Moats announced the withdrawal in a video posted to his Facebook page at roughly 4 p.m., filmed outside the Secretary of State’s office. He captioned the post “Lying Heather Hill’s Bid for Governor Officially Ended Today.”

“Today’s a good day,” Moats said. “I’m standing outside the Secretary of State’s office building and I have with me the official letter of resignation which officially ends Heather Hill’s bid for governor.”

Hill, in a statement posted to her campaign Facebook page about an hour later, disputed Moats’ characterization and told supporters to keep voting for her.

What Ohio law says

Moats’ claim about the legal effect of his filing is essentially correct.

Under Ohio Revised Code 3513.30, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a joint ticket. The statute provides that if a lieutenant governor candidate withdraws more than 70 days before a primary, both names are removed from the ballot. But if the withdrawal is filed fewer than 70 days before the primary — as Moats’ withdrawal Wednesday was — the names remain on the ballot and any votes cast for the ticket are void.

The 70-day threshold for the May 5 primary was late February. That deadline passed roughly two months before Hill’s public split with Moats last weekend.

A spokesperson for Secretary of State Frank LaRose confirmed that reading of the law to NBC4 Columbus on Monday, after Hill announced she intended to replace Moats.

“Bottom Line: If a candidate for lieutenant governor withdraws less than seventy days before a primary election, the joint candidacy for governor and lieutenant governor no longer qualifies to receive votes in the primary election,” the spokesperson said.

Ohio’s ballot-printing deadline for the May 5 primary has passed, meaning Hill’s name will still appear on ballots cast Wednesday and through Election Day. Early in-person voting began April 7, and county boards of elections will be required under state law to post notices at polling locations and to include them with absentee ballots informing voters that votes for the withdrawn ticket will not be counted.

Hill: keep voting for me

Hill did not concede in her response Wednesday. In a Facebook post roughly an hour after Moats’ video, she framed his withdrawal as an orchestrated attempt to sabotage her campaign and urged her supporters to continue voting for her on May 5.

“As you know, my ex lieutenant governor filed paperwork to have himself removed from my ballot today,” Hill wrote. “He believed by doing this it would remove me from the ballot and keep me from winning the May primary! We will continue to fight we will continue to stand.”

“I ask you to please continue to vote for HEATHER HILL!” Hill wrote. “Please continue to let your voice be heard!! We will fight this with attorneys and the legal system.”

The secretary of state’s interpretation of ORC 3513.30 indicates votes cast for the Hill ticket on May 5 will not be counted, regardless of whether voters heed her call. Hill did not cite a specific legal theory under which votes for her ticket would remain valid, and her post did not name an attorney.

Hill ended the post: “With Jesus Christ on our side, we will be victorious.”

A week of escalating feuds

Moats’ withdrawal caps a five-day public meltdown between the two candidates that played out across Facebook, YouTube, leaked text messages, and, on Wednesday, a direct comment from Moats on TiffinOhio.net’s own Facebook page.

Hill announced Saturday evening she was dropping Moats over “irreconcilable differences,” accusing him in subsequent posts of inappropriate touching, disrespecting his wife, and using a racial slur against her. Moats denied the allegations and responded with YouTube videos including graphic personal attacks on Hill’s appearance and an ableist slur against her husband.

On Tuesday, Hill escalated further with a Facebook post making broader allegations against Moats, including unverified claims about his military service and criminal history, and asking Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson to provide her with a taxpayer-funded state security detail.

Moats responded in a comment on TiffinOhio.net’s Facebook coverage Tuesday, calling Hill’s allegations defamatory and questioning whether the U.S. military would have limited his discipline to “reprimanded and counseled” for the conduct Hill alleged. “Wouldn’t the military arrest, court martial, send to jail, and dishonorably discharge anyone who did that?” he wrote. He described himself as “a highly decorated, retired officer with an honorable discharge/retirement.”

TiffinOhio.net has not independently verified the military or personal records of either candidate.

What happens now

Hill’s name will remain on ballots printed for the May 5 primary. Under ORC 3513.30, Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections are required to post notice at polling locations that votes cast for the Hill ticket are void and will not be counted, and to include the same notice with any absentee ballots mailed after Moats’ withdrawal was filed.

The effect is functional, if not technical: barring successful litigation by Hill, the Republican primary for governor is now a two-ticket race between Vivek Ramaswamy and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, and Tiffin native Casey Putsch and Warren County Republican Central Committee member Kim Georgeton.

Ramaswamy, endorsed by President Donald Trump and Gov. DeWine, remains the heavy front-runner. A poll released earlier this week showed him leading Hill and Putsch by 64 points. The winner will face former Ohio health director Dr. Amy Acton, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the Nov. 3 general election.

Hill, 49, is a Morgan County businesswoman and former Morgan Local School District board president who centered her campaign on abolishing Ohio’s property tax. Moats, a retired U.S. Air Force major who stars in the Prime Video and YouTube reality series “Unstable Lumberjacks,” joined Hill’s ticket Jan. 8. The pair filed joint candidacy paperwork Feb. 3 — one day before the Feb. 4 candidate filing deadline and 20 days before the 70-day withdrawal window closed.

In his Wednesday video, Moats signed off with a reference to the adage “it’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

“The crazy thing,” Moats said, “I didn’t know she could sing so well. But the ‘you know what’ lady has just sung today.”

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

The fellowship, founded by the late Paul Soros — the older brother of liberal financier George Soros — awards funding specifically to immigrants and children of immigrants pursuing graduate education in the United States. The program describes itself as merit-based and states that selections are made “without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or any other protected characteristic.”

Ramaswamy’s acceptance of the award drew significant scrutiny in September 2023, when MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan confronted him on camera during the full interview on Peacock’s The Mehdi Hasan Show. Ramaswamy has built a public identity around opposition to affirmative action and identity-based politics — positions critics say sit awkwardly alongside his decision to accept a fellowship whose eligibility is explicitly tied to immigrant heritage.

“You say you’re anti-identity politics, anti-affirmative action, in a party that hates the Soros name, yet you accepted a Paul and Daisy Soros scholarship at law school that was specifically set up for the children of immigrants,” Hasan told Ramaswamy during the interview. “It was an affirmative action scholarship, and your defense for that is that you didn’t have the money to pay for law school, even though you’d already made over a million dollars at the time.”

Ramaswamy disputed the financial framing. “My defense of that is somebody gives you a merit scholarship at the age of 24, you take it,” he said. He also pushed back on the income claim, arguing that his hedge fund bonus at QVT Financial was not paid until December 31 — after he had submitted his application in September — meaning, he said, that money was not available at the time he applied.

Tax records complicate that defense on a broader basis. Hasan, citing the returns Ramaswamy himself released, stated that Ramaswamy made $650,000 in 2009 and $450,000 in 2010. Fox News Digital’s review of the same records reported a combined $1,173,690 in income in the three years before 2011, during which he worked as an investment analyst at QVT Financial.

“You accepted a Soros scholarship for $50,000 when you didn’t need it,” Hasan said. Ramaswamy replied: “The fact is, Mehdi, $50,000 did make a big difference to me back then. And anybody who has a few hundred thousand dollars in the bank is going to take $50,000 without strings attached.”

In a separate interview, Ramaswamy characterized the decision as unremarkable. “At the age of 24, I unthinkingly accepted $50,000 bucks — I’ll take that,” he told James O’Keefe of Project Veritas in September 2023. “That’s the Soros connection.”

The fellowship was not without political sensitivity for Ramaswamy. Before announcing his 2024 presidential campaign, his team paid a Wikipedia editor to remove references to the fellowship from his biography on the site, reported by Mediaite in May 2023. An editor who goes by the username “Jhofferman” disclosed being paid by Ramaswamy for contributions to the page. His campaign denied the edits were politically motivated, arguing the changes corrected “factual distortions.” TiffinOhio.net previously reported on the Wikipedia editing.

Ramaswamy is the son of Indian immigrants and was born in Cincinnati. He graduated from Harvard University in 2007 with a degree in biology and earned his law degree from Yale in 2013. He launched his campaign for the Republican nomination for Ohio governor in 2025 and has received endorsements from President Donald Trump and the Ohio Republican Party ahead of the May 5 primary.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

“Looking forward to a great night w Vivek Ramaswamy at the Turning Point USA event at The Ohio State University!” Click posted on Facebook, checking in at Mershon Auditorium in Columbus. “I’m honored to have a 100 rating from TPUSA!”

Click shared photos from inside the venue: the event’s branded stage backdrop, a selfie with another attendee in the crowd, and a wide shot of the auditorium filling up. The post drew less than 100 reactions.

Click did not appear on stage. He did not speak. He left alone.

Photo via The Rooster / Facebook

The Ohio political newsletter The Rooster — Ohio’s largest independent political media operation, run by D.J. Byrnes and featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal — posted a photo of Click walking away from the building after the event. “Gary Click went to the Vivek rally, didn’t even get on the stage, and left alone,” the caption read.

The Turning Point USA “This Is the Turning Point” tour stop at OSU’s Mershon Auditorium featured Ramaswamy alongside Fox News host Lawrence Jones and television personality Savannah Chrisley. It was one of five campus stops on the national spring 2026 tour. Click was not listed as a speaker or featured guest for the event.

Tuesday’s rally is the latest chapter in Click’s complicated relationship with the candidate he has publicly championed for more than a year. Click endorsed Ramaswamy on social media during the candidate’s April 2025 visit to Sandusky County, writing: “Something transformational is happening in the heart of Ohio.” In January 2026, when Ramaswamy named Ohio Senate President Rob McColley as his running mate, Click told The Daily Signal that “the future of Ohio grew just a little bit brighter tonight.”

