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From The Statehouse to the Schoolhouse, Volume 511 (April 4th, 2024)

Network for Public Education (NPE) Testifies on Charter Schools Before The House Committee on Education and the Workforce On March 6, 2024, NPE founding board member and scholar Julian Vasquez Heilig gave testimony to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Julian carefully explained the flaws and fallacies associated with the [...]

By |2024-04-09T10:36:17-04:00April 9th, 2024|From The Statehouse to The Schoolhouse|Comments Off on From The Statehouse to the Schoolhouse, Volume 511 (April 4th, 2024)
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From The Statehouse to the Schoolhouse, Volume 510 (April 3rd, 2024)

An April 2 column in the Ohio Capital Journal—Ohio lawmakers are giving more than $1 billion to private schools while public schools suffer—sounds a warning to Ohio taxpayers. Ohio Capital Journal columnist Marilou Jahanek alerts readers of not only the $1 billion annual voucher bill issued to taxpayers for private [...]

By |2024-04-09T10:35:50-04:00April 9th, 2024|From The Statehouse to The Schoolhouse|Comments Off on From The Statehouse to the Schoolhouse, Volume 510 (April 3rd, 2024)
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From The Statehouse to the Schoolhouse, Volume 509 (April 2nd, 2024)

State legislators who take a strong stand for public schools are being threatened at the ballot box by militant voucher tycoons. Nashville News Channel 5 investigates how Tennessee lawmakers are facing pressure to send tax dollars to the state’s private schools. The rural Republican Texas House members who opposed vouchers were challenged [...]

By |2024-04-02T10:29:58-04:00April 2nd, 2024|From The Statehouse to The Schoolhouse|Comments Off on From The Statehouse to the Schoolhouse, Volume 509 (April 2nd, 2024)
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Word From The Chair

