WHAT’S INSIDE

• What’s New From Clermont to Columbus and Beyond
• Word From The Chair – Raymond Lembke
• Meet Me At the Clermont County Fair
• Why You Should Care About The August 8 Special Election
• Issue 1- August 8 Election Graphics To Share
• ODP Family Reunion
• Is Your Ohio General Assembly Working For You?
• Join The Donkey Club Today
• Clermont County Democratic Club Meetings
• Clermont County Democratic Party Committee Meetings
• Next Issue Publication Dates

What’s New From Clermont To Columbus And Beyond

Click on the headline to access the full article

Ohio abortion rights backers submit nearly double needed signatures for fall ballot measure

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Groups hoping to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio’s constitution delivered nearly double the number of signatures needed to place an amendment on the statewide ballot this fall, aiming to signal sweeping widespread support for an issue that still faces the threat of needing a significantly increased victory margin. CONTINUE READING

The historical malfeasance of equating the Ohio Constitution with the U.S. Constitution to attack it

Republicans pushing Ohio voters to strip ourselves of our own power over the Ohio Constitution on Aug. 8 by raising the threshold for passing amendments to 60% have repeatedly used historically misleading arguments about the U.S. Constitution.

Never mind that U.S. Constitutional amendments require support from two-thirds of lawmakers in each chamber of Congress and three-fourths of state legislatures, not voters. Never mind the absurdity of anyone claiming “the founders” were of one mind on any issue, let alone the Constitution. And never mind that there is an enormous difference between the U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of the various states: The central issue Aug. 8 is that there are forces at work in Ohio including our most powerful politicians and special interest lobbyists attacking popular democracy and attempting to shackle Ohioans under the yoke of extremist minority rule. Their rule. CONTINUE READING

Former Ohio House Speaker Householder sentenced to 20 years for state’s largest bribery scheme

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted in the largest bribery scheme in state history.

Householder served Ohio for a decade as a lawmaker, now he’s going to be serving for twice that long — as an inmate in federal prison. CONTINUE READING

WORD FROM THE CHAIR- Raymond Lembke

Rarely has an odd-numbered year been as important for defending our rights as 2023. Politics is usually less intense in odd-numbered years. However, in 2023 we must cast votes which will have very long-term consequences for the rights of Ohioans. Early voting in the August 8 special election on State Issue 1 will have started by the time you read this. As I have described in previous columns, State Issue 1 is Ohio Republicans’ effort to make our state constitution the exclusive preserve of those with huge amounts of money. CONTINUE READING

Need Volunteers

2023 Clermont County Dems Fair Week
Sunday, July 23 – Saturday, July 29, 2023

Join your Dem friends at the 2023 Clermont County Fair. Let’s show Clermont County that Democrats are here! Volunteer for a four-hour shift, or stay longer and sign up for multiple shifts and, or multiple days. (Minimum shift is two hours). Volunteering in our air-conditioned building includes a fair ticket and parking.

Hours are:
7/23/23 – Sunday – Parade Day & Armed Forces Day – 12pm-6pm
7/24/23 – Monday – 10am-8pm
7/25/23 – Tuesday – 10am-8pm
7/26/23 – Wednesday – Seniors Day – 10am-8pm
7/27/23 – Thursday – 10am-8pm
7/28/23 – Friday – 10am-9pm
7/29/23 – Saturday – 10am-9pm

7/30/23 – Sunday – Clean Up Day – 11am-1pm

Everyone is encouraged to volunteer for any day and any time! SIGN UP HERE

*Hours subject to change based on coverage.

2023 Clermont County Fair Events

Why You Should Care About Ohio Issue 1 Election August 8

Important Voting Dates

• July 11: Absentee Voting by Mail begins (ends August 7)
  • How to request an Absentee Ballot
• July 11: Early In-Person Voting begins
  • Click here for early voting dates and times
• August 1: Absentee ballot applications must be received by your board of elections by 8:30 p.m.
• August 8: Special Election. Polls open at 6:30am and close at 7:30pm

Here are some handy graphics that help explain what Issue 1 is about. To download, left click on image and choose Save Image As option. Be sure to remember where you save it. Share far and wide. Email your friends and family. Share on all the social media platforms.

Next Steps To Get Out The Vote
On August 8

The Ohio Democratic Party is sponsoring phone banking and training. See below.

Vote NO Campaign Virtual Phone bank and Training

Time
Tuesdays and Thursdays
5:30 – 7:30pm EDT
Location
Virtual event
Join from anywhere

Never made political calls before? No worries, you’re in good hands! At the outset of a phonebank, we’ll thoroughly train you on how to make phone calls. Then, we’ll pivot right into making some calls to voters! After you attend a training and the phone bank afterwards, you’ll be equipped to make calls anytime that works for your schedule in the future. REGISTER HERE

Virtual Phone Bank Hosted by Swing Left
Call Voters to Defend Democracy in Ohio

Time
Wednesday, July 12
6 – 8pm EDT
Location
Virtual event
Join from anywhere

Democracy is on the ballot in Ohio this summer. In line with MAGA extremists across the country, Ohio’s Republican-dominated state legislature has been using their gerrymandered super-majority to pass legislation restricting abortion access and to lock in their power by making it harder for Ohioans to vote.

