Support for the statewide broadcast of the state of Ohio comes from medical mutuel, providing more than 1.4 million Ohioans peace of mind with a selection of health insurance plans online at med mutual dot com slash Ohio by the law offices of Porter Wright, Morris and Arthur LLP.
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At OHEA.org.
Ohio's second primary this year was held this week and now we know who will be on the ballot this November.
A big vote on abortion in another state makes waves in Ohio, and candidates made the midway their campaign trail.
All of this and more this week on the state of Ohio.
Welcome to the state of ohio.
I'm Joe Ingles sitting in for karen kasler.
Who's on vacation this week.
As expected, there was record low turnout in the statewide primary election this week.
Less than 8% of registered Ohio voters went to the polls Tuesday to decide state legislative races and leadership for political parties.
The state legislative races were moved from the May primary to August after a federal court put in place Ohio House and Senate maps that were approved by Republicans on the redistricting commission but were ruled unconstitutional, only gerrymandered by the Ohio Supreme Court.
This August primary costs at least $25 million.
Most incumbents won reelection, but three lost.
Republican Representative Sean Stevens and Mark Frazier lost to challenges in their central Ohio districts.
Democratic Representative Bright Rose Sweeney beat fellow Democratic Representative Monique Smith and former attorney general and Auditor Betty Montgomery.
Lost her bid to be on the Republican State's Central Committee.
To a restaurant owner and back.
I like now that we know the outcome of Tuesday's election.
Let's look at how the election process is worked.
Secretary of State Frank La Rose joins us now to talk about that.
First of all, any problems with the election Tuesday?
You know, there are always some minor things here and there.
It's really just because of the scope of the operation.
If you think about over 3000 polling locations staffed by close to 30,000 patriotic Ohioans, Republicans and Democrats.
So you know, we had a concerning incident that happened in Toledo.
Thankfully, law enforcement was able to to move in quite quickly and get that we had I think one or two power outages at places.
We had all of those things.
But because of the operation that we've put in place, we're now able to the secretary of state's office to sort of quickly identify those issues, triage, what's high priority and what's not, and then really quickly react to things.
So that's a new capacity that we have with with the work that we do with the secretary of state's office to really make sure that we're helping our county board of elections coordinate everything that goes on that day.
Yeah, I was reading about that situation in Toledo.
It was kind of scary.
Can you talk about a little bit of it?
Absolutely.
So.
And from what we know and we were getting reports in our sort of war room operation there, the secretary of state's office, that an individual who was angry came in and was making threatening comments involving a firearm and this kind of thing.
Of course, the Toledo police and the Lucas County Sheriff's Department and all the other law enforcement entities got involved in the situation turned out that this individual evidently had some prior warrants and has a track record of doing the wrong thing and has now been charged with with a felony as a result of it.
This is something that we do not take lightly.
The safety of our voters, the safety of our poll workers and the continuity of the operations are absolutely crucial on Election Day.
And so the good news is all the plans that we had in place to deal with those kind of things worked quite smoothly.
Speaking of poll workers, you ended up getting enough workers and that ended up not being a problem.
But it seems like every election it's harder to poll workers.
You're out there trying to get them.
What needs to happen to get more poll workers and get a stable of them that continuously can be there?
So really, this is a good news story.
I was concerned because August 2nd is not a normal day when people think about working as a poll worker or being a voter for that matter.
So we really rolled up our sleeves with the county board of Elections.
As soon as we knew we were unfortunately going to have to have this August 2nd election.
And we had these five recruiting programs that initially started in 20, 20, and those were all put into place.
We were able to recruit lawyers to get continuing ed credits for being a poll worker.
Realtors were doing the same.
A lot of other professional organizations, veterans groups, were answering what I called a second call to duty by serving as a poll worker.
We had a lot of high school students that signed up as part of our youth at the Booth program.
So really in that sense, by within three or four days before Election Day, we had every poll worker that we needed.
We were ready to go, but we never rest on that.
We're already recruiting poll workers for November.
Anybody that wants to be part of that important activity could sign up at Vote Ohio.
Now, you ask about things that we can do.
People raise the issue of pay.
It's important that we pay poll workers adequately.
It varies by county.
There's always room to improve that.
I don't really think that's the chief motivation for people that do it, but it's important that we pay them.
There's something else that has been talked about over the years about, well, could it be a split shift could you have one crew in the morning and another crew in the afternoon?
Certainly open to that.
But I know that concerns our elections officials because it's already hard to recruit 40,000 poll workers.
Now, imagine having to recruit 80,000 because as soon as you allow those split shifts, then and that would require a change in law certainly to do that.
But Ohioans have stepped up, answered the call.