  • The Primary Election Ohio’s Primary Election Day, March 19, is a week away. To those of you who have already cast their ballots, thank you. For those of you who still have not voted, there are several things to remember: 1. Vote by Mail. If you intend to mail your voted primary ballot back to the Board of Elections, it will not count unless it is (a) postmarked no later than March 18 and (b) delivered to the BOE no later than March 23. Obviously, it is out of your control when the Postal Service delivers your ballot to the BOE. We are close enough to the deadlines that I urge you not to mail back your voted ballot if you have not already mailed it. Instead, take your voted ballot, in the identification envelope, to the drop box outside the Board of Elections office at 76 S. Riverside Drive, Batavia. The drop box is available 24/7. It is secure. It is emptied multiple times per day. Ballots put in the drop box any time before 7:30 p.m. on March 19 will be counted. 2. Vote Early In Person. You may vote in person at the Board of Elections office. The hours the office is open for voting are: Tuesday, March 12 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 through Friday, March 15 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 17 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Remember that the General Assembly did away with early voting the day before Election Day. If you have not voted by Sunday, March 17, you need to go to your polling place on Tuesday, March 19. Polling places are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 3. Write-in Elizabeth Jones. Somewhere in the middle column of your Democratic ballot, you will see a space titled “For Clerk of Court of Common Pleas.” Below that title is a blank oval and a line with the words “Write-n” below the line. Darken that oval. On the blank line, write Elizabeth Jones. 4. Don’t Do the Heimlich Maneuver. Many of you have received mailers and/or e-mail urging you to vote in the Republican primary to vote for Phil Heimlich as the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s Second District. I talked about this in this column a few weeks ago. I want to remind people why this is a bad idea. First, you cannot vote in both parties’ primaries. It is one or the other. Voting in the Republican primary means you cannot write-in Elizabeth Jones, and you cannot vote in the contested Democratic races for Ohio State Senator and Ohio Supreme Court Justice. Second, voting in the Republican primary changes your voting registration to Republican for the next two years. Third, a vote for Heimlich is a vote for someone who is extremely conservative who opposes many of our values. Fourth, a vote for Heimlich is a wasted vote. He has no realistic chance of winning the Republican primary for Congress. Fifth, the one argument in favor of voting for Heimlich is that he is anti-trump. That may be true today but, in the unlikely event Heimlich won that seat in Congress, there is no guarantee he would remain anti-trump. Every Republican member of Congress will be under tremendous pressure to toe the trump line backed up by the plausible threat of losing in the Republican primary in 2026 if they do not toe the line. The November 5 General Election We know that the 2024 Presidential election will be a rematch of President Biden against trump. This is a critically important election for our democracy, and I am already hearing Democrats expressing the belief that trump will win. This is absurd, and risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, much of the media (and not just Fox) is portraying trump’s election as inevitable. Most of the media said the same thing about Hillary Clinton in 2016, right up until Election Night. Don’t forget that trump has run for president twice before, in 2016 and 2020. In 2016, more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than voted for trump. In 2020, more Americans voted for President Biden than voted for trump. Trump’s supporters are a minority, loud, but a minority. The media does give trump and his followers (which includes most elected Republicans) a tremendous amount of attention. First and foremost, the media want people to consume their content. From his multiple indictments to his declared intent to be a dictator on day one of his second term, trump draws attention. Second, some media apparently believe that they must publicize trump’s lies and the lies of his minions to be “fair.” This perverse view of fairness seems to dictate that any item published which suggests trump will not win must be “balanced” by one saying he will win. At the end of the day, media companies exist to make money. They will do whatever they perceive likely to make them the most money. What about the 2024 primaries, you ask. Isn’t it true that trump steamrolled prominent candidates like Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Chris Christie? Yes, so what? Primary elections are not reflective of general elections. Only people highly committed to one or the other party vote in the primary. The general election electorate is much larger and more diverse. Three states provide excellent examples. In Michigan this year, the aggregate primary election turnout, including both parties, was only 23% of registered Michigan voters. In the 2020 presidential election, 74% of Michigan’s registered voters voted. The total 2024 primary election turnout in North Carolina was only 24% of the state’s registered voters. In the 2020 presidential election, 71.5% of registered North Carolina voters voted. Even with a meaningful and hotly contested Senate primary, only fifteen percent of California’s registered voters voted this Super Tuesday. In short, a lot more people will vote in the November election and there is no reason to expect […]