That enthusiasm did not translate into a speaking slot — or even public acknowledgment — at the Columbus rally.

The event also comes after a turbulent stretch in Click’s relationship with the Ramaswamy campaign. TiffinOhio.net reported on April 13 that Click had been quietly removed from Ramaswamy’s official endorsements page — a change confirmed by Web Archive snapshots — before being restored within approximately two hours of the outlet’s coverage. Click responded on Facebook by calling the reports “greatly exaggerated,” paraphrasing a quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain, without addressing the archive evidence. His response was documented by TiffinOhio.net.

Primary challenger Eric Watson called Click “a liability” in the wake of that episode, comparing it to U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno’s decision not to appear at Click’s campaign kickoff in March.

Click has not posted to social media about the rally since Tuesday evening. The Republican primary for Ohio House District 88, which covers Seneca and Sandusky counties, is May 5.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Resolution 2026-42, approved unanimously on its third reading and declared an emergency by a second 6-0 vote, bars the establishment or conversion of any structure into a data center for up to 12 months. The clock could stop early if the city finishes its zoning review before the year is up.

“I work on a production floor. I know what electricity costs mean to a business — and to the workers inside it. Before we invite something that size into Tiffin, residents deserve to know exactly what we’re getting into. That’s what this moratorium is about,” Councilman Aaron Jones said.

No data center project has been proposed in Tiffin, Mayor Lee Wilkinson told residents at the April 6 council meeting. City Administrator Nick Dutro has said the moratorium is meant to give officials space to decide how — or whether — to regulate such facilities through zoning.

Law Director Zach Fowler first walked council through the proposal in March.

Power consumption, water use, the loss of agricultural land, and pressure on electric infrastructure have all driven opposition to data centers in communities across Ohio. At least 15 Ohio municipalities have enacted moratoriums, according to the Statehouse News Bureau, with roughly 18 having enacted or considered them as of early March.

State lawmakers are pursuing a parallel track. The Ohio House unanimously passed House Bill 646 on March 18, legislation that would create a 13-member Ohio Data Center Study Commission to hold at least four public hearings and deliver recommendations to the governor and General Assembly within six months. The bill now awaits action in the Ohio Senate.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

A three-judge panel determined that Colleen O’Donnell, a former Franklin County Common Pleas judge running in the May 5 Republican primary, violated the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct when she shared a January 14 endorsement post from Ohio Value Voters to her Facebook page. The endorsement, issued by the conservative advocacy group, repeatedly described O’Donnell as “Judge” — a title she no longer holds.

O’Donnell served as a Franklin County Common Pleas judge from 2013 to 2023, and subsequently worked as a federal immigration judge in Laredo, Texas. She is not currently a judge.

The panel found that by sharing the post, O’Donnell violated a rule prohibiting judicial candidates from knowingly distributing false information, or doing so with reckless disregard for its accuracy. The panel also found she violated a separate rule governing use of the word “judge” in campaign materials.

Despite those findings, the panel recommended no sanction, citing the “technical” nature of the infraction. Judge Robert A. Hendrickson of the Ohio Court of Appeals, 12th District, accepted that recommendation Tuesday and closed the case.

O’Donnell’s campaign responded by claiming vindication.

“We knew all along there was nothing to this, and the court confirmed it,” a campaign spokeswoman said in a statement.

The panel said otherwise. Its written recommendation explicitly found that O’Donnell committed the violation — it simply declined to punish her for it.

The grievance was filed March 20 after a review panel found probable cause for the case to proceed. The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct’s website had initially listed the case as dismissed before a panel held an additional hearing that led to Tuesday’s ruling.

O’Donnell’s campaign website describes her as a “constitutional conservative” and states that during her time as an immigration judge, she “enforced the law as written, never once granted asylum, and consistently ordered the removal of illegal aliens from our country.” She is the daughter of former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O’Donnell.

She is one of 4 candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the seat currently held by Justice Jennifer Brunner, the court’s only Democrat. The winner of the May 5 primary will face Brunner in November in a race that could tip the ideological balance of Ohio’s 6-1 Republican-majority Supreme Court.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Republicans in the greater Akron area must soon choose between an eager 24-year-old with a background in economic development versus the president of Ohio’s preeminent anti-vaccination lobby group. 

The candidates are running for a seat in Ohio’s 31st district, one of a small handful of open seat races likely to host a dogfight in the general election, where Democrats hope to break Republicans’ supermajority in the Ohio House. The district forms a C-shape around Akron, including its western and northern suburbs. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by 380 votes out of nearly 68,000, according to Dave’s Redistricting App, and out-of-power parties tend to overperform in the midterm cycle after a new president assumes office. 

The Ohio Republican Party and the Summit County GOP endorsed Mike Kahoe, 24, who won a seat on the Revere school board at 18 while he was a student there. Since then, he has worked in the lieutenant governor’s office under both Jon Husted and Jim Tressel on economic development – the centerpiece of his campaign. Rep. Bill Roemer, a moderate GOP incumbent, has been fundraising for him as well. 

Kahoe would be among the youngest members of the Ohio House, representing a district of about 119,000 while helping craft the state’s $90 billion operating budget. 

He’s running against Stephanie Stock, who, as president of the Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, took public stances against both school and workplace immunization requirements, and vaccines themselves. She gained broader traction within the Republican Party as the emergence of COVID-19 disrupted a political order and public health system. 

Besides policy differences, Stock has drawn enemies within the GOP over some of her aggressive words and tactics. Her Facebook posts are rife with calling senior Republican figures – most notably House Speaker Matt Huffman, his cousin, Sen. Stephen Huffman, and Gov. Mike DeWine – “dictators” and other insults when preferred legislation related to vaccines or COVID-19 would stall. 

“That is the one issue that changed the face of the entire world,” Stock said of the pandemic, speaking at a recent forum hosted by the Ohio Christian Alliance. 

“We can talk about taxes, which are a huge problem, and we can talk about jobs and a lot of things. But COVID shut down the world. Public health shut down the world and controlled every facet of our lives.”

The possibility of Stock’s political rise comes as Pew polling indicates Republicans’ faith in vaccinations is waning; the once-eradicated, vaccine preventable disease of measles has returned in thousands of Americans in Ohio and dozens of other states; and Ohio’s kindergarten MMR vaccination rates lag the nation by 5%. 

Both Kahoe and Stock’s worlds mirrored one another in certain ways during the pandemic. 

Kahoe, as a school board member, aided in the board’s successful push to reopen its schools in the fall of 2020. Stock was regularly in and around the Statehouse in Columbus at the time, pressing lawmakers toward rolling back different public health orders of the era. 

“I think COVID was one of the most challenging times to be a school board member in the United States,” Kahoe said. “There was no solution that was going to make everyone happy. We did what we had to do to get kids back in school.”

Whoever wins will face off against J. Noah Spinner, 26, a corporate attorney running unopposed as a Democrat. He said he’s running for office to make sure all Ohioans can access the same quality of care he did as his wife died of cancer in her early 20s while he went through law school. 

An up-and-coming economic developer

“My why,” Kahoe said, is that he’s running for statehouse office because he’s tired of seeing people leave Ohio. Whether it’s kids leaving after high school or college for a first job in a bigger city or dads leaving because he got laid off, he said lawmakers need to find creative solutions to keep people here. 

“They’re leaving over issues that we can absolutely control,” he said. “It’s jobs that pay enough, homes we can actually afford, safe streets, and schools that actually prepare our students for life.” 

He suggested tying state support for higher education more closely to objective employment outcomes, and praised language in the current state budget that helps companies fund internships for high school and college students’ internships. 

In a roughly 30-minute interview, Kahoe offered opinions on a range of policy issues. Unlike his opponent, he supports the GOP-backed law that provides $600 million from Ohio’s pot of unclaimed funds to the owners of the Cleveland Browns to build a new indoor stadium outside the city. 

He said there’s no need to “outlaw” data centers statewide; that he supports Ohio’s universal voucher system to pay for private schools with public funds; and that Ohio shouldn’t raise its minimum wage. 

Kahoe said he has since left the lieutenant governor’s office and is now working at his family’s company, which helps businesses outsource their human resources policies. In a somewhat unusual fashion for his age, he disclosed investments into 36 different diversified securities and mutual funds worth at least $1,000 each. 

Bryan Williams, chairman of the Summit County GOP, said the party will support whomever wins the primary. But he suspects party insiders support Kahoe for his Husted/Tressel relationships and technocratic focus on jobs and education about as much as they’re alienated by Stock’s bridge-burning behavior against respected leaders like Huffman. 

Plus, he said Stock goes past opposition to mandates and into unfounded conspiracy around vaccines. 

“I think Republicans abhor individual mandates, but they’re not opposed, personally, to the use of vaccines,” he said. “Where there’s agreement with Stephanie, it’s on the mandate side. Where there’s disagreement, it’s not seeing autism or some bad outcome behind every vaccine, or some big pharma conspiracy.”

This cycle, a federal super PAC called the American Conservative Fund, which has ties to the sports betting company Draft Kings, has spent roughly $1 million on ads in five contested Ohio House Republican primary races so far this year. That includes ads shown to an audience of tens of thousands, disclosed in Meta’s library, stating that Kahoe will “strengthen schools, deliver property tax relief, and stand firmly with law enforcement to keep our communities safe.”

