Looking Back To When Ohio Was Blue

The next Ohio governor will be new to elected office

With Ohio’s primary behind us, focus shifts to the November election, in particular, the race for governor. The primary did not change much. Democrat Amy Acton was unopposed, and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy easily defeated his long-shot opponent, Casey Putsch. It was already expected to be Acton versus Ramaswamy in November, and now it is official. With six months to go, campaigns are ramping up as reporters and voters pay more attention. To reset the scene, Mike DeWine leaves office at the end of the year. Term limits prevent him from running again. For the first time in eight years, Ohio will have a new governor. It will be someone from outside government: tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who briefly ran for president, or Amy Acton, who served in government for about a year. Acton famously served as Ohio health director at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but she has not held elected office. The latest polls have the two candidates tied as the summer months approach. National politicos are keeping an eye on this race. Earlier this spring, the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics Sabato’s Crystal Ball [https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/]moved the Ohio governor’s race from "Likely Republican" to "Lean Republican." Joining us to discuss that rating and provide an Ohio native’s national look at the race, we welcome back Kyle Kondik, who serves as managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball. (photo: Carolyn Kaster and Jay LaPrete / AP)

Key Takeaways from the Ohio Primary

The candidates are set for Ohio's general election in November. There were no big surprises in this week’s primary. Sherrod Brown easily beat his Democratic primary opponent and will face Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted. In the governor’s race, Democrat Amy Acton was unopposed. Vivek Ramaswamy easily beat his Republican challenger, Casey Putsch. Ramaswamy says Republicans are unified to take on Acton, whom he calls a socialist. Hyperbole aside, here is a significant contrast between the tech billionaire and the former Ohio director of public health. In other races, the favorites in the secretary of state primaries won. Current Treasurer Robert Sprague will face former House Democratic Leader Allison Russo. In the Republican primary for state treasurer, J.D. Vance-backed Jay Edwards beat Ramaswamy-backed Kristina Roegner by a comfortable margin. In a closely watched Republican primary in northwest Ohio, former state Rep. Derek Merrin won the chance for a rematch with U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo. To help break down the races, especially that congressional contest in the 9th District in northwest Ohio, we welcome University of Toledo political science professor Sam Nelson. Snollygoster of the week This week was a difficult one for Melanie Leneghan of Delaware County, located just north of Columbus. She sat on the Delaware County Board of Elections and was a member of the Republican State Central Committee. However, a fellow Delaware County Republican accused Leneghan of living in South Carolina rather than Ohio. While Leneghan sold her Powell home last year, travels often for work, and owns properties in South Carolina, she maintained that she still lives in Delaware County. She registered to vote at the address of a friend. Eventually, the friend transferred partial ownership of that home to Leneghan for free. The controversy moved through the courts and the Delaware County Board of Elections over the past few months. This week, the Ohio Supreme Court ended the matter. The court ruled 7-0 that Leneghan no longer lives in Ohio. This means she must be removed from the voter rolls and cannot run for her seat on the Republican State Central Committee. Because she is no longer a registered voter, she also cannot sit on the Delaware County Board of Elections. The situation is complicated. In the 2018 primary for Congress, Leneghan nearly defeated Troy Balderson. For getting every member of the Ohio Supreme Court to agree on a controversial political issue, Melanie Leneghan receives the Snollygoster of the Week award. (photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP)

Poll suggests Ohio may look more like a purple state in November

An important election is just around the corner. Ohio will elect a new governor and decide who will represent the state in the U.S. Senate. A new poll provides a snapshot of what voters are thinking, and the results are interesting. The big headline from the Bowling Green State University poll [https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/democracy-and-public-policy-research-network/bgsu-poll.html] is that the governor’s race is a dead heat. The BGSU poll shows Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton are basically tied. Ramaswamy has 48% support while Acton has 47%. That 1-point margin is well within the poll’s 3% margin of error. In the race for the U.S. Senate, the same poll showed that the contest is also basically tied. Jon Husted has a 3-point lead over his Democratic challenger, Sherrod Brown. This also remains within the poll’s margin of error. Given the political angst and polarization in the country, the results should come as no surprise. However, the poll gives Democrats hope and Republicans pause that deep-red Ohio could see tinges of blue after the November election. Joining us to dissect the poll is Bowling Green State University political science professor Robert Alexander. He directs the BGSU Ohio poll.