  • Many people are saying that the future of democracy in this country will be on the ballot in 2024. Whether or not that is hyperbole (I think not), there is an effort to put democracy very directly on the 2024 ballot in Ohio through a citizen-initiative state constitutional amendment. The amendment is referred to as the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment. It would completely change the process by which federal Congressional districts and General Assembly districts are drawn in Ohio. Before looking at the proposed amendment, it is important to understand the highly partisan way in which legislative districts are currently drawn in Ohio. The districts for the 99 seats in the Ohio House of Representatives and the 33 seats in the Ohio Senate are drawn by a “redistricting commission.” The commission is composed entirely of elected officials: the Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, one member from the majority party in each of the Ohio House and Senate, and one member from the minority party in each of the Ohio House and Senate. Federal Congressional districts are supposed to be drawn by the General Assembly. However, under current Ohio law, if the General Assembly does not enact districts within a specified time, those are also decided by the redistricting commission. Both General Assembly and Congressional districts for the 2022 election were drawn by the redistricting commission. That commission consisted of five Republicans and two Democrats. In statewide races from 2018 forward, Republicans have won an average of 54% of the vote and Democrats 46%. However, the Republican-controlled redistricting commission produced Congressional districts which gave Republicans 67% of Ohio’s seats, 68% of the seats in the Ohio House, and 79% of the seats in the Ohio Senate. In 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the Republican-drawn districts violated the rules for redistricting in our State Constitution not once but three times. However, Republicans persuaded a federal court to rule that it was too late to draw lawful districts, so we had to use the illegal districts in 2022. Legislative districts which have been held to be illegal and which grossly over-represent one party mean that a substantial portion of Ohioans are not being represented in Columbus or in Washington, D.C. This obvious problem has led prominent Ohioans from both parties, and independents, to propose a new way of drawing legislative districts: the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment. The full summary of the amendment, passed as a fair summary by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, is posted on the CCDP website​. Briefly, the amendment would create a 15-member commission to draw districts for Congress and both houses of our General Assembly. The Commission would have five members affiliated with each of the Democratic and Republican parties and five members not affiliated with either party. The members would be chosen in a public process by retired judges. The Commission would be required to follow certain rules in drawing districts and would be required to accept public input before districts are finalized. A process would exist for meaningful review of the districts by the Ohio Supreme Court (an elected body). Perhaps most significant, no member of the Commission would be allowed to hold any elected or appointed state government position during their term on the Commission or for six years after their term ends. The evidence nationwide is overwhelming that how you draw the boundaries of a legislative district determines who will be elected from that district almost all of the time. Obviously, the four General Assembly members on the redistricting commission established under current Ohio law have a very direct personal interest in how their districts and those of their colleagues are drawn. The five elected Republican members of the commission have a strong interest in drawing both General Assembly and Congressional districts which will probably be won by Republicans. If a majority of the elected officials on the Commission were Democrats, they would have a strong interest in drawing districts which would probably be won by Democrats. That this is true is amply evidenced by the fact that the Republican five-to-two commission majority drew districts which overwhelming favor Republicans even though the actual partisan divide in Ohio is nowhere nearly as lopsided. It is probably impossible to create a system to draw legislative districts that is completely immune from partisan political influence. However, the Citizens Not Politicians proposal does a lot to minimize that influence. The commission will be equally divided between Republicans, Democrats, and independents. The commission members would not be chosen by the political parties or by current elected officeholders. The commission members could not be holders of elected or appointed offices and would have to wait for six years after they left the commission to hold such office. The Citizens Not Politicians proposal may not be perfect, but it is a lot better than what Ohio has now. More importantly, it does not favor either party and does not allow the party currently in the majority to rig the system to keep itself in power. For Ohioans to get to vote on this proposal, petitions containing valid signatures of over 413,000 registered Ohio voters must be submitted to the Secretary of State by July 3, 2024. Those signatures must include signatures from voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties that equal or exceed five percent of the total vote for Governor in each of those counties in 2022. Obviously, this is a large task. Petitions are being circulated by several organizations, including the Clermont County Democratic Party. To find out how you can help, see the top of this newsletter for information and links. This is about the future of our state. Please sign the petition and help get other voters to sign the petition.

