OHDems

“After 15 to 20 years of a Republican majority in Ohio’s Statehouse, it is past time for a change” 

COLUMBUS, OH – Following decades of Republican control in the Ohio statehouse, even Republicans are sounding the alarm bells on their corrupt and power-hungry ticket. Yesterday, a new letter to the editor in The Columbus Dispatch underscored just how dire the situation is facing Ohio Republicans with even their own party criticizing their candidates for being “more interested in clinging to their political power than they are in providing a level-playing field for all participants.”

Check out the letter to the editor featured in The Columbus Dispatch below on how even Ohio Republicans are sounding the alarm on their own party – and are standing with Ohio Democrats in November:

Columbus Dispatch: I am a lifelong Republican. My party must be stopped. Acton has my vote | Letters

• I have been a lifelong moderate Republican, but I am quite upset with how the National Republicans are trying to discontinue mail-in voting. 
• The culture at Ohio’s Statehouse must change! 
• The only way to accomplish this is to elect the Democratic candidates to these important and powerful statewide offices, since it is very clear that the Republicans who play musical chairs to avert term limits are more interested in clinging to their political power than they are in providing a level-playing field for all participants. 
• After 15 to 20 years of a Republican majority in Ohio’s Statehouse, it is past time for a change.
• That is why I will be voting for Dr. Amy Acton for governor and the Democrat candidates for Ohio’s statewide offices in the November midterm election.

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COLUMBUS, OH – While “one of the most high-profile tasks Ohio’s next attorney general will face is overseeing the second prosecution of ex-FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling on public-corruption charges starting early next year,” in new bombshell reporting from Cleveland.com, Republican candidate for Attorney General Keith Faber is refusing to commit to continuing the case if elected. The FirstEnergy bribery scheme that delivered a billion dollar bailout to utilities, has rippled through Republican-controlled Columbus, and has contributed to electricity costs increasing by $663 a year for Ohioans.

“The next Attorney General of the state of Ohio will be tasked with the immense responsibility of overseeing the prosecution of FirstEnergy executives in the largest public corruption scandal in state history – and Keith Faber is proving every day that he can’t be trusted to get the job done,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “Ohioans deserve an Attorney General who will bring transparency and accountability to Columbus after decades of Republican control have raised costs for Ohio families and allowed corruption to run rampant – Ohioans are seeing every day that John Kulewicz is that leader.”

Read more on Faber’s refusal to commit to continuing the case in the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history:

Cleveland.com: Only one Ohio AG candidate pledges to continue FirstEnergy bribery trial

• One of the most high-profile tasks Ohio’s next attorney general will face is overseeing the second prosecution of ex-FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling on public-corruption charges starting early next year.
• But so far, only one of the two candidates running for Ohio attorney general this fall – Democrat John Kulewicz – has pledged to continue the case if elected. The Republican nominee, Keith Faber, says he’ll hold off on committing to any course of action until he discusses the case with AG staffers after taking office.
• After the pair’s first trial ended in a hung jury in April, then-Attorney General Dave Yost obtained a new, expanded grand jury indictment against them last month. “The roots of this complex case haven’t changed – FirstEnergy was hijacked by two scheming executives who sought to control the regulator that influenced the company’s stock prices,” Yost, a Columbus Republican, said at the time.
• Jury selection in the new trial, initially set for September, is now scheduled to begin in early January, a few days before Wilson’s term ends and either Faber or Kulewicz is sworn into office.
• Kulewicz, a retired attorney and Upper Arlington City Council member, said in an interview Thursday that, if elected, he has “every intention of moving forward” with the case
• “I believe the state should move forward as fast as possible with the new indictment,” he said. “The people of Ohio deserve a speedy trial of those charges and a final resolution of the matter.”
• Faber, a Mercer County resident currently serving as Ohio’s state auditor, declined in a statement to say what he would do about the prosecution.

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COLUMBUS, OH – With all eyes on battleground Ohio, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde authored an opinion piece in The Hill on Ohio’s safe and secure elections and the anti-voter efforts that are creating headlines for all the wrong reasons. While Republicans in Columbus and Washington continue to spread election conspiracies, Chair Clyde emphasizes in her opinion piece that at a time when Ohio families are struggling in the face of sky-high costs, “what the Republican politicians are doing has nothing to do with safeguarding our elections — and it certainly has nothing to do with lowering costs. It is all about them desperately trying to create outrage over an issue that doesn’t exist because they hope it could increase turnout among their base.”