An anti-vaccine advocate

Stock declined an interview request. She agreed by email to respond to written questions, but didn’t answer most of them, including specifics about her views on whether she thinks parents should get their children vaccinated against polio or measles.

In a statement, Stock said “establishment” figures including Republican leadership and special interests are supporting her opponent because “I can’t be bought or controlled.” She pledged to fight for legislation that positively impacts people’s lives. 

“I am not running on the single issue of medical freedom, but I am going to apply that same tenacity to fighting to end property taxes for seniors and homeowners, fighting to ensure that data center development is 100% in the hands of voters, and to identify and clean up fraud in Medicaid and cut spending in our budget,” she said. “And I won’t be voting for any taxpayer funded pet projects for leadership.”

For years, she has clashed with physicians, public health workers and sympathetic lawmakers over vaccines, regularly proclaiming their supposed dangers or bashing school immunization requirements. 

Before anyone had ever heard of COVID-19, you could find Stock quoted in local media downplaying the death rate of the measles virus. The Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2019 issued a warning about anti-vaccination advocacy cards that Stock and the Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom were distributing to children with their Halloween candy. 

“Safe vaccines don’t exist,” the cards state, per WKRC, a Cincinnati TV station. 

Stock, as is common within the movement, objects to the term “anti-vaccine” and classifies herself as pro-”medical freedom.” She has become a fixture at the Statehouse, supporting legislation to revoke COVID-19 mask requirements or to prohibit water officials from adding fluoride to public systems. 

“A bio-weapon attack could happen at any time,” she said at the Ohio Christian Alliance candidate forum. “What laws do we have in place to ensure that we will remain open and will still be able to function?”

Scott Lipps, a Republican ex-chairman of the Ohio House Health Committee where he aligned with Stock about as frequently as they butted heads, predicted Kahoe will win handily.

“Stock approaches lobbying with anger and an aggressive behavior that set her own cause back,” he said in a text message.

‘The voters have seen the Trump economy’

Whichever Republican wins will face off against Spinner, an attorney with Vorys, a white-shoe law firm. He graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School and the University of Akron. (In an echo of his possible opponent in November, he ran for the Ohio House as a high school senior.)

He has a political pedigree in the area – Summit County Democratic Party Chairman Mike Derrig noted his mother, Susan Spinner, sits on Cuyahoga Falls’ city council. Despite the district math, Derrig said the fall election won’t be as close as it looks on paper. 

“I think the voters have seen the Trump economy and want to see a change here in Ohio,” Derrig said. “They’ve seen the leadership under the Republicans.”

In an interview, Spinner singled out two people on his mind when asked why he ran for office. For one, there was his late wife, Shelby. While her loss was tragic, he said he saw what modern medicine can do when it drove her cancer into remission in November 2024, and its limitations and the compassion of its practitioners when she died about a year ago. 

In office, he said he wants to make sure everyone, not just those who can afford it, can receive such quality of care. 

The other inspiration he shared was a teacher who he said he remembers seeing fired when he was in high school. When he asked, he said it was failure to pass a school levy that necessitated the firing. He objected to the state “burden shifting” and putting it on communities to propose and pass levies to keep schools afloat, and he said he supports universal free lunches at schools to ensure no student goes hungry during the day.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Almost every college campus in Ohio has a food pantry, but each one is different and a new bipartisan bill would create a hunger-free campus program.

“The hope at the end of the day is that every college and university in Ohio, private and public, would have a robust program,” said Ohio state Rep. Sean Brennan, D-Parma.

“Hungry students don’t do as well academically.”

Brennan and state Rep. Jim Hoops, R-Napoleon, introduced Ohio House Bill 157 which would require the Chancellor of Higher Education to create the Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program.

The bill would appropriate $625,000 for fiscal year 2026 and 2027 for the program.

The bill has had three hearings so far in the Ohio House Workforce and Higher Education Committee.

“It would create a hunger-free designation that colleges and universities could get from the Department of Higher Ed to show prospective students that when you come to our campus, we’re going to help take care of you,” Brennan said.

“We’ve got programs to assist you, whether you need it right off the bat, or if you run into hard times.”

Brennan graduated from University of Dayton in 1992 and remembers being able to buy mac and cheese boxes for $1 and three tacos at Taco Bell for $1.

“Although you were struggling, you could make ends meet,” he said. “But nowadays it’s much tougher. Food prices have skyrocketed.”

Food insecurity is when someone does not know where their next meal is coming from, they are skipping meals, or rationing food.

“It comes up like ‘Oh, college students just live on ramen … it’s kind of like a rite of passage.’ But when you really look at that, if a student can only afford to eat ramen, they’re likely food insecure. That is not a nutritional food source for every meal,” said Stephanie Dodd, executive director at Community Campus Coalition.

About 40% of college students reported experiencing food insecurity, according to the Hope Center Student Basic Needs Survey, a 2025 report that surveyed 74,350 students from 91 colleges in 16 states.

“No student should have to choose between food and their future,” Swipe out Hunger’s Director of Advocacy Zoe Duffield said in an email.

“Yet, for many college students, that is the daily reality. … Since other costs of higher education are fixed – like rent/housing, tuition, textbooks, etc. – food is seen as a flexible, sometimes optional cost for students. That variability makes the issue invisible to many campus admins and even among peers.”

Food insecurity can affect academic performance.

“Too often we find students who are struggling academically, not because they aren’t academically capable, but because they are struggling with non-academic barriers that are getting in the way of them being successful,” Dodd said.

Falcon Food Pantry 

Bowling Green State University’s Falcon Food Pantry serves on average about 1,300 students every month. (Photo provided by Shannon Orr.)

Bowling Green State University’s Falcon Food Pantry serves on average about 1,300 students every month, said Shannon Orr, director of the pantry. 

The pantry, which opened in March 2022, offers shelf stable and frozen meals.

Their most popular items are ramen, peanut butter, pasta, tomato soup, and rice. 

“We were not doing everything we needed to do to address student hunger on our campus (before the pantry opened), which is the hidden epidemic,” Orr said.

“The food pantry provides a really critical need (and) can really help to alleviate some of the burden.” 

The pantry receives 5,000 pounds of food each week from local banks and students can fill up a bag of food at the pantry once a week. They also provide hygiene and feminine hygiene products.

Emergency food bags are kept in residence halls and at the campus library.

The pantry even manages a 10-bed community garden on campus where students can pick fresh produce during the summer. 

“Not everybody has a parent that they can comfortably tell that they’ve run out of money,” Orr said. “We already have students who are living in the dorms, who are coming and telling us that their only source of food is a pantry.”

The pantry has received many messages from students saying how they were on the verge of dropping out. 

“Being able to see the impact that we have on students is huge,” Orr said. 

A student told Orr that the pantry helped her leave an abusive relationship and ultimately graduate. 

“She had been in an abusive relationship and was living with the guy, and the only way that she was able to leave him was because a friend said that she could sleep on her couch, and then she came to the pantry every week to get food,” Orr said. 

The financial support through the Ohio bill would help campuses support their students, Orr said. 

“One of the things that we really don’t want is for students to come to university and to drop out because of food insecurity and financial challenges, and all they have is debt and no degree to show for it,” she said. 

Cuyahoga Community College

Cuyahoga Community College students can shop for up to 15 pounds of products once a week at the on-campus pantry. 

“It’s a great service that we feel really lucky to be able to provide,” said Leslie Brown, a food pantry liaison for one of the food pantries at Tri-C. 

“We love that the students are able to choose what they want, instead of just getting a set bag of products.” 

There is a food pantry on each of Tri-C’s four campuses and more than 200 students use the pantry Brown works at per week. 

“Some are taking the food home to feed their parents,” Brown said. “(Some) live in multi-generational homes, so we know the food is being used by a wide variety of people.” 

The food for the pantry comes from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

Fruits, vegetables, and frozen proteins are some of their most popular items, Brown said.

“Almost all of our students also work — whether a full-time job or a part-time job or managing families,” Brown said. “It feels especially important, not just even from a financial aspect, but even just from a time aspect.”

Nearly three-fourths of college students have at least one nontraditional characteristic, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

A nontraditional characteristic could be a student who is older than 24, working full-time, raising a child, a military veteran, an immigrant, or a first-generation college student.

Brennan said his bill could be especially helpful for nontraditional students. 

“We’re investing in young people and working-class folks to help them move ahead and contribute to Ohio’s economy, and that’ll pay big dividends in the end,” Brennan said.

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Over 25% of Ohio students were chronically absent last year, missing nearly one month of school. 

A student is considered chronically absent in Ohio when they miss at least 10% of the minimum number of hours required in the school year, including excused and unexcused absences, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

The dashboard announced last week is an online tool that compiles self-reported data from districts and schools across the state, aiming to assist administrators, parents, and taxpayers in identifying trends in attendance patterns down to the grade level.

It will update weekly as more schools report their data. 

The dashboard is organized on a trend line that allows users to see the weekly percentage of statewide absenteeism. It can be viewed from the district down to grade levels of individual schools, with customizable features comparing specific absentee rates.

Dackin said this feature was designed with the intention of allowing districts to learn from each by these comparisons. 

The launch comes after DeWine’s emphasis on improving the lives of children during his March State of the State address. During his final stretch in office, the dashboard is seemingly another step towards rounding out his agenda. 

“When students are not in school they are not learning, and the consequences are significant,” DeWine said. “Chronic absence isn’t just a school problem, it is a community problem, it is a state problem. It is also a parent problem.”  

Ohio is the second state to have a system that updates so frequently, Dackin said.