  • The 2024 election is upon us. Early voting for the March 19 primary election starts on February 22. Of course, it wouldn’t be an election without a bit of controversy. One controversy has arisen from the primary for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s Second District. The Second is a geographically huge district, stretching from Clermont County in the west to Meigs County in the east and from Lawrence County in the south to Pickaway County in the north. All of 15 counties are in the district. In my last piece, I said there were two Democratic candidates seeking our nomination to run for Congress in the Second District. While that was true when it was written, the situation has changed. On January 27, 2024, the Ohio Democratic Party Executive Committee endorsed Samantha Meadows in that race. Within days, her primary opponent Joe Wessels announced he was dropping out of the race. Mr. Wessels also announced that he is supporting a Republican for Congress in the Second District. Mr. Wessels’s actions highlight an idea which is currently floating around. The idea is that even people who are not Republican primary voters should vote in this year’s Republican primary for a particular congressional candidate from Ohio’s Second District. The candidate is former Cincinnati City Council member Phil Heimlich. A bit of background is necessary to understand this theory. As I mentioned, the Second Congressional District is geographically huge. It is also a very Republican district, and the theory assumes that whoever wins the Republican primary will win the general election. The incumbent Republican Congressman, Brad Wenstrup, is not running for re-election, and 11 people are running in the primary for this seat. The purported rationale behind voting for Heimlich is that he is the only one of the 11 who is openly anti-trump. The thinking is that the pro-trump vote will be spread over the other 10 candidates and that, if Heimlich gets help from people who don’t usually vote in the Republican primary, he could win the plurality of votes needed to be the nominee. In other words, according to that theory, since whoever wins the Republican primary will be our next representative in Congress, Heimlich is the least bad choice. One problem with this thinking is that Heimlich is still a bad choice. It is true that, like Liz Cheney, Heimlich publicly recognizes the grave threat trump poses to American democracy. It is also true that, also like Liz Cheney, Heimlich is otherwise very conservative. To give just one example, the website Catholicspeakers.com, while noting that Heimlich is not Catholic, touts “his pro-life message” which, it says, “continues to inspire many within the . . . fight-for-life as a whole.” I was among the majority of Ohio voters who voted for the Reproductive Freedom Amendment last November. I strongly support a woman’s right to choose. I don’t want to vote anyone “pro-life” into a Congress who would support a nationwide abortion ban. Nor do I want to vote for someone who believes in the economic policies which have concentrated so much of our nation’s wealth in the hands of so few people. The better course is to vote for and support a candidate whose values align with mine. There is such a candidate: Democrat Samantha Meadows. Rather than assume the Republican will win and therefore support the least bad Republican, we should vote for and work hard to elect a good candidate for a change. There are other reasons why Democrats should not cross over in the March primary. Remember that you either vote in the Democratic primary or the Republican primary. Ohio law does not allow you to vote in the Republican primary for one office but in the Democratic primary for others. In Clermont County, we have a Democratic write-in candidate for Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas: Elizabeth Jones. For Ms. Jones to appear on the general election ballot in November, she must get more than a certain number of votes in the primary election. On the other hand, if votes for Ms. Jones do not exceed that threshold, the Republican candidate for Clerk will be unopposed in November. We need every Democrat to vote in the Democratic primary and write-in Elizabeth Jones for Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. There are two other contested Democratic primary races. One is for Ohio Supreme Court Justice. If we want the will of the voters last November to be respected, we must have a Democratic majority of the Justices on the Ohio Supreme Court. Two of the three Democratic incumbents, Justice Melody Stewart and Justice Michael Donnelly, are up for re-election and are unopposed in the primary. However, we must also win the third Supreme Court seat up for election in November. This is the seat for which we have a contested primary between Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Forbes and Franklin County Court of Appeals Judge Terri Jamison. The Ohio Democratic Party has endorsed Judge Forbes. I had the privilege of speaking with her for some time in Columbus last month. I mean no offense to Judge Jamison when I say that I think Judge Forbes will give us the best chance to obtain a state supreme court with a 4-3 Democratic majority. The other contested primary race is for our state senator. The two candidates in our primary to challenge the Republican incumbent are Mark Grauwelman and Shane Marcum. ODP and CCDP have not made an endorsement in this race. Of course, it is very important to break the Republican super majority in the state senate. I urge you to find out as much as you can about both candidates and vote for the one whom you think gives us the best chance to flip this seat in November. As you can see, there are several important reasons to vote in the Democratic primary election this year. Additionally, if you choose to take a Republican primary ballot, your official voter registration becomes […]

