We have a great opportunity to flip a few Senate seats this November to give the Democrats a proper majority (and blunt the influence of Joe Manchin), and the Ohio Senate seat deserves our attention.

Let’s do a quick run down of this race, along with a few ideas of how you can help lay the groundwork right now to flip this seat.

The Opportunity

First and foremost, the OH Senate seat is what we call “open,” i.e. there won’t be an incumbent running as Republican Senator Rob Portman is retiring. Not having an incumbent in the race generally makes elections more competitive, which is an advantage for the Democrats.

The ratings for this race have continued to soften from Solid Republican, with some outlets calling it Likely Republican, and a few that have weakened it further to Lean Republican. As you can see from FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages HERE, this race is really, really close.

The Republican Candidate

Republican voters ended up choosing J.D. Vance as their Senate candidate, but he only got 32% of the vote. Plenty of people preferred other GOP candidates. Vance is the author of Hillbilly Elegy and a venture capitalist. He has never run for any elected office before and Republicans are very worried about his flagging campaign. Trump and Tucker Carlson have endorsed him. Here’s a few “highlights”:

On abortion: Vance backs a total ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest. source

On domestic violence: Vance’s stance is that women should stay in violent marriages for the sake of their kids. source

On Ukraine: “I got to be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.” source

On Trump flip flop: Vance made it clear in 2016 that he did not vote for Trump. He told Charlie Rose, “I’m a Never Trump guy. I never liked him.” And also tweeted this in reference to Trump: “My god what an idiot.” source Yet now, he sucks up to Trump at every opportunity.

On opioid crisis: Vance started a charity to “tackle the opioid crisis” but after 3 years the only thing it had accomplished was to choose a doctor connected to Purdue Pharma (Purdue, of course, pled guilty and paid a huge find for its role in the opioid crisis) for a residency. source He shuttered the charity last year.

The Democratic challenger

The Democrats scored a huge win when Rep. Tim Ryan entered the Senate race, and he is our candidate for this race. A lifelong Ohioan, Ryan has spent his career fighting for Ohio workers. In Congress, Tim has fought for working families in his district and across the country — opposing unfair trade deals that would ship jobs overseas, pushing to raise wages, and working to protect the promise of a secure retirement by strengthening Medicare and Social Security.

To check out how he stands on important issues, check out THIS PAGE from his campaign website.

For an example of Tim Ryan making an impassioned plea for regular Americans, check this short video out:

How to help

If you’re in Ohio, first and foremost, make sure you are registered to vote for your current address.

A great way to help efforts to elect Tim Ryan in Ohio is by donating to or volunteering with Ryan’s campaign. You can donate HERE, and sign up to volunteer HERE,

For everyone else, consider signing up to send mail to Ohio voters with Postcards for Swing States or VoteForward which will be focusing on Ohio, among other states.

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Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: 2022 Midterms, 2022 Senate, Explainers, featured