There is no one in the state who knows better what Ohio’s rural voters want from politicians than Christopher Gibbs, a Shelby County farmer.
“They want someone who is real, someone who is authentic,” says Gibbs, who grows corn and soybeans on his family farm about 110 miles north of Cincinnati.
“Kamala Harris has given rural America a gift with her running mate; a gift we can all use to help those who feel their voices are not being heard,” Gibbs said.
That gift, Gibbs says, is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
“Tim Walz is someone that people in rural Ohio can identify with,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs knows what appeals to voters in ruby-red places like Shelby County.
He is a gentleman, but not what you would expect from a Gentleman Farmer — a farm owner who sits comfortably in the big house while others do the work. He is a working farmer, He is out in the fields every day, operating a huge tractor or combine harvester and doing the hard work himself.
Gibbs is unique in Ohio politics – a former chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party who left the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan, to which his family belonged for generations.
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He saw his party fall under the spell of Donald Trump and develop into a cult of obedience to a man whose corruption and incompetence were obvious to Gibbs.
“I couldn’t be a part of it any longer,” Gibbs said.
Today, the former Republican county chairman is chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party and has emerged as one of the country’s leading political voices for rural America.
Last week, he was one of thousands of rural voters across the country who participated in a nationwide Zoom call by farmers to support the Harris/Walz campaign.
Gibbs’ move to the Democratic Party chairmanship did not suddenly turn Shelby County from red to blue – quite the opposite. But his example did strengthen the Democratic electorate in the county.
“We’ve worked to bring rural Democrats out of hiding,” Gibbs said. “They’re starting to realize that we share their values. Unless a voter believes you share core values with them, they’re not going to listen to you on policy issues.”
That, Gibbs said, is the “genius that Kamala Harris showed when she chose Tim Walz.”
Walz grew up on a farm in a remote part of western Nebraska and was familiar with the hard work of farming. As a young man, he joined the National Guard and served for 24 years. His military service enabled him to attend a small teachers’ college on the GI Bill.
“He’s a real person – a hunter, a teacher, a father, a football coach and governor of one of the most agricultural states in the United States,” Gibbs said. “Someone that rural people can relate to and identify with.”
And, says Gibbs, he is conducting his campaign with a joyful attitude.
“He can smile, he can laugh,” said Gibbs. “So can Kamala. That alone sets her apart from the other boys.”
Gibbs said Ohio’s rural voters would respond positively to Walz.
“They’ll look at Tim Walz and say, ‘He sounds like me; maybe he’s OK,'” Gibbs said.
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Neither Gibbs nor anyone else familiar with Ohio politics believes there will be a sudden turnaround in the dozens of small rural counties that helped Donald Trump win Ohio in the past two presidential elections.
But elections are won on the margins.
Trump won Shelby County in 2020 with a whopping 81% of the vote. In almost all rural counties, Trump’s vote share was over 70%.
What if that margin could be reduced to 60% or even 55%? Since Ohio is agricultural in dozens of counties, that could translate into a lot of votes for the Harris/Walz ticket.
In politics, anything is possible.