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  •   WHAT’S INSIDE Important Events This Week Ways to Get Involved & Make a Difference Office Hours for Petition Signing What’s New From Clermont to Columbus and Beyond Dates and Reminders Want to be inspired? Register for one of these virtual events this Thursday Click here to RSVP Click here to RSVP   Get your petition on! Voting YES on this amendment in November 2024 may be the most important way you contribute to democracy in Ohio. It takes the politics out of the legislative redistricting process, and allows voters to choose their politicians — not the other way around. But first we need to get it on the ballot. Please sign the petition and help by circulating petitions in your area. To arrange to sign in your area and/or to become a petition circulator: Loveland – Patty Lawrence Loveland – Jane Gonzales Milford – Jocelyn Watson Union Township – Terry Conway Click here to see the summary and full text of the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment. Ways to get involved – candidate support Central Committee Member Barbara Fillion has volunteered to host Candidate Support Parties every month between now and the November General Election! These will be opportunities to get together to provide whatever “back office” help our candidates need at the time, like creating buttons, writing postcards, and other planning tasks. Details will be available as each date nears, but here are the dates for your calendar: Wed, April 24 Tues, May 14 June – date to be determined Mon, July 22 Wed, August 28 Thurs, September 12 Mon, October 14 What’s new from Clermont To Columbus and beyond Click on the headline to access the full article. Former Ohio Supreme Court justices lead redistricting reform effort against gerrymandering Goshen Local Schools Superintendent shares plans after school levy fails with voters 13 times Trump’s abortion position shifted over the last 25 years   Dates & Reminders CCDP Reorganization Meeting This meeting takes places every two years and its timing is governed by Ohio statutory requirements. All Central Committee Members will receive written notice of the meeting by mail. The meeting will take place Wednesday, April 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Miami Township Civic Center in the Trustees Room. Standing date for coffee with friends in Batavia STAY CONNECTED FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM – VISIT OUR WEBSITE   Like, share, comment and retweet our posts. Use the hashtags #OHDems #ClermontOHDems This is your newsletter. We welcome you to submit news items, events, book reviews or anything else you feel is important to advance our Democratic values in Clermont County. If you have feedback about content or format please feel free to voice your opinion. Send your submissions for the next newsletter with “CCDP Newsletter” in the subject line to our newsletter editor Jennifer Ginder. Share the newsletter with your friends and encourage them to sign up for our newsletter at clermontdems.org. Clermont County Democratic Party 174 E. Main Street P.O. Box 475 Batavia, OH, 45103 513-732-2378 Paid for by the Clermont County Democratic Party, Christopher Barnett, Treasurer

