OHDems

COLUMBUS, OH – Businesses and community leaders in Northeast Ohio are sounding the alarm on the devastating impacts of President Trump’s reckless war with Iran and his policies like tariffs that are hurting our economy and making life harder for working families and small businesses. Additionally, in this new survey, nonprofit community organizations emphasized that “people in the bottom half of the income distribution are feeling most of the pain,” with some groups also “report[ing] a deteriorating jobs outlook for their clients.”

“President Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would ‘lower costs on day one’ and instead he’s doing the complete opposite, with his reckless war with Iran causing gas prices to skyrocket to over $4.00 a gallon on average in Ohio and his tariffs raising the price of goods and making it difficult for Ohio small businesses to keep their doors open,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde. “Ohio businesses and community leaders are making clear that the President’s actions are hurting our communities, and they’re going to make it clear in November too when they elect Democratic leaders up and down the ballot who will stand up against these devastating choices by Republican politicians in Washington and instead work to lower costs at the gas pump, the grocery store, the pharmacy, and in nearly every part of Ohioans’ daily life.”

Read more from Ohio Capital Journal: Regional businesses say Iran war, Trump tariffs are increasing prices, hurting the economy

President Donald Trump’s undeclared war with Iran and his sweeping tariffs are increasing costs and dampening the economic outlook, some business and community leaders have told the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

The war will enter its third month on Friday without a clear rationale or goal. A fragile cease-fire is in place, but Iran continues to restrict access to the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for global energy, fertilizer and mineral flows.

Gas prices in Ohio have surged by more than one-third since Trump launched the war, and some fertilizers have spiked as much as 50% nationally as planting season is underway. Meanwhile, as of January, Trump’s tariffs are estimated to have increased consumer costs by 1.5%, according to the Yale Budget Lab.

Those factors — combined with uncertainty over what will happen next — have created problems in multiple sectors of the economy, according to the Cleveland Fed’s latest Beige Book. 

The Cleveland Fed represents the Federal Reserve System’s Fourth District — a region that covers all of Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia. Eight times a year, it conducts interviews and online questionnaires with businesses, community organizations, economists, and other sources. 

The latest Beige Book said that businesses were feeling the pinch from higher prices.

[…]

“Contacts across sectors highlighted escalating energy costs related to the conflict in the Middle East, with some describing fuel costs as ‘skyrocketing’ and others noting that this would further exacerbate already-high freight costs. Materials costs continued to rise, particularly for metals like copper, steel, and aluminum, with manufacturers citing tariffs as drivers. Two agricultural contacts reported fertilizer cost spikes, and one attributed this to the Strait of Hormuz closure.”

[…]

And many producers worried about consumers’ ability to buy their products.

“Consumer spending declined modestly in recent weeks, driven by extreme weather events and high fuel prices,” the Beige Book said. 

“Grocery store and automotive contacts noted that higher fuel prices strained customers’ wallets, and one higher-end grocer reported customers making fewer trips and purchases. Contacts expected flat consumer spending in the coming months, with many noting that the evolving conflict in the Middle East and associated increase in fuel costs could hurt their demand.”

People in the bottom half of the income distribution are feeling most of the pain. The Beige Book reported on a semiannual survey of nonprofit community organizations.

It said “most respondents reported a decline in their clients’ financial well-being over the past six months due to elevated prices. One respondent said more people sought foreclosure prevention services amid rising property taxes and insurance, while a homeless shelter operator observed longer stays due to the lack of affordable housing.”

The groups also reported a deteriorating jobs outlook for their clients.

“Some respondents who assist jobseekers noticed fewer entry-level positions available,” the report said. “By contrast, others noted more openings for low-paying jobs — manual labor, part-time or temporary jobs, and gig work — that typically lack health-care benefits or a reliable income.”

###

COLUMBUS, OH – While local election officials are making clear the importance of drop boxes in ensuring that Ohioans are able to cast their ballot in Ohio’s safe and secure elections, Republican candidates for Secretary of State are doubling down on their vow to eliminate drop boxes and make it even harder to vote. Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague even released a new ad vowing to “ditch the drop boxes” that so many Ohioans rely on to vote.

“Drop boxes are a safe and secure part of Ohio’s elections and they’re a critical way for Ohioans to be able to drop off their ballot and exercise their right to vote,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde. “Ohioans deserve a Secretary of State who will ensure that in Ohio’s elections, every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot free from barriers – not partisan politicians like the Republican candidates for Secretary of State who spread election conspiracies, tout repeatedly disproven misinformation, and are willing to go against the recommendations of local election officials to disenfranchise voters.”

This follows Republican candidates for Secretary of State recently trumpeting false claims of widespread voter fraud and refusing to admit the results of the 2020 presidential election.