While districts and schools are not mandated to share their data, he said the more information that is provided will allow administrators to identify the root causes of chronic absenteeism, as they can widely differ between grade levels.  

“This helps communities understand the interventions needed at a particular grade level, and what kind of supports would be necessary based on the age group of young people,” Dackin said. 

As of last week, 24% of Ohio’s districts and schools’ data is unreported, including Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland Public School Districts, who have some of the highest rates of chronic absenteeism.

“We’re working actually with a lot of those districts,” Dackin said. “We do not have a unified data system in this state, so one of the challenges we have is there are different data systems that have to talk to this system. Many of these 24% districts, we are actively working with them to solve and resolve those technical problems.”

DeWine pointed to East Cleveland City Schools as a prime example of the benefits of attendance tracking, who used its attendance data to proactively reach out to chronically absent students and their families, which reduced its chronic absenteeism by over 10%.

He said the tracking also helped them identify key reasons why students were absent, including transportation barriers, health issues and difficult home situations.  

“We urge every school in Ohio to join the dashboard,” DeWine said. “The more data each school and community have the more innovative and collaborative they can be to solve this huge problem in Ohio.”

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

You read that right. Ohio’s highest court issued an out-of-the blue ruling with profound implications for an even more partisan judiciary in the state.

In a 5-1 Republican majority opinion, the justices made Ohio a complete outlier in the country by ending a decades-old ban on state judges and judicial candidates openly endorsing (or opposing) a candidate for another public office.

The point of the ban was that allowing such endorsements would blur the distinction between judges and other elected officials, explained law professor Jonathan Entin from Case Western Reserve University.

“The idea of an independent and impartial judiciary assumes that judges are not simply politicians in robes,” he said.

Republican Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy wrote the majority opinion joined by Republican Justices Pat DeWine, Joe Deters, Dan Hawkins, and Megan Shanahan. Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner did not participate in the decision.

When a judge participates in another person’s political campaign, wrote the lone dissenting Republican Ohio Supreme Court Justice Patrick Fischer, his impartiality can be questioned and public faith in the judiciary’s “ability to abide by the law and not make decisions along political lines” can be lost.

Yet without warning, the state supreme court dropped a legal bombshell on April 2 that changes everything for anyone with business before judges suddenly free to shed the appearance of impartiality and stump for other candidates with impunity.

“They can now be just as partisan as the gubernatorial candidates,” said Turcer.

What is almost as stunning as the court clearing judges to give full-throated campaign endorsements of, say, prosecutors, sheriffs, legislators, or lawyers — who may later come before them in court and trigger systemwide recusals?? — is that the justices repealed the ethical restriction on that judicial political activity without ever being asked to by the parties before the bench. 

The majority, said an incredulous Fischer, advocated independently for a drastic change in the law — striking a venerable judicial rule established by the court — “based entirely on a constitutional argument that was never raised or briefed but was actively waived” by both parties in the dispute.

Whatever possessed Republican justices, save Fischer, to go rogue on normal operating procedures to concoct their own case about how judges and judicial candidates have free speech rights to make partisan endorsements?!

Compelling state interest to preserve public confidence in an impartial, independent judiciary was duly noted by the Republican panel but only to a point.

“Judges do not give up their First Amendment right to engage in political speech simply by assuming office,” said Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy in the majority opinion.

The current prohibition on a judge’s endorsement or opposition to candidates for public office, she asserted, without any briefing on the issue or allowing interested parties through friend of the court briefs to be heard, was “vastly overinclusive.” 

The rule, Kennedy wrote, is not “tailored to serve a compelling state interest,” so she conveniently got rid of it in a disciplinary case against now-retired Clinton County Common Pleas Judge John Rudduck, accused of violating the anti-endorsement ban in the code of judicial conduct with social media posts about his candidate son.

Instead of dispatching with the matter in the usual way, the court used the disciplinary counsel’s complaint against Rudduck to summarily scrap the 70-year-old ban on judges endorsing other political candidates on First Amendment grounds.

“Extremely unusual” detour, stressed former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael Donnelly. “In this case the court acted as petitioner, decider, and potential beneficiary.”

The justices issued a ruling “that affects them, that lifts a long-standing restriction against them,” the shocked jurist said.

And they did so without crucial adversarial or supplemental briefings from parties in the dispute. 

Fischer echoed Donnelly’s disbelief over the majority’s flagrant judicial activism in “raising, arguing, and adjudicating an unbriefed, unraised constitutional” question “without any input from or notice to, the parties involved, the judges and judicial candidates in Ohio’s 88 counties, the members of the Ohio bar, or the public at large.”

Moreover, Fischer wrote, “the majority overlooks the fact that any constitutional issue was explicitly waived by the parties filing their joint waiver of objections.”

Even the judge accused of a breach of ethics, which he denied, did not challenge the constitutionality of the anti-endorsement rule. 

Rudduck waived his right to object in writing when the disciplinary board’s findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommended sanctions were submitted to the Ohio Supreme Court for final arbitration.

“Usually, the sole issue before us then,” Donnelly told me, “is what recommendations do we want to side with on the consequences” of the alleged transgression.

“If you’re a judge or lawyer charged at the Board of Professional Conduct with misconduct, you’re afforded major due process to defend yourself on those allegations. So very rarely do you see the court actually vacating a finding after all that process.”

But rather than decide whether the suggested punishment (a public reprimand) fit the offense before the court, the Republican majority swerved unexpectedly into a broad constitutional ruling about the anti-endorsement ban itself.

Rudduck was off the hook, said the justices, because the ban was unconstitutional.

No other court has ruled likewise, and several federal appeals courts have judged the opposite; the First Amendment does not protect judges’ right to make partisan endorsements.

But Ohio’s supreme court chose to deviate from volumes of legal precedent, sanction the partisan proclivities of supposedly impartial judges, and open a can of worms. 

“Who is ever going to believe you get a fair day in court” sighed Turcer.  

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

In a lengthy Facebook post to her campaign page Tuesday, Hill directly addressed the governor and state Public Safety Director Andy Wilson.

“Hey Gov. DeWine and Andy Wilson, are you ready to offer me the same security as my opponent, YET!!!” Hill wrote.

Hill did not identify which opponent she was referencing, or specify what security arrangement she believes another candidate has received. DeWine’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety oversees the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which provides security details for the governor, lieutenant governor, and other protected officials. Wilson, a former Clark County prosecutor, was appointed to lead the department by DeWine in December 2022.

A longshot candidate with an unusual ask

Hill, 49, is a Morgan County businesswoman, former Morgan Local School District board president, and one of three Republicans on the May 5 primary ballot for governor. She faces biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, the race’s endorsed front-runner, and Tiffin native Casey Putsch.

Hill has no previous statewide elected experience and has campaigned on a platform of abolishing Ohio’s property tax, parents’ rights in education, and restricting tax breaks for data centers. Her own campaign team told 21 News in Youngstown earlier this month that they are “likely one of the least-funded gubernatorial campaigns” in the race.

State-provided security details are typically reserved for sitting officeholders and, in limited circumstances, candidates facing credible threats. There is no public record of any Ohio candidate receiving a state-funded security detail in the 2026 primary cycle.

The post

Hill’s security request came at the end of a long Facebook post making a series of serious new allegations against Moats — including claims of a pattern of abuse and a criminal history dating to his teenage years, and military disciplinary actions during his U.S. Air Force service.

TiffinOhio.net has not independently verified any of the allegations in Hill’s post. Moats, a retired U.S. Air Force major who served three deployments to the Middle East, has not publicly addressed the Tuesday claims. Readers can view Hill’s full post on her campaign Facebook page.

Attempts to reach Moats for comment were unsuccessful.

Hill also said in the post that any news outlet or social media user who has spoken against her “will hear from my attorney.”

Four days, four public escalations

The Hill-Moats split has escalated publicly every day since it began.

On Saturday evening, Hill announced she was dropping Moats as her lieutenant governor running mate over “irreconcilable differences,” posting allegations of inappropriate touching and text-message screenshots including one dispute over a $180,000-a-year compensation arrangement. Moats responded the same evening calling her claims “complete lies” and calling Hill “a terrible person.”

On Sunday, Moats posted a significantly more personal YouTube video calling Hill a “deranged lunatic narcissist,” attacking her appearance in graphic sexual terms, and using a derogatory slur against her husband.

By Tuesday, Hill’s response had shifted to the security request and the broader abuse allegations.

Ballot still shows the original ticket

Hill has said she intends to remain in the race and is working with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office on replacing Moats. Whether a replacement is legally possible this close to Election Day, and what would happen to votes already cast for the Hill-Moats ticket, remains unclear.

Ohio’s early in-person voting began April 7. All absentee and early ballots cast so far in the Republican gubernatorial primary list Hill and Moats as a joint ticket. Election Day is Tuesday, May 5.

Former state health director Dr. Amy Acton is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

The report, filed ahead of the May 5 primary, shows Ramaswamy has raised approximately $50 million in total since launching his campaign in February 2025, with $30 million in cash on hand as of the end of March. Of the $30 million raised in 2026, only $5 million came from outside donors — the remaining $25 million came from Ramaswamy himself, a biotech billionaire whose net worth has been estimated at roughly $1.8 billion.

A federal super PAC aligned with Ramaswamy has separately reported $29.5 million in fundraising this cycle, bringing the combined total behind his candidacy to roughly $80 million.