  • WHAT’S INSIDE Find a Petition Near You, Sign Up to Gather Signatures What’s New From Clermont to Columbus and Beyond Word From The Chair – Raymond Lembke Important Dates and Reminders Find a Petition Near You, Take a Turn on March 19 Our headquarters in Batavia now has dedicated hours for petition signing. You can vote early at the Board of Elections and then walk over to headquarters to sign the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment petition. See below for additional signing opportunities. Want to take it a step further? Become a petition circulator and sign up for a shift (or more) to gather signatures outside at a polling location on March 19. We will train you. It’s a great opportunity, as everyone going to vote is already a registered voter. Sign up here for Clermont County polling locations. To arrange to sign and/or to become a petition circulator: Loveland – Patty Lawrence Loveland – Jane Gonzales Milford – Jocelyn Watson Union Township – Terry Conway Click here to see the summary and full text of the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment. Poll Workers Still Needed for March 19 The Clermont County Board of Election still needs Democratic poll workers for the primary. This opportunity consists of a short training session ahead of time in Batavia, as well as working the poll on March 19. It’s a rewarding way to contribute to our local Democratic process, and you will also paid. Email Leann Helton at the BOE to sign up. What’s New From Clermont To Columbus And Beyond Click on the headline to access the full article Ohio only state with chance to flip Supreme Court this year Bottom line: The callous disregard of accountability is not exclusive to the state legislature; the Ohio Supreme Court has a GOP majority, and the repeated appearances of impropriety (justices not recusing themselves from cases presenting conflict) call for change. We need to elect Justices Donnelly, Stewart and Forbes to flip the court. Bottom line: HB 6 was enacted five years ago. Why hasn’t it been repealed yet? Biden uses feisty state of the union to contrast with Trump, sell voters on a second term Bottom line: President Biden presented the world with the diametrically opposed choices we will have in November. To say he took members of Congress by surprise is an understatement. WORD FROM THE CHAIR- Raymond Lembke & Chair, Clermont County Board of Elections   The Primary Election. Ohio’s Primary Election Day, March 19, is a week away. To those of you who have already cast their ballots, thank you. For those of you who still have not voted, there are several things to remember: 1. Vote by Mail. If you intend to mail your voted primary ballot back to the Board of Elections, it will not count unless it is (a) postmarked no later than March 18 and (b) delivered to the BOE no later than March 23. Obviously, it is out of your control when the Postal Service delivers your ballot to the BOE. We are close enough to the deadlines that I urge you not to mail back your voted ballot if you have not already mailed it. Instead, take your voted ballot, in the identification envelope, to the drop box outside the Board of Elections office at 76 S. Riverside Drive, Batavia. The drop box is available 24/7. It is secure. It is emptied multiple times per day. Ballots put in the drop box any time before 7:30 p.m. on March 19 will be counted. 2. Vote Early In Person. You may vote in person at the Board of Elections office. The hours the office is open for voting are: Tuesday, March 12 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 through Friday, March 15 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 17 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Remember that the General Assembly did away with early voting the day before Election Day. If you have not voted by Sunday, March 17, you need to go to your polling place on Tuesday, March 19. Polling places are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 3. Write-in Elizabeth Jones. Somewhere in the middle column of your Democratic ballot, you will see a space titled “For Clerk of Court of Common Pleas.” Below that title is a blank oval and a line with the words “Write-n” below the line. Darken that oval. On the blank line, write Elizabeth Jones. 4. Don’t Do the Heimlich Maneuver. Many of you have received mailers and/or e-mail urging you to vote in the Republican primary to vote for Phil Heimlich as the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s Second District. I talked about this in this column a few weeks ago. I want to remind people why this is a bad idea. First, you cannot vote in both parties’ primaries. It is one or the other. Voting in the Republican primary means you cannot write-in Elizabeth Jones, and you cannot vote in the contested Democratic races for Ohio State Senator and Ohio Supreme Court Justice. Second, voting in the Republican primary changes your voting registration to Republican for the next two years. Third, a vote for Heimlich is a vote for someone who is extremely conservative who opposes many of our values. Fourth, a vote for Heimlich is a wasted vote. He has no realistic chance of winning the Republican primary for Congress. Fifth, the one argument in favor of voting for Heimlich is that he is anti-trump. That may be true today but, in the unlikely event Heimlich won that seat in Congress, there is no guarantee he would remain anti-trump. Every Republican member of Congress will be under tremendous pressure to toe the trump line backed up by the plausible threat of losing in the Republican primary in 2026 if they do not toe the line. The November 5 General Election. We know that the 2024 Presidential election will be a rematch of President Biden against trump. This is a critically important election […]