The Personal Turn in the Ohio Gubernatorial Race

The race for Ohio governor has gotten personal in recent weeks. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is out with a new ad where his wife shows off their new baby. In another ad, he goes after Democrat Amy Acton for her role in the COVID-19 shutdowns. Acton has been left to explain an incident at her home in 2019. NBC was first to report that Bexley police responded to a report of a domestic dispute between Acton and her husband. The report said the couple had a verbal argument and a mirror fell from the wall and shattered. There was no evidence of physical violence and no charges were filed. Acton said it was an argument over her long work hours. Acton’s campaign this week criticized Ramaswamy’s campaign for making an issue of her seeking counseling for sexual abuse she suffered as a child. To get a look at where this race and the race for U.S. Senate stand, we turn to WOSU-TV’s "Columbus on the Record" panel: reporter Jessie Balmert of the USA Today Ohio Network, Republican strategist Terry Casey and Democratic strategist Stanley Gates. Snollygoster of the week The National Women’s Soccer League announced this week that it would put an expansion team in Columbus. It was very dramatic. It sounded like for Columbus to land the team, the Columbus City Council and Franklin County commissioners had to chip in $50 million. It was very contentious whether to give billionaire owners public money for their team. It went right down to the wire. Columbus City Council voted Monday night to award its share, and the Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday morning. Just a couple of hours later, league officials, Mayor Ginther, and the team owners were all on a stage announcing Columbus got the team. It was amazingly quick work. The commissioner was in town. There was a stage and banners set at the stadium. There was a logo and a pre-produced video, all presented just moments after the last crucial political vote. It makes you wonder one of two things: the votes were decided long before the meetings, or the public money was not really needed to make the business decision to put a pro sports franchise in Columbus, a city that has long been at the heart of American soccer. Either way, for securing the public money and for quickly launching a glitzy announcement, the owners of the yet-to-be-named Columbus women's soccer team and the National Women's Soccer League get our Snollygoster of the Week award.

Looking Back To When Ohio Was Blue

We look back at a time when Ohio was blue politically, or at least purple. And explore the reasons why Ohio has become pretty deeply Red. We will play an interview I did on WOSU TV’s Columbus on the Record with longtime Democratic activist Dale Butland. For 20 years, Dale worked for U.S. Sen. John Glenn, a Democrat. He also worked briefly for Ohio's other longtime U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, another Democrat. When Glenn left the Senate, Butland worked for many years helping progressive candidates and campaigns in Ohio. Dale is out with a new book, When Ohio Was Blue: My 20 Year Journey with John Glenn. It's a personal inside look at how the system works or is supposed to work. Snollygoster Of The Week We could give it to JD Vance for putting a picture of a Methodist church in rural Virginia on the cover of his new book, which describes the Ohioan’s conversations with the Catholic Church, but that might not be shrewd. Instead, we’ll give it to Samuel Ronan, who was running in the Ohio U.S. House District 15 Republican Primary against Rep. Mike Carey of Columbus. The problem is that Ronan appears to be a Democrat. Here’s a look at some of his positions: * No one making less than $100,000 a year should pay federal taxes * He supports higher taxes on the rich * Complete divestment from fossil fuels by 2035 * Wide expansion of high speed rail * Turning all of our paved areas into solar energy-creating surfaces You get the idea. Oh, and he once ran an unsuccessful campaign to be Democratic National Chairman. Well, a federal judge looked at Ronan’s background and determined he’s not really a Republican and should not run in the GOP primary. Ronan has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but as of now, he's off the ballot. It was a long-shot campaign for sure. But for a pretty far left progressive trying to run in the Republican primary for Congress, Samuel Ronan gets our Snollygoster of the week award.