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McKINLEY HEIGHTS -- Trumbull County Democratic Party workers got the chance to meet three statewide candidates, including gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley, who urged them to keep working to bring voters out to the polls between now and Nov. 8 as they anticipate a surprise when the votes are counted.
Ohio Supreme Court Justice candidate Terri Jamison, who now serves on the appellate court representing the Columbus area, expects the female electorate in Ohio to help usher in an election night upset for Democrats in the Buckeye State.
"We've got a shot at this," she said to a crowd of over 100 people who had gathered at party headquarters in McKinley Plaza, noting that 11 women to every one man is part of the some 90,000 new voters registered for the election.
Trumbull County Democratic Party chairman Mark Alberini said the candidates gave the local Democrat precinct committee persons and volunteers some major talking points to help urge friends, family and neighbors to vote Democrat.
"We have our work cut out for us to make Ohio Democratic again. We know how you are voting, but you get out there and talk to people," Alberini said.
Whaley was the main attraction of the meet-and-greet event, taking to task GOP leadership in the state, including her opponent, incumbent Mike DeWine, for making Ohio fall in the rankings among the states whether it is in education or economic development.
"We have risen to the top of the bad lists and to the bottom of the good ones," she said.
Most of the blame falls on DeWine, she said, who has been in public office since 1976 when the 46-year-old first female gubernatorial nominee in Ohio was 10 months old.
"What was 1976 like? Well, the average Ohioan made more money than the average American, and we exported a lot of things, including cars. Now we export college graduates."
Since that time, Whaley said DeWine has done all right for himself.
"He now owns a professional baseball team in North Carolina and his mansion -- the personal one, not the one he lives in Columbus, appears in Wikipedia."
Whaley said she takes the race personally, since as mayor of Dayton, DeWine had promised to do something about gun violence in the wake of an August 2019 mass shooting in her city that killed nine people.
"I took him at his word that he was going to do something, but instead he signed 'stand your ground' legislation, had a conceal and carry law passed and now wants to arm teachers, bus drivers and cafeteria workers," Whaley said.
She said she doesn't pay attention to the polls, which have DeWine in the lead.
"They are all over the place," Whaley said.
For Mahoning Valley residents, Whaley said if elected she plans to push for a $15 per hour minimum wage and a one-job program in which well-paying jobs come to all parts of the state, not just the Columbus area.
"We are calling it our apprentice readiness program," she said.
FEMALE POWER
Whaley thinks the Democrats this election cycle will benefit from an "angry" female electorate, upset that their right to an abortion has been taken away.
"On June 24, a right that my mother had fought so hard for was taken away, and seven hours after Roe (vs Wade) fell, DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost made sure on a six-week abortion law."
This action, Whaley said, led to a 10-year-old rape victim having to go across state lines to get health care.
She said if DeWine and Yost are re-elected, they will "go as far as possible, making abortion criminalized."
"We need to make Ohio a common sense state, not governed by extremists," Whaley said.
In a recent interview with Ogden Newspapers, DeWine said he was a longtime pro-life advocate, and is in favor of "saving the lives of as many unborn children as I can."
"I also recognize Ohio is a state that allows for a public vote via referendum or constitutional amendment, and I will work with the legislators on finding a sustainable policy," DeWine said.
State Rep. Josh Crossman, D-Parma, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, talked about the "legacy of failure" in a state led by Republicans like DeWine and his opponent Yost.
Crossman said he has campaigned from Portsmouth to Wickliffe and has seen many empty manufacturing facilities. He said Portsmouth used to be the manufacturing hub for all of the world's shoelaces.
"Now that facility has become the largest treatment center for opioid addicts," Crossman said.
Pointing to the FirstEnergy corruption scandal, Crossman said Ohio consumers "pay more than we should for energy costs, and yet no one has gone to jail for this."
Crossman pointed to his bipartisan efforts in getting former House Speaker Larry Householder expelled from the Statehouse and pushing for anti-corruption legislation. He said Householder was the first state legislator banished in Ohio since the Civil War era.
He said he wants voters this fall to hold Republicans accountable.
"It should not be about right or left. It is about right or wrong," Crossman said.
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE
The first speaker was Matt Kilboy, a Navy veteran from Deerfield Township in southeast Portage County who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Painesville, for the 14th District Congressional seat that encompasses all of Trumbull County.
Kilboy said after his Navy career, he worked for the federal government in the departments of Defense and Veteran Affairs.
"I get around in D.C. all right, which is more than I can say for my opponent," Kilboy said, noting Joyce's reluctance to meet potential voters on the campaign trail.
Kilboy said during the campaign, he has logged 17,000 miles in the district meeting people.
"I have seen their struggle with the high cost of medical bills and medication, and I want to make their lives better," he said.
Other candidates introduced at the event, but not speaking, were Vincent Peterson II, candidate for 64th District House seat; Judge Thomas Wright, incumbent judge on the 11th District Court of Appeals; and Traci Timko-Sabau, who last week announced her candidacy in the Warren Municipal Judge race in 2023.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com