“No gubernatorial campaign in Ohio history has ever put up numbers like this, and it sends a clear message: Ohioans are fired up for Vivek, our campaign is growing, and we will win big in November,” Ramaswamy campaign manager Jonathan Ewing said in a statement to Fox News.

Ramaswamy’s campaign said 98% of individual contributions were $200 or less and that its 392,347 donations came from more than 120,000 unique donors, with an average contribution of $63. Those grassroots totals do not include the candidate’s own $25 million infusion.

Acton campaign points to grassroots haul

Democratic candidate Dr. Amy Acton’s campaign announced last week that it raised more than $9.3 million to date — what the campaign called “the most ever raised at this point in the calendar by a Democratic candidate for governor in the state’s history.” The campaign reported $4.8 million raised in the first quarter of 2026 alone, topping its entire 2025 total.

Acton’s campaign said 95% of Q1 contributions were $100 or less, that 66% of donations came from Ohio residents, and that the average grassroots donation was $29.

“He can continue throwing money at his campaign from the seat of his private jet, but Ohioans see right through his false promises,” Acton campaign manager Philip Stein said in a statement responding to Ramaswamy’s figures. Stein said Acton is “building a grassroots campaign powered by supporters from every corner of this state.”

The reference to a private jet tracks with an earlier Ohio Capital Journal analysis of Ramaswamy’s campaign spending, which identified a $300,000 private aircraft lease among his expenses.

Self-funding comes as tax plan would benefit Ramaswamy personally

Ramaswamy’s $25 million personal contribution coincides with a policy platform that would directly benefit his own finances. His April 6 filing with the Ohio Ethics Commission disclosed $768,968 in capital gains from a single BlackBerry stock sale in 2025, alongside tens of millions of dollars in other stock, fund, and equity holdings.

Ramaswamy has proposed phasing out Ohio’s income tax beginning with the capital gains tax — a change that the Ohio Legislative Service Commission has estimated would cost the state between $615 million and $645 million per year, with nearly 82% of the benefit flowing to Ohioans earning more than $200,000 annually.

A separate analysis from Innovation Ohio has estimated that his proposal to roll property taxes back to 2021 levels would cut roughly $6.6 billion per year from Ohio local budgets, including approximately $4 billion annually from school districts.

Cook rates race ‘Lean Republican’ after March downgrade

The Cook Political Report currently rates the general election race “Lean Republican” — one step from toss-up — after downgrading it in March from “Likely Republican.” Cook analyst Matthew Klein cited Ramaswamy’s “baggage” and polling showing him trailing Acton, including a Quantus Insights survey conducted by a Republican-aligned firm.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved the race to “Lean Republican” the same week.

Ramaswamy launched a $10 million ad buy in March and has pledged to keep advertising through Election Day. His campaign said he will headline a Columbus fundraiser Thursday that is expected to raise more than $1 million.

The Ohio primary is May 5. The general election is November 3.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Ohio’s Republican and Democratic voters will choose their candidates for this year’s November election soon.

The primary election is on May 5. Voters will pick nominees for governor, U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, the Ohio legislature and the Ohio Supreme Court, as well as local elections. From here, the election environment is looking competitive this year, even though Ohio is a red-leaning state. 

There are primary elections for some third-party candidates, as well as some nonpartisan issues like ballot measures, too, depending on what’s on the ballot in the community where you live.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering voting early.

How can I check if I’m eligible to vote?

All Ohio U.S. citizens who will be age 18 or older by Nov. 3, 2026, are eligible to vote.

But you must be registered to vote in the May 5 election. The voter registration window is already closed, so if you haven’t registered yet, you’re out of luck.

You can check here to see if your registration is active. 

How do I get an Ohio mail ballot?

In Ohio, you have to fill out and submit a paper form to receive a mail ballot, which officially are called absentee ballots.

You can find an online application here, but you will have to print it and turn it in. If you don’t have a printer at home, locations that have them include public libraries and delivery stores like the UPS Store or FedEx.

The form requires you to provide some personal information, but does not require you to provide a copy of your photo ID – only your driver’s license / state ID number or the last four digits of your social security number.

Once you have your completed absentee ballot application form, you must turn it in to your local county board of elections office. Check here for a list of locations. You can either mail it in or hand deliver it to the elections office. 

One option is the secure ballot drop box outside the elections office. You can also walk in and hand your completed application to an election worker. 

When must I return my application?

The deadline is Tuesday, April 28. 

Are there any common mistakes people make?

There are several.

Voters must provide their date of birth when filling out the form. They sometimes incorrectly write in today’s date when they do that.

Some people also forget to mark the correct election date. For this election, voters must mark “May primary election” and fill out the month and year, May 2026.

Some people also forget to sign and date the form.

These kinds of mistakes can cause issues with your application. 

When will I get my mail ballot?

Once your elections office processes your mail ballot application, it will mail a ballot to the address you provided. 

It will take some time for this to happen. Here is a state website with information about ballot tracking services, similar to package tracking from the postal service and companies like UPS, that county boards of election offer.

When do I have to return my mail ballot in Ohio?

Your ballot must be returned to your local elections office by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, May 5. Ballots that are late will not be counted, under a law Gov. MIke DeWine signed in December. So if you’re planning on mailing your ballot in, leave yourself plenty of time for it to get there.

Can I have someone else return my ballot?

Only in certain cases.

Ohio law allows “close relatives” to handle someone else’s ballot.

Here’s who counts as a “close relative”: spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother or sister, half-brother or half-sister, son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.

There’s an exception for voters with a disability, who are allowed to choose anyone as their designated ballot returner, except for their employer, the employer’s agent or a union officer/agent.

Someone who is returning an absentee ballot on behalf of someone else must fill out a form attesting they’re eligible to do so. This means they can’t use a ballot drop box – they must hand deliver a completed ballot inside the board of elections office.

When can I vote early and in person?

Ohio offers 28 days of early in-person voting. For most of that, voters must travel to their county board of elections office during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

But there are seven early-voting days with extended in-person hours:

• On Sunday, May 3, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• On Monday, April 27, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• On Tuesday, April 28, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• From Wednesday, April 29 – Friday, May 1, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• On Saturday, May 2, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

What do I need to bring with me?

Unlike mail voting, Ohio requires people voting in person to provide a photo ID. Acceptable options are:

• Driver’s license
• State photo ID
• A temporary ID issued by a BMV
• A passport or passport card
• A U.S. or state military ID

College IDs are not accepted.

What if I don’t want to vote early?

You have plenty of company. In the November 2024 election, most people – about 55% – voted on Election Day.

When will polls be open in Ohio?

Polls are open on Election Day from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

But what if I request a mail ballot and change my mind or forget to return it?

As long as you haven’t filled it out and returned it, you can still vote early and in person.

Those going to vote early and in person can bring their blank ballots with them. Elections workers are required to try to collect them for tracking purposes. But voters don’t have to bring them, under guidance issued by Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

You also can still vote in person on Election Day. But you’ll have to cast what’s called a provisional ballot, which means your vote won’t be counted for days while election workers verify you aren’t trying to vote twice.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Ohio Democrats had a tough time recruiting candidates for the 2026 midterms after years of election losses. 

But they’ve still ended up with a primary contest for Ohio Secretary of State that bears the hallmarks of a competitive race, pitting a first-time candidate against one of the state’s more accomplished Democrats. 

After launching his campaign early, Cincinnati cancer doctor Hambley has gained traction with state party insiders. He’s done so through a mix of active campaigning and strong fundraising – visiting 78 counties and, according to him, raising nearly $1 million, a figure that includes a nearly $200,000 personal loan. Former Gov. Ted Celeste endorsed Hambley last week, becoming the latest current or former elected Democrat to do so, and the state party opted last month to remain neutral in the race.

“Everyone here knows that we need a change,” Hambley said at a voter forum packed with liberal activists in Columbus earlier this month.

State Rep. Allison Russo, an Upper Arlington Democrat who previously led the Ohio House Democrats, meanwhile, says she’s made up for lost time after entering the race eight months after Hambley.

She’s racked up organized labor endorsements and is touting her experience fighting with Republicans in Columbus. 

“We are not at a moment in time for an office of this significance in the statewide ticket where we can afford to have someone who’s on a learning curve,” Russo said in an interview. 

The contest has become a test of competing arguments within the party: whether Democrats are better served by a political outsider or an experienced officeholder. Voters will decide in the May 5 primary.

A similar insider-outsider dynamic also exists in the Republican primary between state Treasurer Robert Sprague and Marcell Strbich, a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer, although the Ohio Republican Party has backed Sprague in that race, greatly increasing his chances of winning. 

The Ohio Secretary of State is a key battleground for both parties, since it serves as the state’s chief elections officer. The role has become more politicized in recent years as President Donald Trump has sought to impose new restrictions on mail voting, which he claims is susceptible to fraud, even though documented cases of voter fraud are exceedingly rare.

The office’s duties include overseeing election administration, issuing guidance to county boards and writing ballot language for statewide issues, an increasingly important political battleground in Ohio, and serving on the Ohio Redistricting Commission.

The office also manages the state’s campaign finance system and business filings.

Hambley builds grassroots campaign

Hambley launched his campaign in January 2025, just months after Democrats were left decimated and demoralized by the November presidential election. A cancer doctor who works for the University of Cincinnati health system, he attracted little attention outside of Cincinnati. In his campaign launch statement, he cited in part the redistricting reform amendment that voters rejected in the November 2024 election as inspiring him to run.