  • WHAT’S INSIDE Want to Make a Difference Now? What’s New From Clermont to Columbus and Beyond Word From The Chair – Raymond Lembke Important Dates and Reminders Precinct Captains 101 Workshop for CCDP Central Committee Members Want to Make a Difference Now in Clermont? Here are three ways: 1. Sign Citizens Not Politicians Petition Connect with one of the individuals below – or someone else you know is circulating the petition (must be for Clermont County) – and arrange to sign it. Loveland – Patty Lawrence Loveland – Jane Gonzales Milford – Jocelyn Watson Union Township – Terry Conway Watch for opportunities to sign at CCDP Headquarters in Batavia soon. Several groups are circulating the same petition; do not sign more than one petition. 2. Circulate Petition Help to independently gather signatures for the petition. Host a “signing” open house, walk your neighborhood, visit soccer fields. People want fair voting districts! Email the contacts above to get started. Click here to sign up for a short zoom training session. If you can’t make a session or have done this before with Issue 1 petitions, we will review the rules with you when you pick up the petitions. We are also coordinating Election Day Signing at the polls on March 19. Taking a shift on this day is an easy way to collect signatures from registered voters. Sign up here. We will need many volunteers to make this a success. Training will be provided. 3. Be a Poll Worker The Clermont County Board of Election still needs 15 Democratic poll workers for the primary. This opportunity consists of a short training session ahead of time in Batavia, as well as working the poll on March 19. It’s a rewarding way to contribute to our local Democratic process, and you will also paid. Email Leann Helton at the BOE for details and to sign up. Petition Talking Points – What If I Don’t Know All of the Details? Please read Ray Lembke’s Word from The Chair, below in this newsletter.  He provides background and explains why the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment is so important. But you don’t need to memorize the history or be able to understand all there is to know about gerrymandering. Here are the main points to know and be able to share when you collect signatures. The amendment will: Create the 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of Democratic, Republican, and Independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state. Ban current or former politicians, political party officials and lobbyists from sitting on the Commission. Require fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician (gerrymander). Require the commission to operate under an open and independent process. Click here to see the summary and full text of the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment. What’s New From Clermont To Columbus And Beyond Click on the headline to access the full article Ohio Democratic lawmakers call for the Department of Justice to probe into the HB 6 scandal Bottom line: HB 6 was enacted five years ago. Why hasn’t it been repealed yet? Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost slams Trump’s New York fraud judgement as “weaponizing Justice” Bottom line: Ohio’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Dave Yost, says on social media that the Trump fraud damages of $350 million in New York is too punitive and disconnected from reality, but he was the one who filed state charges against individuals for their alleged fraudulent behavior related to FirstEnergy bribes ($61 million) and the related bailout ($1.3 billion). What gives? ‘We knew’: Abortion rights advocates who predicted the Alabama ruling warn about more restrictions Bottom line: The opinion by the Alabama Supreme Court declaring embryos children represents a horrifying (and politically confused) consequence of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. But banning IVF is not the end of the road by a long shot. Look out for birth control bans. Here in Ohio state representative Jean Schmidt has already said she’s considering it. WORD FROM THE CHAIR- Raymond Lembke Put Democracy on the Ballot Many people are saying that the future of democracy in this country will be on the ballot in 2024. Whether or not that is hyperbole (I think not), there is an effort to put democracy very directly on the 2024 ballot in Ohio through a citizen-initiative state constitutional amendment. The amendment is referred to as the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment. It would completely change the process by which federal Congressional districts and General Assembly districts are drawn in Ohio. CONTINUE READING. Important Dates & Reminders WHO’S RUNNING IN MARCH 19 PRIMARY Samantha Meadows (U.S. House of Representatives, OH2) Justice Melody Stewart (Ohio Supreme Court – incumbent) Justice Michael Donnelly (Ohio Supreme Court – incumbent) Judge Lisa Forbes (Ohio Supreme Court) Mark Grauwelman (Senate 14) Shane Marcum (Senate 14) Katie Vockell (HD62) Tracey McCullough (HD63) Brad Combs (Commissioner) Jennifer Mazzuckelli (Commissioner) Diane Fisher (County Recorder) Elizabeth Hammer Jones (write-in for Clerk of Courts, must darken oval AND write name) Bolded names are those candidates endorsed by the Ohio Democratic Party. CCDP Central Committee – Precinct Captains’ Workshop There will be a “Precinct Captains 101” workshop the evening of Thursday, March 7 for Precinct Captains and anyone who may be interested in becoming one. Members of the Central Committee will receive an email closer to the date with the link to the meeting. The workshop is not mandatory, but will be a great way to learn the fundamentals and ask questions about this important job in the party. Please contact Central Committee Chair Patty Lawrence with any questions. STAY CONNECTED FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM – VISIT OUR WEBSITE Like, share, comment and retweet our posts. Use the hashtags #OHDems #ClermontOHDems This is your newsletter. We welcome you to submit news items, events, book reviews or anything else you feel is important to advance our Democratic values in Clermont County. If you have feedback about content or format please feel free […]

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