Now, they’ve triggered an August special election—designed intentionally to fall when they hope fewer people are paying attention—on a proposed constitutional amendment that will reduce the power of Ohioans’ votes and weaken the state’s democracy. This is a brazen attempt to effectively end citizen-driven ballot initiatives and prevent any challenge to their deeply unpopular policies.

We’re calling voters ahead of the August 8 Special Election to encourage them to “Vote No on Issue 1” to protect the power of their vote.

New to phone banking? Don’t worry! Before we start calling, we will offer a Zoom phone bank training, a script, information on the issue, and a team of support specialists ready to answer your questions.

Sign up, and we’ll email you details on how to join. SIGN UP HERE

Is Your Ohio General Assembly Working For You?

Over the last decade the Ohio General Assembly, also known as the State Legislature, has been illegally gerrymandered into a Republican Super Majority. But that does not render Ohio Democrats helpless. We are hearing from the Democrats serving in the Ohio House that Republicans in the Ohio House are not hearing from opponents to their policies. So the Republicans tell their colleagues no one is against them.

So here’s the deal, all reps are required to log every phone call and email from constituents. We need ALL good Democrats to call or email their state reps and senators every day or every week. Whether your issue is gun safety, reproductive rights, corruption in our government, voter suppression or public education, CALL YOUR REPS! Below is the contact information for Clermont County reps and senator.

Adam Bird State Rep Ohio District 63 (southern Clermont County)
Email: https://ohiohouse.gov/members/adam-c-bird/contact
(614) 644-6034
Twitter @AdamCBird

Jeanne Schmidt State Rep Ohio District 62 (northern Clermont County)
Email: https://www.ohiohouse.gov/members/jean-schmidt/contact
(614) 466-8134

Terry Johnson State Senator Ohio District 14 (all of Clermont County)
Email: https://ohiosenate.gov/members/terry-johnson/contact
(614) 466-8082

Looking for an issue to call about? Read the article below. Republicans in Columbus are trying to take away the voice of the citizens in Ohio by raising the threshold to pass citizen initiatives to 60% instead of a simple majority of 50 plus one.

“An Attempt to Fool Voters.” Ohio GOP sets up vote to weaken direct democracy

Join The Donkey Club Today

It’s that time of year! We need your support. The Clermont County Democratic Party relies solely on donations from our friends to operate. Our Donkey Club is our major source of funding and we hope you will become a member today. Member benefits below.

• A headquarters located centrally in the county in Batavia
• A bi-monthly e-newsletter
• A robust Internet presence on our Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
• Support for our Democratic candidates

Click the Donate button below and make your donation securely online through ActBlue or mail a check. Make Checks payable to: Clermont County Democratic Party (CCDP), PO Box 475, Batavia, OH 45103

Thank you for your support! Raymond W. Lembke, Party Chairman Clermont County Democratic Party

Clermont County Democratic Club Meetings

Next meeting Thursday, August 3, 2023, 6:30 pm

Next meeting Wednesday, August 2, 2023, 6:30pm to 8:30pm. RSVP to Patty Lawrence at p.lawrence@fuse.net for location.

CLERMONT COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CLUB DIRECTORY

Below is a listing of Democratic groups in Clermont County. Click on the name of each club and it will take you to their website or Facebook page with updated information about meetings.

Clermont County Democratic Party Central Committee

The next Central Committee meeting will be Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Please contact Ben Indino, Central Committee Chair at: benjamin.indino@gmail.com or Amanda Fox, Central Committee Secretary at: alvfox33@gmail.com for more information.

Clermont County Democratic Party Executive Committee

There will be no Executive Committee meeting in July due to the Clermont County Fair. We have an air-conditioned building on the fairgrounds and we need volunteers to staff the building during fair week. You may sign up to volunteer here.

Next Executive Committee meeting will be Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 7:00 pm

This will be a hybrid meeting with choice of in-person at headquarters, 174 E. Main Street, Batavia, Ohio 45103 and via Zoom. Central Committee members are encouraged to attend.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR COMMITTEES

CCDP has four active committees. Each committee needs volunteers. Please consider getting involved. The strength of our party is our volunteers. You may contact the respective Chairs of each committee below by clicking on their name if you are interested in volunteering.

Finance Committee– Chair – Ben Brady

Events Committee – Chair – Katherine Lent

Communications Committee – Chair – Michelle DeTemple
The Communications Committee meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm via Zoom.

CLERMONT COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY OFFICERS

Benjamin Indino – Central Committee Chair
Tracy Jo Small – Central Committee Vice Chair
Amanda Fox – Central Committee Secretary

Raymond Lembke – Executive Committee Chair
Elaine Barnett – Executive Committee Vice Chair
Chris Barnett – Treasurer
Katherine Lent – Executive Committee Secretary

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 critiques about content or format please feel free to voice your opinion.

Next issue will be published Tuesday, July 25, 2023. Deadline for submissions for the next issue is Friday, July 21, 2023. Send your submission with “CCDP Newsletter” in the subject line to our newsletter editor Cheryl Richards at: cheryl1richards@gmail.com

Share the newsletter with your friends and encourage them to sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter at clermontdems.org

Clermont County Democratic Party
174 E. Main Street P.O. Box 475
Batavia, OH, 45103
513-732-2378
clermontdems@gmail.com
Paid for by the Clermont County Democratic Party, Christopher Barnett, Treasurer