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Sizing up state election, most Democrats face uphill battles

Columns

Despite a history of losing in Ohio, Democrats say they are optimistic about this year’s election. A Democrat has not won an executive branch race for state office since a 2008 special election for attorney general. That came two years after Democrats had remarkable gains in the state, largely because of the unpopularity of the Republican brand, particularly George W. Bush, who was then the president. It was short-lived for Democrats with Republicans winning all the statewide races in 2010 with close contests for governor and attorney general. But except for Sherrod Brown in ...

Ohio must be locked in on fixing state prison staffing

Editorials

According to a recent report by the Dayton Daily News, the Ohio state prison system was short more than 500 corrections officers at the end of last year. The Daily News conducted its investigation because Dayton Correctional Institution has the highest rate of openings, at 18.8%. Lebanon Correctional Institution has a vacancy rate of 11.5% and Warren Correctional Institution has a vacancy rate of 2.4%, the newspaper found. Those numbers are an improvement over the worst period in 2022, but still a significant problem for the system. Of course, state officials were eager to put a ...

Advocates, state officials must protect our child care system

Editorials

Groundwork Ohio is among the organizations that has signed on to a letter from child care groups across the country, asking the federal Administration for Children and Families to continue funding the Child Care Development Block Grant and other resources. Though a federal judge has temporarily blocked a funding freeze to Minnesota, California, Colorado, Illinois and New York, there are still worries other states will have to defend their own child care systems and oversight. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the letter says fraud “at any level is unacceptable and ...

Protect yourself and your family — get your flu shot

Editorials

If it seems as though illness has been more prevalent in your school, church, office and other circles this winter, you’re not imagining things. According to Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, this year’s flu season has seen a stronger beginning than is typical. “You know, the typical pattern is that we see a relatively modest dip around the holidays, and then we see our major peak in mid-February,” he said, according to a report by WDTN. “What our data is showing us is that already, this year’s flu is having numbers that are consistently well above ...

Husted, Brown both count on Valley vote in Senate race

Editorials

Editor’s Note: The following column was published in the Vindicator Jan. 16. Neither U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican, nor his Democratic challenger, Sherrod Brown, a former 18-year senator, lack confidence when it comes to believing they will win Mahoning and Trumbull counties during the November election. I spoke with both of them late last week about the election as well as their positions on a number of other issues. Husted was appointed to the Senate in January 2025 by Gov. Mike DeWine after serving six years as his lieutenant governor. Before that, he was secretary of ...

O’Connor continues to protect judiciary from politicization

Editorials

Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and lieutenant governor Maureen O’Connor is certainly not resting quietly in her retirement. Though she left her seat on the court in 2022 because of age limits, she is still active in matters such as redistricting and protecting the judiciary from politicization. It’s easy to understand why that is important to her. When she was on the court, she repeatedly stood with the majority in rejecting clearly unfair and unconstitutional redistricting maps. For doing so, she faced insults and threats of impeachment from fellow Republicans — for not ...