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ICYMI: Cleveland.com & The Plain Dealer Endorse Rep. Emilia Sykes For Congress

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer Editorial Board just endorsed Rep. Emilia Sykes for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, saying “Voters in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District should send Emilia Sykes to Congress.” 

Sykes handily earned the endorsement of one of Ohio’s largest newspapers over extremist Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, who wants to ban abortion, refuses to say whether Joe Biden won the election and who bought three different houses just to run for Congress. Gilbert refused to participate in the endorsement interview process after routinely attempting to distort Sykes’ record with racist television ads and after failing to promptly file required financial disclosures in the congressional race. 

  • Listen to the full endorsement interview here 

“Voters in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District should send Emilia Sykes to Congress. Early voting in the Nov. 8 election has begun,” writes the editorial board. 

Read more from the Cleveland.com/Plain Dealer editorial board here and below: 

  • No one can doubt that state Rep. Emilia Sykes is unafraid to roll the political dice. As a minority within a minority within a minority within a minority — an urban Black female Democrat in an Ohio House that is mostly rural, white, male and Republican — Sykes has made the majority sit up and pay attention. In 2018, the Akron native demanded Statehouse security bias training after she and other Black women lawmakers and staff were followed and questioned despite their security badges.

  • Sykes, 36, the former Ohio House minority leader, is term-limited after serving eight years, and has set her sights on Congress in a closely contested U.S. House district that tilts slightly Democratic. Ohio’s revamped 13th District, as redrawn for this election, includes Summit County, northern Stark County and a slice of Portage County.

  • Both candidates are lawyers who grew up in the region. But the race offers voters a stark contrast on a seminal electoral issue: Was the 2020 election stolen? Sykes says no and vowed in the endorsement interview to oppose “election deniers and folks who, quite frankly, don’t want America to continue on as we have enjoyed it for the last couple of hundred years.” Gesiotto Gilbert, when Eaton asked whether the 2020 election was above board, failed to answer the question, diverting to a critique of President Joe Biden.

  • Voters in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District should send Emilia Sykes to Congress. Early voting in the Nov. 8 election has begun.

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Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action, Stands with Chair Walters, Ohio Democrats to Lay Out Stakes of November Election

Cincinnati, OH — Today, Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action, stood with Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters, Mayor Aftab Pureval, Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey and Councilmember Greg Landsman, candidate for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District, to lay out the stakes of November’s election. 

“For four years, when given a choice between doing what’s right and doing what’s politically expedient, DeWine caved every time. Ohioans deserve better. They deserve a leader like Nan Whaley and leaders like those joining us here today who will put the interests of Ohioans over their own personal, political interests and never back down from a fight,” said Watts. 

Ohio Republicans have pushed a number of measures that make Ohioans less safe, including:

  • A bill that would put more guns in our classrooms, signed into law by Mike DeWine over objections of Ohio law enforcement, teachers and students.
  • A bill that waives requirements for background checks, licenses or training to carry a gun, which makes Ohio law enforcement officers less safe. 

“Ohio can do better. We can elect Nan Whaley, Greg Landsman and Ohio Democrats up and down the ballot who will look out for us and our loved ones. Who will keep their promises to ‘do something’ to combat gun violence. And who will finally stand up to the gun lobby once and for all,” said Chair Walters. 

“DeWine and his Republican friends in the state legislature are only making our jobs harder. By caving to their gun lobby donors, radical Republicans are making our state less safe,” said Mayor Pureval. 

Ohio Democrats are offering a better way forward: keeping Ohio families safe from gun violence instead of caving to the gun lobby and putting more guns in our schools and on our streets. 

“We deserve leadership that will make our streets safer for all of us – law enforcement officers and the communities we serve. That’s why I’m supporting Nan Whaley, Greg Landsman and Democrats up and down the ticket to put our state back on the right path and make our communities safer,” said Sheriff McGuffey. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to get to work putting Ohio families first next year in Congress, and I know our rest of our candidates feel the same,” said Councilmember Landsman.

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Ohio Democrats Release Digital Ad Hammering Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer’s Extreme Abortion Agenda

Watch the new Digital Ad HERE

Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party released a new digital ad “Dangerous” that outlines the extreme agenda of Ohio Supreme Court candidates Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer. Both candidates have been endorsed by Ohio Right to Life, which has made clear that they only endorse candidates who don’t support abortion in cases of rape or incest. The ad will run digitally statewide, and is backed by a six-figure buy. 

“Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer are too dangerous for Ohio. They have made their stances on abortion abudently clear: they’re ready to rip reproductive rights away from Ohio women, even in cases of rape or incest. Abortion rights are on the ballot this November, and we’re showing Ohioans just how dangerous DeWine and Fischer really are,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Both DeWine and Fischer have taken heat for their extreme abortion stances, from Fischer comparing abortion to slavery to DeWine saying that Ohioans don’t have extensive rights to due process under the Ohio Constitution to both candidates making their anti-choice opinions known as abortion lawsuits are set to reach the court as early as next year. 

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ICYMI: ODP Veterans Caucus Chair Connie Pillich Pens Op-Ed Slamming J.R. Majewski for Lying About His Military Service

“J.R. Majewski is bad for Ohio. He’s bad for our country. And northwest Ohio voters deserve better.”

Columbus, OH —  In case you missed it, Ohio Democratic Party Veterans and Military Community Caucus Chair Connie Pillich penned an op-ed for the Sandusky Register that takes J.R. Majewski to task for lying about his military service. Pillich, a former Air Force Captain, points out how Majewski’s lies dishonor Ohio’s veterans and servicemembers and how he’s exaggerating his military service to score political points. 

“I’m a veteran myself, and the Ohio veterans I know are rightfully proud of their service. No veteran I know would exaggerate that service or lie to serve their own political interests. But J.R. Majewski chose to put politics over principles, and Ohio veterans are mad as hell,” wrote Veterans Caucus Chair Connie Pillich. 

Read Pillich’s full op-ed in the Sandusky Register here and below: 

  • Serving your country with honor is one of the most important things any one person can do. Lying about that service is one of the most despicable.

  • J.R. Majewski has lied about his military service, dishonoring the generations of Ohioans who have put on the uniform in service to their nation. And it’s yet another reminder to the voters of Ohio why Majewski belongs nowhere near the halls of Congress.

  • It was bad enough that J.R. Majewski was at the U.S. Capitol during the attack on January 6, paid for others to join him and then blamed law enforcement for what happened.

  • But now, the Associated Press has reported that J.R. misrepresented his service in Afghanistan, calling himself a combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan but providing no evidence to back up his claims.

  • Then, it was uncovered that J.R. lied about why he wasn’t eligible to reenlist in the U.S. Air Force, claiming it was because of a ‘brawl,’ when in reality he was caught driving drunk and demoted.

  • J.R. Majewski is bad for Ohio. He’s bad for our country. And northwest Ohio voters deserve better.

  • And it is so odd: J.R. served his country. That’s all he ever needed to say. Instead, he chose to dishonor his fellow veterans by exaggerating his service and lying – all so he could get himself elected to political office.

  • I’m a veteran myself, and the Ohio veterans I know are rightfully proud of their service. No veteran I know would exaggerate that service or lie to serve their own political interests. 

  • But J.R. Majewski chose to put politics over principles, and Ohio veterans are mad as hell.

  • If he can’t muster the courage to tell the truth, he should drop out of the race. His actions don’t reflect the values of northwest Ohio, and they certainly don’t reflect the values of the U.S. military or our veteran community.

  • For most Ohio veterans, nothing’s more important than serving their country. For J.R., it seems, nothing’s more important than serving himself.

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Jon Husted Apparently Backs Kanye West After Antisemitic Tirade

Watch the full video HERE

Columbus, OH – Jon Husted has decided to side with Kanye West, apparently. After West went on an antisemitic tirade earlier this month, Husted then retweeted a Fox Business video in defense of West after J.P. Morgan Chase cut ties with him, claiming they did so because of his ‘political viewpoints,’ when in reality the bank had severed ties with West weeks earlier. The video claims that West is being discriminated against because of his political beliefs, when in reality West is being held accountable for spewing a number of antisemitic tropes, which we will not repeat, but can be found HERE. 

“Jon Husted is dangerously amplifying antisemitic rhetoric and defending the indefensible. Ohioans deserve leadership that brings people together, not one that excuses hate in search of political points. Husted should take his retweet down, and apologize immediately,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Vivek Ramaswamy, who is featured in the video defending West, served as an advisor to Husted in 2020. Watch his full interview HERE. 

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