It's a it's a great thing, not only from the standpoint of having enough people to do it, but also creating an army of truth tellers.
Right.
Because what we're talking about is men and women, Republicans and Democrats in each community around Ohio that have actually taken the time to know how elections work, to understand why a lot of those conspiracy theories just don't hold up to the facts.
And each of those individuals is then empowered to help spread the word in their community.
So in that sense, I think it's really good to sign up poll workers as well.
Because, again, they become that army of truth tellers out there in the community.
They can help people know why.
I say it's both easy to vote and hard to cheat in Ohio.
Low turnout, more than seven less than eight.
Were you surprised by that?
Not surprised.
Yes.
Disappointed, right.
We all in elections, administration, Republicans and Democrats want to see high turnout it's something that we work very hard at.
If you were to ask the men and women at your board of elections, they want to see the highest turnout possible.
We work very hard to run elections.
And we know that democracy works best when the diverse voices of Ohioans can be heard in large numbers.
That means high levels of participation.
Certainly, Ohio makes it easy.
So it's not a matter of convenience.
We have four weeks of early voting, four weeks of absentee voting.
We have long hours, longer than many other states, 6:30 a.m. till, 7:30 p.m..
So we make it easy to vote.
Primaries can be hard in general, right?
Every primary is different.
Some primaries have feature a big top of the ticket race where there's been millions of dollars of ad spending in other primaries.
There are.
So it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison.
And certainly this was a really unusual primary that just was not like anything that we've ever seen before was really kind of half a primary, if you will.
And so we expected that there could be low turnout.
We worked hard to try to avert that.
But in the end, Ohioans didn't didn't show up in the large numbers that we'd like to see.
But we did have a free and fair election because of redistricting snafus.
There was that second primary this summer.
It cost $25 million, maybe even a little more than that.
Given the low turnout, was it worth it?
Well, I'll tell you what, it's not an option not to have an election and Ohioans deserve to have the chance to nominate their party's candidates for the November ballot.
Ohioans have the chance to choose their party's leadership for their the state central committee, both Republican and Democrat.
Listen, it was really unfortunate that we were put in this situation.
I think you know that I was ringing the alarm bell eight or nine months ago saying we've got to get this resolved because we've got to have this election.
I wanted there to be a unified election.
We tried exceedingly hard to get that done.
You know, in my opinion, there was a massive amount of litigation and what I consider to be some very incorrect decisions by the Supreme Court that put us in this position.
I don't think anybody wanted there to be a bifurcated primary.
But because of all that litigation, because of these decisions, many of which took too long, in my opinion, by the Supreme Court, we ended up with no other option.
Does it discourage you that a lot of voters who went to vote said, hey, there wasn't much on my ballot?
I kind of feel used.
I didn't even care if I voted on this thing, you know, party race or something that they voted on because there wasn't much on the ballot.
What does that do to the institution of voting?
Well, first of all, I think that that that's maybe a lack of understanding by some.
I've been trying to make it very clear that state central county races are enormously important if you are concerned about the direction of your party, Republican or Democratic.
The way to really impact that is by who you elect to the state central committee.
It is the governing body of the Ohio Republican Party and the Ohio Democratic Party.
This is the body that chooses who the chairperson is going to be, sets the budget, decides who the party's going to endorse.
And so in that sense, state central committee races are enormously important now.
Unfortunately, sometimes people sort of value a campaign by how many ads they see or how many mailings they get and whatever else.
It's a fact that, you know, candidates for state central committee don't have big budgets often to to do that kind of a public information effort.
But it doesn't mean that it's not an important race.
Nominating candidates for state rep and state Senate and choosing your party's leadership committee is enormously important.
And so this was definitely an important election for Ohio.
Ohio's two primaries, one in May for statewide offices and for congressional districts, and one this week for House and Senate races and state Central Committee offices raises questions about the primary voting process and the impacts of gerrymandering.
I asked John Miller executive director of the Ohio League of Women Voters about how this affects voters.
About 7% of the registered voters in Ohio actually turned out for this second election this summer.
That's a third of the 21% we saw in May.
What do you make of that?
And both are really low.
So, you know, our democracy works best when everyone participates.
So it's really sad to see such low turnout.
I think we can attribute it to many things.
One is just general confusion.
You know, the first election, it wasn't really clear if we were having one or two A lot of our organizations that do voter registration weren't even really advertising the dates or educating voters on the dates because we thought it might change And then I think it becomes even harder when you have a second one during vacation season, during fair season.
And I think finally there were so many uncontested races that I think a lot of voters didn't feel as though it was worth showing up.
And we were getting calls all day yesterday just really complaining about how there was really nothing to vote on.