While Republican candidates for Secretary of State vow to eliminate drop boxes, read more from Cleveland.com about what local election officials are saying about the importance of drop boxes:

• “I know (the drop box) works out for some people who work during the day. If they need to come when our office is closed, they have the ability to drive right up and insert it into the drop box.” –Dante Lewis, director of the Lake County Board of Elections.
• “I’m a big advocate for drop boxes. I think we should have more drop boxes than less.” –Tony Perlatti, Director, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

###

COLUMBUS, OH – Keith Faber, current Ohio Auditor and Republican candidate for Attorney General broke his promise to Ohioans, refusing to part with thousands of dollars he received from Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator and Columbus billionaire Les Wexner. This comes after Faber’s campaign pledged months ago to donate the money to various charities – a pledge Faber clearly hoped no one would realize that he broke.

“Keith Faber clearly can’t be trusted to be Ohio’s Attorney General – he’s already breaking promises to Ohioans and refusing to part with money from a co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “Ohioans know that if Faber can’t even keep his word to donate campaign contributions from a billionaire embroiled in the heinous actions of a sexual predator, he certainly isn’t up to the task of being the chief legal officer in the state responsible for protecting Ohioans and standing up to big corporations and special interests.”

Reminder: Faber is running to become Ohio’s Attorney General, the chief legal officer in the Buckeye State tasked with standing up to the powerful and well-connected to root out corruption in our state and put more of Ohioans’ hard-earned dollars back into their pockets.

READ MORE: Ohio AG hopeful Keith Faber stiffed charities on Wexner pledge

Ohio Auditor Keith Faber’s campaign donated $12,500 to charity from political contributions it received from Columbus billionaire Les Wexner — $2,500 less than the $15,000 the campaign publicly pledged in late February, according to a pre-primary finance report filed with the Ohio Secretary of State.

The report, filed by Friends of Faber and covering activity through April 19, lists four charitable contributions made on March 18: $5,000 to the State FOP Charitable Fund, $2,500 to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, $2,500 to Akron-based Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center, and $2,500 to Freedom a la Cart, a downtown Columbus nonprofit that trains survivors of human trafficking for workforce re-entry. The four gifts total $12,500.

In a Feb. 25 Dayton Daily News report, Faber campaign spokesperson Matt Dole said the attorney general hopeful had donated $15,000 “to law enforcement and victim rights charities” from Wexner’s contributions. Previously reported Wexner donations to Faber include $10,000 in 2025 and $5,000 in 2022. The pre-primary finance report does not itemize any separate charitable contribution that would close the $2,500 gap.

[…]

###

COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio congressional candidate Josh Williams has become the latest Republican candidate in the Buckeye State to desperately race to scrub their website of ties to an accused sexual predator, according to new reporting. While state Rep. Rodney Creech was accused by a minor female relative of climbing into bed with her wearing only his underwear, Williams has refused to speak out against Creech. Despite Williams quietly removing Creech from the endorser page of his campaign website, state Rep. Gary Click – who has spoken extensively about talking to “young girls” about sex – has remained on Williams’ endorsements list.

“Disavowing accused sexual predators should be a baseline that all leaders of both parties can agree on, but Ohio Republicans are instead quietly scrubbing their websites and scrambling to hide their ties to these individuals,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde. “It is absurd that this has to be said out loud but Josh Williams and every Republican candidate in Ohio should speak out against the actions of accused sexual predators. Ohioans deserve leaders who will support families and protect children across our state, not politicians who stand against victims and refuse to even condemn the heinous actions of accused sexual predators.”

Josh Williams is no stranger to controversy, and has previously refused to apologizeafter he “posted sexually explicit and degrading content about women on his public Facebook page.” This new reporting on Williams’ quiet removal of Creech from his website, “follows a pattern” with Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign also desperately trying to cover up endorsements from Creech – and from Click.

READ: Josh Williams removes Rodney Creech from endorsements as toxicity spreads

Ohio congressional candidate Josh Williams has quietly removed state Rep. Rodney Creech from his campaign’s endorsements page — making Williams the second Republican candidate in a week to scrub Creech’s name from their website after TiffinOhio.net reporting.

Creech, who was accused by a minor female relative of climbing into bed with her while erect and wearing only his underwear according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation documents, no longer appears on Williams’ endorsements page at joshwilliamsforohio.com. Google’s cached index of the page still shows Creech listed among Williams’ Ohio House endorsers — confirming his name was there recently and has since been removed.

Williams’ campaign made no public announcement about the change.

The removal follows a pattern. Last week, Vivek Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial campaign removed both Creech and state Rep. Gary Click from vivekforohio.com/endorsements/within two days of TiffinOhio.net publishing reports on Creech’s BCI investigation and resurfaced video of Click reminiscing about talking to “young girls” about their sexual experiences during Ohio House testimony. Web Archive snapshots confirmed that removal.

Click stays

While Creech has been scrubbed from Williams’ endorsements page, Click remains listed — identified as “Rep. Gary Click, House District 88.”

Click formally endorsed Williams’ congressional campaign in August 2025, two years after Williams’ sexually explicit Facebook posts were first publicly reported by D.J. Byrnes of The Rooster, an independently owned Ohio political media outlet. The two have co-sponsored multiple pieces of legislation in the Ohio House, including HB 693, which would write the concept of “parental alienation” into state law — the same term Creech used to publicly dismiss his own daughter’s statements about the alleged misconduct.

