Ohio Spotlight
by Marcy Taylor ’84 and Katie Nappi ’87, Ohio Action Team
State of the State
Ohio remains a heavily gerrymandered red state with a Republican supermajority in the Statehouse. Ohio’s redistricting fights have finally been resolved. The new Ohio Supreme Court dismissed legal challenges to the Congressional maps that had previously been deemed unconstitutional, so the 2022 maps will remain in 2024. New Statehouse maps were unanimously approved and will be in effect for 8 years. They still heavily favor Republicans. A campaign has begun for a constitutional amendment in November 2024 to replace the current redistricting commission with a citizen-led commission.
Congressional Elections
Ohio has three of the most competitive 2024 Democratic-held House races and one of the most vulnerable Democratic Senate seats. Greg Landsman HDS ’04 flipped OH-1 in 2022. Democrat Emilia Sykes is the first-time Representative for OH-13. She won in 2022 after 8 years as a State Representative. In OH-9, Marcy Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Sherrod Brown is running for his 4th term. He is popular with Ohioans and has the substantial advantage of incumbency, but he is a top target for Republicans.
2023 elections
Ohio had a great victory in the August special election, with Ohioans rejecting 57% to 43% the Legislature’s attempt to grab power from citizens and block passage of the Reproductive Freedom Amendment. Also noteworthy: turnout was 38.5% vs. the expected 8%, showing that organizing efforts worked. The attempted and now failed power grab and the Reproductive Freedom Amendment campaign have energized citizens. Many new groups have popped up to oppose Republican overreach and protect democracy.
Work to Do
Our priority this month is to finish the job of passing Issue 1, the Reproductive Freedom Amendment, this November 7. Join our awesome CGB phone bank team on Wednesdays and Saturdays to help get supporters to the polls! Early voting started October 11.
Our job for 2024 is to win our targeted Congressional races. To accomplish this, we will partner with like-minded organizations to register and mobilize Democrats while pushing back against Republican roadblocks. A slew of anti-democratic bills are being tested in Ohio by the Republican super-majority.
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