Hambley was involved with that political fight, running a network of Southwest Ohio health workers who promoted the amendment. He got his first introduction to politics a decade before that, organizing opposition in Cleveland to Trump’s “Muslim ban” ahead of the city’s hosting of the 2016 Republican National Convention.

As other Democrats deliberated over whether to run, Hambley developed his campaign by working off the list of hundreds of thousands of voters who signed the petitions for the 2024 amendment. He’s also amassed support by holding hundreds of small events around the state – 360, by his count. Hambley’s message includes emphasizing his background growing up on a small farm and the trusted role doctors play in society. He’s campaigned around the state in a Jeep, like another Democratic physician seeking statewide office, Dr. Amy Acton, the party’s presumptive nominee for governor. 

“I absolutely believe, with a caregiver background running on care and empathy, especially this year, especially against these opponents, is the right way,” Hambley said during an April 11 voter forum in Columbus.

Russo makes a case for experience

Russo, who also works as a health care researcher, launched her campaign in August after being privately linked to a possible run for lieutenant governor. 

She won her current seat in November 2018 in her first run for elected office, and was one of several women candidates to flip previously Republican-held suburban seats. Since then, she’s built relationships with Democrats around the state, in part through an unsuccessful special election campaign in 2021. At a November 2024 election night event that otherwise was extraordinarily bleak for state Democrats, she touted how Democrats flipped two additional Republican-held seats in Franklin County, ending Republicans’ ability to pass referendum-proof legislation. 

From the beginning, Russo has emphasized her experience dealing with Republicans in Columbus. 

“Having been in the arena, having been in some of the toughest fights in terms of attacks on direct democracy, attacks on voting, attacks on our redistricting process and navigating through a very broken redistricting process, that experience I think is critical,” Russo said in an interview.

Russo’s experience should give her an advantage in fundraising, given the opportunity she’s had to network as a Democratic legislative leader and a former candidate in a 2021 congressional race.

But in a state disclosure filed in January, Hambley said he had $546,000 in cash on hand, more than double what Russo reported at the time. He’s started putting his campaign cash to work – launching TV ads that subtly criticize Russo for accepting corporate political action committee money as a Democratic legislative leader. 

“We’re going to be ramping up in the next couple weeks,” he said in an interview.

Russo declined to share her fundraising numbers, saying she’ll do so when she files her disclosure later this month. Even though Hambley got an eight-month head start on the race, Russo said she’s visited 76 counties, just under Hambley’s 78.

She said her advertising plan involves leaning on social media, and likened buying TV ads during a primary election to “lighting money on fire.” She dismissed the idea that the race is competitive, saying her internal polling shows her with a significant lead. She said it also shows there are many undecided voters, but she thinks they’ll gravitate toward the more experienced candidate.

A poll released Monday by Bowling Green State University echoed Russo’s assertions. It showed Russo leading Hambley 32% to 8%, with 60% of voters undecided.

“I think all of this leads me right into the general election. And that is where my eye is focused. It is winning this general election in November,” Russo said.

Few policy differences

The two candidates don’t have much difference on policy. Both say they want to expand voting rights while opposing Donald Trump’s attempts to restrict mail voting. Their main points of difference largely come down to their professional backgrounds.

But Hambley has leaned into two lines of attack, which both reflect Russo’s practical experience in politics. 

First, Hambley has attacked Russo over her 2023 vote with Republicans to approve the current state legislative maps. The vote, which followed a lengthy court battle that Republicans ultimately won, locked in maps for the rest of the decade that will favor the GOP to win between three-fifths and two-thirds of Ohio’s House seats, to the disappointment of activists who view the maps as gerrymandered in favor of Republicans. 

“Voting for gerrymandered maps is disqualified if you want to be Secretary of State,” Hambley said at the Columbus voter forum.

Second, Hambley has attacked Russo for accepting money from corporate PACs during her tenure as state House minority leader. He also attacked her for getting endorsed by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, which Hambley called a “MAGA group” in a social media video. 

In response, Russo said she supports campaign-finance reform. But, she said her job as a Democratic legislative leader was to help elect Democrats.

“I want real solutions. Not a bumper-sticker slogan that makes us all feel good,” Russo said.

In an interview, Russo also said some of Hambley’s stances could hurt him in a general election. 

Hambley has pledged to campaign in 2027 for a new redistricting reform amendment – which would continue the politicization of the office by current Secretary of State Frank LaRose. In 2024, he endorsed and campaigned for President Donald Trump, after previously arguing that secretaries of state should avoid political campaigning to prevent a perception of bias.

“My primary opponent misunderstands what the job actually is and misunderstands what the role of [secretary of state] should be,” Russo said.

For his part, Hambley has argued Democrats need to confront difficult truths. 

“People don’t like us. People don’t like the average Democrat in Ohio,” Hambley said during a March 5 candidate forum in Erie County. “It is a huge problem for us.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Assistant State Attorney James P. McMillan filed the formal information on April 15, and the document was e-filed with the Miami-Dade Circuit Court on April 16, according to court records. The case remains assigned to Circuit Judge Carmen R. Cabarga.

Count 1 charges Kalmbach with kidnapping with a weapon under Florida Statutes 787.01(1) and 775.087. Kidnapping is ordinarily a first-degree felony under Florida law, but when a weapon is used during the offense, the charge is reclassified upward to a life felony — the highest classification short of capital crimes. The count alleges Kalmbach “forcibly, secretly, or by threat” confined the alleged victim between February 21 and February 23 with intent to commit aggravated battery, inflict bodily harm or terrorize, while using “a pair of scissors and/or a knife.”

Count 2 charges aggravated battery with great bodily harm and a deadly weapon under Florida Statutes 784.045(1)(a)1 and 2 and 775.087(1)(b), a first-degree felony. The count alleges Kalmbach battered the alleged victim “by cutting [her] hair and cutting her with a knife,” causing “great bodily harm and/or permanent disfigurement, to wit: a scar(s).”

Both charges supersede the two third-degree felony counts — false imprisonment and battery by strangulation — for which Kalmbach was arrested on February 23. Those original counts are now listed as “no action” in the court’s charge tracker, indicating the state declined to pursue them in favor of the direct-filed upgraded charges.

Editor’s note: The following section contains detailed descriptions of alleged domestic violence, including strangulation and physical assault, as documented in a sworn police affidavit.

The alleged conduct

The probable cause affidavit signed by responding Miami officers describes a sustained assault inside a Miami apartment in the early morning hours of February 23. Officers responded to a domestic violence call at an apartment building at 201 SW 10th St. at approximately 1:22 a.m. and found the alleged victim, described in the affidavit as Kalmbach’s girlfriend of eight months, in the building lobby with visible bruises on her face.

According to the affidavit, the alleged victim told officers that when she attempted to leave the apartment, Kalmbach blocked the door, told her she was not leaving, and held her against her will. She stated that Kalmbach retrieved scissors from the kitchen and cut her hair while she was on the floor. In the bedroom, the affidavit states, Kalmbach grabbed her neck with both hands and applied pressure that impeded her breathing for approximately six seconds, creating what the affidavit describes as “a risk of great bodily harm.”

When the alleged victim briefly escaped to the building’s elevator, the affidavit states, Kalmbach followed, picked her up, and carried her back to the apartment, where he delivered closed-fist strikes to her head. The affidavit states Kalmbach told her she was “not going to leave for two days” and stood in front of the door to prevent her from exiting. When she eventually reached the building lobby with Kalmbach, she asked the front desk receptionist to call 911, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit states that Kalmbach waived his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with officers. He told police an argument ensued because the alleged victim wanted to break up with him. He admitted to jumping on her in bed and delivering elbow strikes to her head, according to the affidavit. He stated he took a knife from her after she cut his leg with it and then used the knife to cut her hair.

A domestic violence lethality screening completed at the scene indicated the alleged victim was in a “potential lethal situation based on score and officers belief,” according to court records. Body-worn camera footage was captured at the scene, and Miami Fire Rescue treated the alleged victim’s injuries.

Defense and arraignment

Kalmbach, 31, initially filed an affidavit of indigent status at his bond hearing and was appointed a public defender. Within two weeks, he retained private defense attorneys Howard Srebnick and Mark A.J. Shapiro of Black Srebnick, a Miami criminal defense firm. Srebnick’s past clients include Helio Castroneves, Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne.

Kalmbach entered a written plea of not guilty and demanded a jury trial on March 10. His arraignment on the upgraded charges is scheduled for Monday, April 27, at 9 a.m. in Room 4-3 of the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building.

Ohio political connections

Kalmbach lost the 2024 Republican primary in Ohio House District 69 to incumbent state Rep. Kevin Miller. His campaign was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan and U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, and he received a $1,000 donation from state Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) on February 20, 2024, according to pre-primary campaign finance reports filed with the Ohio Secretary of State.

Campaign finance records show a continuing financial relationship between the Click and Kalmbach political operations. Daniel Kalmbach donated $350 to Click’s campaign in May 2025. His father, Paul Kalmbach Sr., the chief executive of Kalmbach Feeds in Upper Sandusky, donated $250 to Click in September 2024. Kalmbach Feeds itself donated $250 to Click in 2021.

Paul Kalmbach Sr. also donated $7,500 to the 2022 state House campaign of Thad Claggett, and Daniel Kalmbach was subsequently hired as Claggett’s legislative aide beginning December 27, 2022, as previously reported by the independent Ohio political newsletter The Rooster.

Kalmbach has not been convicted. He remains out on bond and is subject to a pretrial stay-away order. Bond may be revisited at the April 27 arraignment given the escalated charges.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. Help is available 24/7.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

The federal lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia by the voting rights and civic group Common Cause with help from other organizations, seeks to block the Justice Department from obtaining and analyzing unredacted state voter lists that include driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers. 

