing the people of Ohio, leading on issues ranging from investing in working Ohioans to healthcare to public safety to standing up for victims of domestic violence. Republicans are scared of running against that record. So they simply make up lies. And the latest ad coming from the Republican camp shows just how scared they are,” said Chair Walters.
“Rep. Sykes is really invested in domestic violence survivors. She really cared. I never really thought I would be working with someone who makes policies. Our friendship, it grew through that and I’m grateful for her,” said Ms. Clark.
The false ads in support of Sykes’ far-right opponent distort Sykes’ record in a naked, partisan attempt to distract from her opponent’s extreme record on abortion and critical issues that matter most to working Ohioans.
Here’s a sampling of Madison Gesiotto Gilbert’s extreme record:
- She supports banning abortion at six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.
- She’s endorsed by groups that want to outlaw contraception like birth control pills and emergency contraception like Plan B.
- Support no exceptions to her abortion ban, even in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk.
- She said that “abortion is the number one killer of Black Americans”
- And said the overturn of Roe v. Wade was ‘amazing news.’
Rep. Emilia Sykes has led bipartisan efforts to protect victims of domestic violence. She passed legislation through the Ohio House that would allow victims of dating violence to secure a civil protection order against their attacker. Before Emilia’s bill, only spouses, people living as spouses or people who shared custody of children could do so. She also sponsored a bill that would criminalize tracking another person without their consent. In an age where so much of our information lives online, we shouldn’t be enabling domestic abusers to use that information to track their victims online.
Most recently, legislation supported by Emilia helped secure almost $3 million for the Summit County Sheriff’s office to help crack down on violent crime. But facts don’t seem to matter to the Republicans spreading these lies.
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