Read more below from Chair Clyde’s opinion piece featured in The Hill on the importance of standing against anti-voter efforts, and supporting eligible Ohioans in voting in Ohio’s safe and secure elections:

• As Ohio returns to battleground status ahead of November’s midterm election, our state is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.  
• In the span of just a few weeks, we’ve gotten an up-close-and-personal look at how the fight over voting rights is evolving. The Republican-controlled statehouse has pushed legislation and a constitutional amendment that would make it harder for eligible Ohioans to vote while the FBI, presumably on orders from Washington, raided a voting rights organization. 
• When looking at the dangers of these attacks on voting rights in Ohio, let’s start with a simple fact: Ohio’s elections are safe, they’re secure and they’re free from widespread fraud. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has stated this and Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) has even called our elections the “gold standard.”
• And yet, statehouse Republicans in Columbus recently attempted to pass legislation that would require voters trying to cast their ballot by mail to submit actual copies of their photo ID — legislation that DeWine had to veto because it was both harmful to eligible voters and unnecessary.
• Statehouse Republicans also recently forced on the statewide ballot in November an unnecessary constitutional amendment to insert Ohio’s already existing voter ID requirement into the state Constitution. In other words, Republicans want voters to spend time and money enshrining in our Constitution a policy that is already state law, for Ohio’s elections — which are already safe, secure and free from widespread fraud.
• We are fighting back. We are sending a message to the Trump administration and to Republican politicians in Washington and Columbus that no attempt to stoke fear, spread confusion and silence voters will stop us. 
• Ohioans want — and deserve — leaders who will keep our already safe and secure elections running smoothly for generations to come. What Ohioans do not want are needless barriers that only make it more difficult for Ohio’s seniors, military servicemembers, disabled people, college students and others to vote. What Ohioans do not want is federal law enforcement being weaponized to target organizations that help register eligible voters.  
• What Ohioans do want, in contrast, are leaders who will support Ohio families and lower the costs that they face at a time when Ohioans of all political backgrounds are struggling. 
• Of course, what the Republican politicians are doing has nothing to do with safeguarding our elections — and it certainly has nothing to do with lowering costs. It is all about them desperately trying to create outrage over an issue that doesn’t exist because they hope it could increase turnout among their base. 
• With Election Day approaching, it is critical that eligible voters feel confident that they can register, cast a ballot and participate in our democratic process without fear or confusion. We’re fighting back in Ohio because we know that our democracy is strongest when all eligible voters are able to vote.  
• Voting, after all, is how Ohioans make their voices heard. It is how we have a say in our state’s future. And, in case the statehouse Republicans have forgotten, it is also the core foundation of our democracy.
   

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COLUMBUS, OH – While Republican candidate for Attorney General Keith Faber’s campaign has refused to answer questions about his repeated recent comments that “appear to advocate ending parts of Medicaid,” the damage is already done. Despite one-third of Ohioans losing access to the Affordable Care Act under the current Republican administration, Keith Faber appears to advocate for even more cuts that would drive up costs and leave Ohio families choosing between getting sick and paying for groceries.

“If Republican candidate for Attorney General Keith Faber is going to rip healthcare away from Ohio families, the least he can do is own it,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “While Faber’s team tries to walk back time to before their candidate said the quiet part out loud, there’s no way to paper over the fact that Faber would gut the healthcare that Ohioans rely on if elected. Ohioans deserve answers from Faber, and they deserve an Attorney General who will protect Ohioans’ healthcare and make life more affordable for Ohio families.”

Following the Faber campaign’s refusal to answer basic questions about his plans to gut Ohioans’ Medicaid healthcare, Ohioans deserve answers. Here are five questions Keith Faber can start with answering – and it’s just a start: 

1. What do you have to say to the 350,000 Ohioans who could lose their healthcare coverage as a result of Washington Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill? 
2. Do you believe that Medicaid is a “mistake?”
3. If a mother has to choose between getting life-saving care or feeding her child, which do you think she should choose? 
4. One in four Ohioans depends on Medicaid. How will they get care when you rip away their healthcare? 
5. How many more Ohioans do you estimate will have to take on second or third jobs to afford out-of-pocket health coverage? 

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“People truly want independence. They are tired of politics, particularly in the courts. They want to believe they have a fair chance. That’s why I’m running for the Supreme Court.” 

COLUMBUS, OH – As extreme partisan politics frustrate Ohioans of all political backgrounds, Ohio Supreme Court candidate Judge Marilyn Zayas talked to The Vindicator about why she’s running for a seat on the state’s highest court. Zayas emphasized that “people are losing faith” in the judicial system “because of politics,” and that the “courts aren’t red or blue, they’re about you. They’re about us.”

Read more below from Judge Marilyn Zayas on why she’s running for the State Supreme Court and how “the independence, the integrity and the accountability are really what’s on the ballot for our Ohio Supreme Court this fall.”

The Vindicator: Ohio high court hopeful running for judicial independence

• Democrat Marilyn Zayas said part of the reason she is running for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court is “people are losing faith” in the judicial system “because of politics.”
• Zayas, who sits on the 1st District Court of Appeals in Hamilton County, said there are issues with the “politicalization of our courts, the integrity of our courts and the independence of our courts.”
• Zayas said, “People truly want independence. They are tired of politics, particularly in the courts. They want to believe they have a fair chance. That’s why I’m running for the Supreme Court. That’s why the independence, the integrity and the accountability are really what’s on the ballot for our Ohio Supreme Court this fall.”
• While Zayas opposes party affiliation on the ballot for Ohio Supreme Court and courts of appeals races, she said she is “hopeful in the power of people. I’ve run these competitive races where supposedly someone like me was not supposed to be elected. But only in Ohio I believe that someone like me can be elected because Ohio truly values hard work, they value integrity, and that’s what’s going to play out in the fall. It’s not red or blue. I keep saying courts aren’t red or blue, they’re about you. They’re about us.”

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