Many bystanders are understandably focused this election season on the marquee national contest – for the presidency, which, as to the major parties, is between Democratic nominee (and vice president) Kamala Harris and Republican nominee (and ex-president) Donald Trump.
But there are three sets of in-state elections whose victors will have enormous influence over life and work in Ohio.
Foremost is Issue 1 on the statewide ballot. Proposed by voter petitions, it’s called the “Citizens Not Politicians” amendment. It would end gerrymandering (the partisan rigging) of Ohio’s General Assembly and congressional districts. Gerrymandering gives one party (currently, Ohio Republicans) an unfair advantage over the other party (currently, Ohio Democrats).
And that makes for hyper-partisanship and extremism. Result: A legislature and a Congress more interested in grandstanding than governing. That’s the kind of dysfunction that Issue 1 targets.
If, somehow, you’re fine with the way things now are at Ohio’s Statehouse and at the U.S. Capitol, you probably should set up appointments with (a) an ophthalmologist and (b) an audiologist – and maybe, for good measure, a shrink. (Of course, if you’re a political hack, Ohio’s status quo is peachy-keen.)
Also pivotal to Ohio’s betterment (or decline) are the three state Supreme Court contests on the November ballot. The seven-member court is now 4-3 Republican, and – because of the panel’s GOP majority – the court’s rulings are straight out of the 1900s: Banks, insurance companies (and other Republican statewide officeholders, such as Secretary of State Frank LaRose) can do no wrong.
Seeking re-election to the Supreme Court this year are Democratic Justices Michael P. Donnelly and Melody J. Stewart, both Greater Clevelanders. Seeking an open seat is a third Democrat, Judge Lisa Forbes, of the Cleveland-based 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals.
Opposing the re-election of Justice Donnelly is Republican Judge Megan E. Shanahan, of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. Meanwhile, in a highly unusual matchup, opposing Justice Stewart is fellow Supreme Court Justice Joseph T. Deters, a Cincinnati Republican, formerly Hamilton County’s prosecuting attorney and twice elected Ohio’s treasurer (in 1998 and 2002).
And competing with Appeals Court Judge Forbes for the high court seat that Deters is leaving is Republican Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Daniel R. Hawkins.
If an Ohioan likes her or his state Supreme Court to be cozy with the Powers That Be at the Statehouse – big business, notably including Ohio’s electric utilities – then by all means, he or she should vote for the Republican Supreme Court candidates; you won’t be disappointed.
But if you believe the Ohio Bill of Rights’ promise to Ohioans – that “every person, for an injury done him in his land, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and shall have justice administered without denial or delay” – then Democrats Donnelly, Stewart and Forbes are just the ticket.
Then there’s the likely most expensive U.S. Senate race in the nation, between incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat seeking a fourth term, and Greater Cleveland entrepreneur Bernie Moreno, Brown’s Republican challenger. Since popular election of U.S. senators began in 1913, only one popularly elected U.S. senator from Ohio has won a fourth term – Democrat John Glenn, who beat Republican now-Gov. Mike DeWine in 1992.
Brown won re-election in 2012 (against GOP challenger Josh Mandel) and in 2018 (against another Northeast Ohio challenger, Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci). This year’s race, between Democrat Brown and Republican Moreno, appears to be exceedingly close.
Thomas Suddes
As previously noted, in an Ohio that resoundingly voted statewide last year in favor of women’s right to make their own decisions about pregnancy and abortion, you have to wonder how many Ohioans know what Republican Moreno said in September in Warren County:
“Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ OK. It’s a little crazy, by the way, but – especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.’”
After the polls close on Nov. 5, we’ll see.
Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.
To reach Thomas Suddes: [email protected], 216-408-9474
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