And the one interesting thing is we were also getting calls about state central committee.
A lot of people have never really understood what that was or paid attention to those because those were so low into a ballot when you're voting on everything at once.
So I'm hoping that some voters are now paying more attention to that because those individuals really lead their parties.
Mm hmm.
There were some changes in the primary We had consolidated.
We saw a lot of districts where they consolidated some polling places just because they anticipated low turnout.
And they didn't have a lot of poll workers There were some other process changes.
Did you get any feedback on those?
Were there any problems that you heard about?
Sure.
We definitely got a lot of calls looking for polling locations but the truth is that polling locations change potentially every election.
And so voters should always have that as part of their plan.
But it's just one of the many downsides of splitting a primary.
Having an unusual date is that a lot of those facilities that boards of elections use as polling locations on Election Day have other things on their schedules and can't just allow that.
Mm hmm.
Low turnout elections.
A lot of times, political pundits will say, you know, that low turnout election, that's how you get a lot of extreme candidates elected.
That's how you get a lot of people who are hyperpartisan elected.
Did we see that in the results?
Well, it's hard for me to really think about who might be an extreme candidate, but certainly low turnout, gerrymandering, money and politics, that's a trio that can be very problematic for electing individuals that are extreme or don't really represent the general Ohio population.
But are people more likely to gravitate toward issues now because they feel like if they vote on an issue, that they're being represented versus if they vote on a candidate, especially if they live in an area this gerrymandered, they don't feel like their voice is heard.
Do you hear any of that?
Yeah.
Well, I think one thing is that it's really easy to cast a vote on one issue versus a candidate represent stances on many issues.
And then a voter really has to kind of balance what is most important to them.
But of course, gerrymandering has led to all kinds of policies here in Ohio that are out of step with the general public And I would say abortion is one of the very best where we have a situation where most Ohioans would not consider themselves to be every abortion is okay or no abortion is okay.
But we practically have no abortion being okay with the heartbeat ban.
Right.
Which is about six weeks.
I would say the same thing about environmental issues, gun safety issues, school funding that a lot of times we are seeing in Ohio General Assembly that is out of step with the general public because once someone's in their seat, they're almost guaranteed to win it again.
And they don't have to listen to their voters And so it's much bigger than party in terms of how gerrymandering pollutes not just how voters the choices the voters have but what comes out of a general assembly like ours at the Ohio State House.
Do you think that we're likely to see more referendums in Ohio?
You know, on things like abortion, on guns, on voter rights, you know, go down the list.
Legal marijuana.
Are we going to see more in the future?
And what do you make of that?
Yeah, I mean, I think that referendums are an important tool in our toolbox, this direct democracy where Ohioans can say we need something different out of this government.
And so we are going to demand it ourselves by collecting signatures and getting on the ballot.
I want to make sure and I want every voter to make sure that the General Assembly does not make it harder in the fall and that everyone really does their due diligence when they are researching those amendments because they can be very confusing.
One challenge, we consider the Constitution to be sacred.
So there's a lot of things that get put into the Ohio Constitution here in Ohio that we think would be better to be a statute or just a law.
But the way that our laws are or the way our processes are, there's really there's only downside to more of a statutory process.
You have almost the same amount of signatures, almost the same amount of time.
And the General Assembly could then just overturn something that voters propose, whereas if you put it in the Constitution, there's more safety there that what voters stand for stands and that the Ohio General Assembly cannot monkey with that or take away those principles that Ohioans voted on.
One outcome from Tuesday's election and Kansas is getting attention from Ohioans following the fight over abortion here by a two to one margin.
Kansas voters turned down a measure that would have stripped protection for abortion rights from that state's constitution.
Kelly Copeland with Pro-Choice Ohio says the situation there should make Ohio lawmakers think twice about the issue here, that this is really a cautionary tale for anti-choice politicians in Kansas.
Their Constitution clearly stated that it protected abortion rights and anti-choice politicians there rushed to the ballot in the hopes that they could strip those rights from Kansas.
And, you know, they messed around and they found out.
And I think that politicians in Ohio such as Governor DeWine and Attorney General Yost, members of the state legislature and specifically members of the state Supreme Court, should take heed that they should look at this and understand that if they try to eliminate abortion access completely in Ohio, they will pay a similar price.
The president of Ohio, Right to Life has a different take on what happened in Kansas.
It's not an apples to apples comparison.
In fact, it's completely opposite.
You see, in Kansas, they had an election on a very important issue, life in August.
If that same election were held in November, when people are actually participating, we believe the outcome would have been different just based on the voting trends and demographics and the conservative nature of the state of Kansas.
But at the end of the day, for whatever reason it is, I'm unfamiliar with it.