The DOJ plans to share the data with the Department of Homeland Security, which operates a powerful computer program that can verify U.S. citizenship. Democratic election officials say the program has wrongly flagged Americans as possible noncitizen voters and could erode faith in election results.

“This is a blatant, partisan power grab designed to cast doubt on the validity of our elections and whose vote should be counted,” Virginia Kase Solomón, Common Cause president and CEO, said in a statement.

The Justice Department has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia for the data. But at least a dozen other states have provided the data, handing the Trump administration information on millions of registered voters. 

The latest lawsuit by Common Cause, with legal representation by the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and other voting rights groups, opens a new front in the legal fight against the Trump administration’s campaign for the data. It represents an attempt to halt the administration from using the voter information it’s already obtained — and stop it from collecting more.

The suit asks a court to order the Justice Department to halt any actions to compile, use or disclose sensitive voter data. The groups also wants the DOJ to delete the data already in its possession.

Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming have voluntarily provided, or will turn over, their sensitive voter data, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, which has been tracking the Justice Department’s efforts.

Federalization of elections

Since taking office last year, President Donald Trump has moved to assert presidential power over federal elections, which under the U.S. Constitution are run by the states. The president and his allies have framed his moves as necessary to ensure the security of elections by purging noncitizen voters.

Trump issued an executive order a year ago that attempted to impose a nationwide requirement that voters must produce documents proving their citizenship. Federal courts blocked the order. He is also pressuring Congress to pass legislation, the SAVE America Act, containing a similar requirement.

Late last month, Trump signed another executive order clamping down on mail ballots. It directs the U.S. Postal Service to restrict the delivery of ballots and instructs Homeland Security to compile lists of voting-age U.S. citizens in each state, effectively building a national database of voters and would-be voters. Several active lawsuits are challenging the order.

“By attempting to interrogate and exploit voter data for political purposes, President Trump’s DOJ isn’t just threatening the privacy of every American—they are building a system designed to imprison the ballot box and silence millions of eligible voters,” Kase Solomón said. “We won’t stand by while Americans’ rights to privacy and voting are under attack.” 

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In other lawsuits, Justice Department lawyers have argued the agency is entitled to voter data under the 1960 Civil Rights Act, a federal law to combat voting discrimination. DOJ lawyers have also denied that the agency is building a nationwide voter list — but they have acknowledged voter data will be sent to Homeland Security for analysis by SAVE, an online tool short for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements.

SAVE was previously used for one-off searches of individual immigrants to check whether they were eligible for government benefits. The Trump administration last year refashioned it into a program capable of checking the citizenship of voters. Some GOP states have begun voluntarily using SAVE to scan their state voter rolls for potential noncitizens.

“That’s how we are going to ensure that they have the proper identification as to each and every voter,” Justice Department Voting Section acting Chief Eric Neff said in federal court in Rhode Island in March, according to a transcript.

DOJ losing streak

Federal judges have so far uniformly ruled against the Justice Department’s efforts to force states to turn over voter data. Federal judges in five states — California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and Rhode Island — have dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuits.

The Justice Department has appealed some of the rulings. Oral arguments in those cases are set for mid-May.

The DOJ’s most recent court loss came last week in Rhode Island from Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump appointee. In a 14-page order, she ruled that federal voting laws — including the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act — don’t empower the Justice Department to demand state voter data.

“Neither the NVRA nor HAVA authorize DOJ to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” McElroy wrote.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Importers and brokers can now upload a detailed list of each tariff paid under Trump’s now illegal order to charge duties under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, or IEEPA. 

Customs officials estimate 330,000 importers paid the duties. Refunds are expected within 60 to 90 days, according to CBP.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision earlier this year found Trump’s steep global tariffs exceeded his presidential powers.

Following the high court’s decision, U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton ordered the government to stop charging the tariffs and establish a refund system.

A handful of small businesses and Democratic state attorneys general led the legal challenge to Trump’s 2025 “Liberation Day” tariffs. 

Small business owners angry, frustrated

States Newsroom documented the experiences of several small businesses across the U.S. who faced increased costs following Trump’s change in international trade policy.

Now many are experiencing a “confusing mix of relief,” Richard Trent, executive director of Main Street Alliance, told States Newsroom in an interview Monday.

Trent, whose organization advocates on behalf of small businesses said “our entrepreneurs, many of whom were angry that they had to pay tariffs in the first place, and were frustrated by the back-and-forth over the last year, opened up the portal this morning only to see that it had crashed. It just feels like the uncertainty just keeps popping up.”

Trent, who spoke to “five or six” businesses Monday morning who experienced technical issues, said the portal was up and running again by afternoon.

Customs and Border Protection did not confirm for States Newsroom whether the system had crashed, but rather provided a written statement.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection has developed a new tool, the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), to efficiently process refunds, pursuant to court order, for importers and brokers who paid IEEPA duties,” according to an agency spokesperson. 

“CBP has issued guidance to the trade community to help them prepare to use the new CAPE tool. Importers and brokers can visit CBP’s website for resources and step-by-step guidance,” the statement continued. 

Monday’s launch is the first part of a four-step process in refunding the taxes paid by American businesses of all sizes.

Trent said the “complex” process is yet another hurdle for small operations.

“This is progress, but it’s not yet justice,” Trent said in an earlier statement Monday. “Small business owners should not have to jump through hoops to get back money they never should have had to pay. We need a refund process that is simple, accessible, and fast.”

Guides for refunds

The Liberty Justice Center, the libertarian legal advocacy group that represented small business plaintiffs before the Supreme Court, has established the Tariff Equity Refund Resource for America. The platform offers online guides for how to properly submit documentation for the refunds.

“We took this fight all the way to the Supreme Court on behalf of small businesses, and we’re not stopping now,” Sara Albrecht, chair of the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement Monday. “We are a nonprofit law firm — our only goal is to help businesses recover every dollar they are owed, not to take a percentage of it. At a time when others are looking to profit off confusion, we are making this process clear, accessible and free.”

Trump declared international trade a national emergency just over a year ago, citing a trade imbalance on imports and exports between the United States and several other countries. The president imposed a 10% blanket tariff on all global imports and steeper double-digit taxes on products from some of the top U.S. trading partners.

The president delayed and changed the rates on numerous occasions. 

Following his Supreme Court loss, Trump imposed a new round of universal, temporary tariffs under a separate statute. The Liberty Justice Center is again representing small businesses in court to fight the new import taxes.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Anduril, a defense contractor specializing in autonomous weapons systems, had just announced it would build its new Arsenal-1 production facility next door to Rickenbacker Airport.

DeWine explained Anduril promised to create more than 4,000 new jobs with an average salary of $132,000 over the next 10 years — surpassing even the Intel facility in terms of employment.

“The future of American air power will be made right here in the state of Ohio,” DeWine bragged.

But if that agreement is good for Ohio’s workforce and DeWine’s legacy, it’s perhaps an even better deal for one of the men running to succeed him.

According to his financial disclosure, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has a stake in the venture firm 8VC. That firm has invested in every round of Anduril’s fundraising.

How Ohio landed Anduril

To land the Anduril deal, Ohio offered the company an incentive package worth more than $830 million. JobsOhio made a $310 million grant and the Ohio Department of Development pitched in a tax credit worth more than $452 million.

Both incentives are tied to Anduril’s hiring commitments.

Additionally, the Department of Development put $70 million toward infrastructure upgrades to support the new Arsenal-1 plant.

“Anytime we do a deal,” then Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said at the Anduril event, “it’s contingent upon the company delivering what they promised. And we have not been afraid in any circumstance, including with General Motors, to go claw back any incentives that they don’t deliver on in terms of job creation.”

Although state officials do often claw back incentives or reduce tax breaks, a December report from Ohio Auditor Keith Faber makes it clear that’s not the norm.

The review found 39 of 60 companies in the previous fiscal year weren’t in compliance with their agreements.

Over the past four years, Faber found dozens of companies receiving loans or tax credits from the Department of Development failed to meet their commitments, but state officials took no action.

In a statement, Department of Development spokesman Mason Waldvogel said the department shares the auditor’s “goal of ensuring public resources are used responsibly and transparently, but it’s also important to note that this audit reflects only a snapshot in time.”

He noted in the months since, the department has “modified or rescinded several tax credit agreements noted as being noncompliant in the auditor report.”

As a private entity, JobsOhio is not required to publicly disclose the same amount of information.

The organization releases monthly reports detailing the deals it has struck, but in a footnote explains those commitments “are subject to change per possible project modifications.”

Although the governor doesn’t have an explicit role in incentive decisions, they often take part in negotiations with high-profile prospective companies.

The governor also has significant levers to influence decision makers. The director of the Department of Development is part of the governor’s cabinet; the governor appoints JobsOhio board members to four-year terms.

If a company the governor favors, for whatever reason — financial, political, or something else — fell short of its commitments, the governor is in a position to influence the state’s response.

Alternatively, a governor might negotiate a longer or more generous deal with such a company.

8VC and Anduril

Anduril is operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence and modern warfare. The company promises a network of autonomous weapons systems that integrate seamlessly with soldiers on the battlefield.

Perhaps most important Anduril emphasizes the speed, scale, and cost at which they can operate. The company describes legacy defense systems that began development during the Cold War as “exquisite, costly, and slow.”