[…]

Toxic endorsements

Three weeks before the May 5 primary, Creech and Click are rapidly becoming two of the most toxic endorsements in Ohio Republican politics.

Ramaswamy removed Creech. Williams has now removed Creech. On the Ramaswamy front, Click was also removed — then scrambled back onto the page within hours of TiffinOhio.net documenting the change, posting on Facebook that “rumors that I have been removed from a list of endorsements Vivek Ramaswamy are greatly exaggerated.” Web Archive snapshots confirmed the removal had occurred.

Sen. Jon Husted’s campaign has also drawn scrutiny for promoting endorsements from both lawmakers on a March 19 endorsement graphic. Click serves as Husted’s Sandusky County campaign chair.

[…]

Williams has faced his own scrutiny during the campaign. TiffinOhio.net reported that Williams posted sexually explicit and degrading content about women on his public Facebook page before sponsoring bills he said would protect children from obscenity. When confronted about the posts in 2023, Williams refused to apologize: “What do I gotta apologize about? I made the post in 2018 being funny while I was in college burning time.” He was approximately 34 years old at the time.

###

COLUMBUS, OH – Despite Ohioans voting to protect access to reproductive health care in 2023, Ohio Republicans are continuing to go against the will of voters by working to further restrict access to abortion. With Republicans escalating their attacks on reproductive care, “The Ohio Supreme Court will play a critical role in determining the future of abortion access in Ohio,” as reported by The Columbus Dispatch.

“Republicans are showing with every bill that they introduce to restrict abortion access, monitor women’s pregnancies, and create more barriers for care, how critical it is for Ohioans to re-elect Justice Jennifer Brunner and elect Judge Marilyn Zayas to The Ohio Supreme Court to stand against these attacks and uphold the law,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde. “Instead of working to lower the sky-high costs that are hurting parents and families throughout our state, Republicans are attempting to restrict access to reproductive care – even though Ohioans have made it clear that they don’t want politicians in their deeply personal health decisions. It’s wrong – and Ohioans will make them pay for it at the ballot box in November.”

Read more from The Columbus Dispatch on Republican attempts to restrict access to reproductive care – and the critical role that The Ohio Supreme Court will play in protecting abortion access in Ohio.

The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio voted for abortion access. GOP lawmakers still push for limits
By Jessie Balmert, 4/12/26

Ohioans voted to protect abortion access in 2023. Now, Republicans are pitching multiple ways to test the limits of that constitutional amendment.

More than two years after their victory, abortion rights advocates are fighting an onslaught of proposed legislation to restrict access to medication abortion, delay abortion procedures and track pregnancies.

“It’s clear that they have not accepted the will of the voters,” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of Abortion Forward, which advocated for the amendment, which passed with 57% of the vote. “They are doing everything they can to engage in a multi-prong attack on the Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment.”

[…]

Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates have scored multiple victories in court, where local, Democratic judges have ruled in favor of abortion access. They’ve struck down a ban on most abortions, a 24-hour waiting period before pregnant patients can receive an abortion and a requirement that fetal remains be buried or cremated.

It’s only a matter of time before these cases end up before the Ohio Supreme Court, where Republicans hold a 6-1 majority. Those who oppose abortion are eager for that day and hope the justices will impose limits on the 2023 amendment approved by voters.

But Lauren Blauvelt, executive director at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, wants the justices to follow what she says is an unambiguous mandate from voters. “I don’t believe Ohioans want their justices to act like activist judges, but to follow the clear language that they voted on,” she said.

Ohio Republicans pitch multiple bills to limit abortions

The abortion rights amendment hasn’t stopped Republican lawmakers from introducing and passing bills on abortion. Copeland’s organization is tracking 11 bills in this legislative session alone, and she said they loosely fall into two categories.

“One is this very anti-abortion, misinformation, propaganda, kind of shame and stigma that they’re pushing,” Copeland said. “The other is different ways to challenge the reproductive freedom amendment itself.”

Republican lawmakers have passed bills to restrict telehealth cosultations and require pregnant patients to wait 24 hours after receiving state-approved warnings to have an abortion. A GOP lawmaker recently introduced a bill that would require fetal birth and death certificates − language that could create a statewide registry of pregnancies. Another bill would require students to watch a fetal development video similar to “Baby Olivia,” which was created by abortion opponents.

[…]

A date with the Ohio Supreme Court

The Ohio Supreme Court will play a critical role in determining the future of abortion access in Ohio. The seven-member court will ultimately decide what the 2023 amendment means and what it doesn’t.

That’s why Republicans and Democrats are so focused on the 2026 Ohio Supreme Court races. Republicans are trying to pick off Democrats’ only remaining statewide elected official, Justice Jennifer Brunner. Meanwhile, Democrats want to unseat Republican Justice Dan Hawkins.

[…]

Beyond the Ohio Supreme Court, Blauvelt said the next governor and attorney general will also play important roles in the future of abortion access. One sets the agenda for the state, and the other determines how and when to defend abortion restrictions.

###