For many Democrats in Ohio, myself included, it seems Ohio has been abandoned by our party. There has been little effort to register voters or get voters to the polls in recent years, let alone advertising and social media campaigns for the Harris-Walz ticket in Ohio. David Pepper, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman through 2020, has written, some would say ironically, books and given lectures about the failings of Ohio’s electoral process. The results of elections across Ohio, both locally and nationally, are proof that the Democratic Party in Ohio has been in decline since President Obama.
If there was ever a year for the Democratic Party to buck this trend, 2024 is it. Not only could Ohio play a role in the presidential election then, but a strong Democratic push in November would shake up all of Ohio and produce important results, from the re-election of Senator Sherrod Brown, crucial to the Senate majority, to the passage of a new constitutional provision preventing gerrymandering, which could be crucial to the future of free elections in Ohio, not to mention the future of the Ohio Democratic Party.
As for the presidential election, Newsweek just reported that internal Trump polling may have caused some anger within the Trump campaign organization. www.newsweek.com/… That’s not surprising, since Ohio has many moderate Republican voters, especially women, who are fed up with the Trump campaign and the GOP in general. Republican efforts to crack down on gerrymandering in Ohio, oppose the state’s abortion rights amendment that passed last year with the support of GOP women, and accept billions of dollars in bribes from FirstEnergy have led to an erosion of Republican support in Ohio.
In addition, there is great potential to win through turnout in Ohio’s urban areas as well as the younger voters who collectively helped Obama win Ohio. Finally, don’t forget the blue-collar voters who turned to Trump in the hope of a better life as a result of inadequate anti-Democratic propaganda, but now see that Trump has failed to deliver. These are the same blue-collar voters who keep voting Sherrod Brown into office, showing that these voters could be persuaded to vote for other Democratic officeholders if given an effective campaign. In short, if Sherrod Brown can win Ohio, Kamala Harris should be able to win in Ohio.
Efforts to rally Ohioans to support a Democratic presidential nomination would have numerous positive effects beyond the presidential election. First and foremost, more effort to persuade Ohio voters to vote Democrat would likely guarantee Sherrod Brown’s re-election. If Sherrod Brown wins re-election, Democrats are much more likely to retain control of the Senate. That outcome alone calls for increased efforts to mobilize Democrats in Ohio.
Second, Ohio could transform the Supreme Court from a Republican-dominated body to a Democratic-dominated body if voters elect Democrats. The timing of this is critical, given the ongoing anti-gearing effort in Ohio and the Republican effort to stop it.
Finally, a coalition of Democratic and Republican politicians in Ohio is working to pass a state constitutional amendment that would reverse decades of gerrymandering that helped make Ohio a Republican stronghold. Reversing gerrymandering would certainly guarantee Ohio more Democratic-held congressional seats in the House, which in turn would help flip the House from Republican to Democratic control. On the ballot, the state General Assembly, which might as well hold its sessions at the state Republican Party headquarters, could finally have strong Democratic representation to put an end to the fraud and abuse perpetrated with apparent impunity by the state Republican Party. The success of this anti-gerrymandering effort could depend on the success of a state Democratic campaign in 2024.
Even if the presidential nomination loses Ohio, the effort to win Ohio will be worth it if it can mobilize enough votes to re-elect Senator Brown, influence the state Supreme Court, and ensure passage of anti-gerrymandering legislation. Of course, if the campaign results in Ohio’s electoral votes going to Harris Walz, that would be a resounding success.