They had this vote in August when most people are still on family vacation, tuned out, checked out, or get ready to put their kids back in schools around 47% of registered voters in Kansas voted in Tuesday's election.
That's more than double the number of Kansas voters who cast ballots in the 2018 midterm election.
As mentioned on last week's show.
Some groups are considering putting an abortion related constitutional amendment on the ballot in Ohio.
But none have started the process for doing that.
And it's too late for this November's vote.
Pigs produce and politics have been on full display at this year's Ohio State Fair.
Last week, Republican Governor Mike DeWine opened the fair, spent a night there and attended several events.
But he's not the only politician taking to the Midway.
His opponent, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Manuela was at the fair this week.
She told reporters she's seeing increased interest in her campaign in all parts of Ohio, even conservative strongholds especially since the state's new law banning abortion at or about six weeks into her pregnancy went into effect.
We're getting incredible support in rural, urban and suburban areas from women, particularly because of the extremist actions around women's health care, access and abortion.
And so that is really changed this race for us dramatically.
The candidates in the US Senate race took advantage of the fare for their campaigns to Republican US Senate candidate J.D.
Vance judged Barbecue Ribs contest and talked to reporters.
Vance has been criticized even by some Republicans for lackluster fundraising and not campaigning hard enough, something he rejects.
His opponent, Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan, wasn't at the fair until Friday, with his campaign schedule showing other events throughout the state.
But he sent a staffer to give Vance his trusty San Francisco surfboard while the two have been hitting each other on social media for months.
The TV war is now underway.
Vance launched ads this week.
Ryan and a superPAC supporting him have been on the airwaves for a while.
Ryan has also raised more money than Vance.
FEC filings for the second quarter show he had $3.6 million at the end of June, but has spent three times that much.
Vance's filings showed he and his two fundraising committees had raised 2.3 million since April and had $628,000 left.
You know that resource differential that some people are worried about, I'll be honest with you, people are worried about it.
It is a common thing, and it's not going to prevent us from winning the Senate seat.
Vance says Democrats often come out strong at first, but he says Republicans come through with money and message at the end to win.
But a report in Roll Call shows Vance victory.
His joint fundraising committee has said individual contributions will be prioritized to paying off Vance's debt of around $1,000,000 from the primary.
It's been three years since the mass shooting in Dayton, where a gunman opened fire on a busy street in the city, killing nine people to mark the anniversary.
Democratic candidate for governor, Nan Whaley, accused incumbent Republican Governor Mike DeWine of cowardly inaction on gun violence, saying he gave up without a fight when the politics got too hard.
DeWine said his administration has worked to reduce violent crimes with law enforcement and increase criminal database reporting.
He has said he dropped his previous proposals on gun regulations because there was no support and the Republican dominated legislature.
DeWine focused on preventing school shooting.
This week as he spoke at a statewide school safety summit.
He said Ohio needs to take a holistic approach to school safety with a focus that goes beyond just school shootings.
DeWine said the state is creating school safety resources for districts to tap into from the Ohio School Safety Center to a safety tip line and student wellness funding.
DeWine emphasized the need to focus on all types of issues for students safety, such as mental health, bullying and transportation.
If you are one of the more than 38,000 Ohioans who have an electric car, you will soon find more places statewide where you can recharge it.
Ohio is set to receive more than $100 million over the next five years to install electric vehicle charging units along roadways throughout the state.
And Luke Stuckey with Drive, Ohio, says the first ones that will be established will be in 30 gap areas that don't have as many EV charging options.
The overall goal will be to install fast charging units at locations every 50 miles along interstates throughout Ohio and the Ohio State Highway Patrol has a new leader.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Jones has been tapped to be the next superintendent.
He will replace Colonel Richard Van Brough, who is retiring after 32 years on the job.
Well, that's it for this week for my colleagues at the Statehouse News Bureau of Ohio Public Radio and Television.
Thanks for watching.
Please check out our Web site at State News dot org and follow us and the show on Facebook and Twitter.
And please join us again next time for the state of Ohio.
As we leave the show we take a look at some of the highlights from this year's Ohio State Fair.
Courtesy of our videographer Daniel Konik.
Support for the statewide broadcast of the state of Ohio comes from medical mutuel, providing more than 1.4 million Ohioans peace of mind with a selection of health insurance plans online at med mutual dot com slash Ohio by the law offices of Porter Wright, Morris and Arthur LLP.
Now with eight locations across the country, Porter Right is a legal partner with a new perspective to the business community.
More at Porter right dot com and from the Ohio Education Association representing 124,000 members who work to inspire their students to think creatively and experience the joy of learning online at OHEA.org,