In contrast, Anduril says, it builds “lower-cost, more autonomous, mass producible vehicles and weapons.”

The company has drawn interest from some of the largest venture capital firms in the country.

In 2021, the company described raising $450 million in Series D funding. A year later it brought in $1.48 billion and then raised another $1.5 billion in 2024.

Last June, the company closed its Series G funding round with $2.5 billion, and it’s currently aiming to bring in another $4 billion.

That latest round of fundraising would push Anduril’s valuation to roughly $60 billion. Back in 2021, it was valued at just $4.6 billion.

Although another infusion of private capital suggests an initial public offering isn’t in the offing, company leaders have repeatedly said they plan to go public — likely meaning a windfall for investors who got in early.

Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale launched venture firm 8VC in 2015. The company has invested in every one of Anduril’s funding rounds, and Lonsdale’s 8VC company biography notes he personally was an early Anduril investor.

Ramaswamy’s Ohio financial disclosure indicates he has a stake in 8VC Fund III, L.P., but it says nothing about the current value of that investment.

The federal disclosure from Ramaswamy’s presidential run, however, shed a bit more light on his holdings.

When he filed those disclosures in June of 2023, Ramaswamy’s holdings in 8VC Fund III were worth somewhere between $500,000 to $1 million.

He held between $1 million and $5 million in a different fund described as 8VC Fund V, too.

That investment doesn’t show up on his more recent Ohio disclosure. In 2023, Ramaswamy also had a $50,000 to $100,000 on-demand capital commitment to 8VC Fund III that doesn’t appear on his current disclosure.

Ohio Capital Journal asked Ramaswamy’s campaign about his holdings and his plans for avoiding apparent conflicts of interest in office. Ramaswamy’s team didn’t respond.

What’s the big deal?

To critics, Ramaswamy’s connection to a private company receiving close to $1 billion in state incentives is unacceptable.

Innovation Ohio Research Director Terra Goodnight dismissed the financial disclosure as “the most honest thing” in Ramaswamy’s campaign.

“It shows exactly who benefits from his agenda: himself,” she said.

“Ramaswamy’s policies will use our tax dollars to line his own pockets — that’s just a fact,” she went on. “He likes to pretend to be an outsider, but he’s just one more corrupt politician looking to rip off Ohio.”

Cassandra Burke Robertson takes a more nuanced view. The Case Western Reserve University law professor heads up the school’s Center for Professional Ethics.

She explained conflicts of interest are context dependent. For instance, take a person who owns shares of an index fund.

“It’s kind of a classic example of you have a general interest in the market doing well, but you’re not beholden to any particular one (company),” Robertson said.

“You’re not likely to make any decisions based on the interest of any particular company, because your interest is so indirect and diffuse.”

On the other hand, she said, consider a person with a substantial share of their net worth and relatives’ jobs tied up in a family business.

“Then we would expect an ordinary public official to not make decisions that would be immediately affecting that business one way or the other,” she said, “because it would be too hard to put that interest aside, right?”

Robertson added that “relative value matters.”

A million dollars in a fund would be a big deal to her and many other Ohioans. But the same amount might not be that significant to a billionaire.

The future value of Anduril might be relevant as well. Robertson noted Palantir, another company borrowing its name from The Lord of the Rings, has seen its value rise dramatically since becoming a publicly traded company.

“So, I think there is a possibility that an interest that might look smaller up front could turn out to be bigger than it looks,” she said.

Forbes estimates Ramaswamy has a personal net worth of roughly $2.5 billion. About three years ago, he had at least $1.5 million invested with 8VC.

It’s not clear how valuable those holdings are now. What’s more, Ramaswamy’s potential stake in Anduril is mediated through an 8VC fund he doesn’t control. It’s also not clear how much of 8VC Fund III’s holdings are with Anduril.

Still, Robertson said it’s reasonable to ask for more transparency in that financial relationship.

Robertson explained a legal ethicist would judge a potential conflict of interest on whether a reasonable third party perceives a conflict.

Without additional information that’s not really possible. She said the field emphasizes that outside perspective because people tend to believe their financial interests won’t impact their decision making.

“People are notoriously bad at judging whether they themselves have a conflict,” Robertson said.

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Nick Evans on X or on Bluesky.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, introduced Ohio Senate Bill 421 earlier this month, which would increase the state’s statute of limitations for civil action, like lawsuits seeking financial damages, from one year to five years.

Antonio cited data from the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey that found that more than half of women and almost one in three men have experienced “sexual violence involving physical contact” in their lives.

Ohio-specific data from the state’s Incident Based Reporting System showed more than 3,800 incidents of rape in 2025, Antonio told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“As elected officials, it is our moral duty and responsibility to help protect our constituents against these heinous acts, particularly because sexual assault is severely underreported,” Antonio said.

The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Republican Ohio Sen. Nathan Manning, raises the statute of limitations on civil action in part because data shows trauma can delay reporting, and the processing of sex offenses can take more time than the law allows, according to the minority leader.

“By the time a survivor has decided they would like to sue for financial damages – and I would say they’re feeling like they can follow through with that action – the current statute has run out, leaving them with no recourse, and leaving them behind,” Antonio told the committee, of which Manning is the chair.

Antonio has taken the lead on many similar pieces of legislation over the years, attempting to extend limitations on charges like rape and other sexual offenses, including bipartisan legislation to close a loophole involving marital rape.

An Ohio House measure closing that loophole passed in 2024.

Most other measures haven’t made it to the level of a full vote in the House and Senate, but Antonio said it’s important to keep trying, even if just to keep the topic fresh in the minds of policymakers.

“Sometimes we introduce bills to talk about an issue because it’s a critical issue we should be talking about, but we think there’s probably no chance we’ll ever pass legislation,” Antonio said.

“This bill considers our legislative makeup, it considers all of the actions that the legislature has taken in the past, and is a real, common sense way to move forward.”

Statutes of limitations for criminal charges related to sex offenses vary from state to state, ranging from no limit for offenses like rape or sexual abuse involving a minor in some states, to statutes similar to Ohio.

Ohio currently has a 20 year limit for pursuing criminal charges such as rape and sexual battery, along with the one year limit on civil action related to sex offenses.

Ohio’s statute of limitations for charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor is 20 years after the victim turns 18.

With S.B. 421, Antonio said the co-sponsors are trying to change the policy and show those who have had to experience sex offenses that their government is paying attention.

“We must demonstrate to survivors across our state that they are a priority by holding their perpetrators accountable for their actions,” Antonio said.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

As of April 2026, 11 U.S. states have enacted conscientious objection laws specifically targeting LGBTQ+ people. As public health researchers who study the effects of public policies on the health of LGBTQ+ people, we wanted to examine how these laws have affected the roughly 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ Americans living in a state where a provider can legally refuse them care.

Specifically looking at sexual minorities, our research found that lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer adults living in states that passed conscientious objection laws were 28% less likely to report receiving a first-time HIV test, compared to peers in states without conscientious objection laws. These laws did not affect HIV testing rates for heterosexual adults.

Similarly, LGBQ+ adults in affected states were 71% more likely to report being in fair or poor health after the laws passed, compared to those in states without the laws.

Measuring the harm

We analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the health outcomes of more than 109,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and heterosexual adults from 2016 to 2018. We focused on eight states, comparing two that enacted conscientious objection laws during that period, Illinois and Mississippi, and six that did not, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin and Virginia. (Editor’s Note: Since that time, Ohio has enacted a medical conscientious objection law, passed by Ohio Republican lawmakers and signed by Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in 2021.)

To isolate the effect of the laws themselves, we compared changes in health outcomes among LGBQ+ and heterosexual adults living in states with or without religious exemptions to health care, both before and after the laws passed. Making all these comparisons at once allowed us to identify differences in health outcomes due to the laws rather than preexisting differences between states.

We found that conscientious objection laws were associated with significant harms to LGBQ+ adults, including a decline in HIV testing and a worsening of self-rated health.

Our findings highlight how laws permitting clinicians to refuse to provide health care to LGBQ+ patients deepen existing health disparities. Notably, conscientious objection laws are just one type of policy restricting LGBTQ+ people’s access to health care.

The Trump administration has slashed budgets for the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS program and state-level AIDS drugs assistance programs, reducing the availability of HIV prevention and treatment services. States have also moved to restrict access to gender-affirming care for both minors and adults, despite its additional benefit of helping to reduce new HIV infections. Employers have successfully declined to provide insurance coverage of highly effective HIV prevention medications under religious freedom laws.

Worsening disparities

LGBTQ+ people already face greater health challenges than their heterosexual peers, including higher rates of unmet health care needs and discrimination in medical settings.

HIV preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, can lower the risk of contracting HIV from sex by 99%. However, patients are required to receive an HIV test before PrEP can be prescribed. If providers are unwilling or unable to engage with LGBQ+ patients on their sexual health, people who could benefit most from HIV prevention tools, such as PrEP, may never receive them.

Moreover, since the risk of contracting HIV is closely linked to the social determinants of health, such as having safe and stable housing and employment, barriers to HIV testing could further widen health gaps.

Similarly, the worsening in self-rated health among LGBQ+ adults suggests that the cumulative effect of these laws on well-being is real and immediate. A person’s perception of their own health status is one of the strongest predictors of earlier death.

What can be done

Acknowledging the health consequences of conscientious objection laws could help policymakers and the public better understand their impact.

A 2026 national study found that Americans were more motivated to support policies that address LGBTQ+ inequality when these laws were framed as improving health inequality rather than economic inequality or sense of belonging. This finding suggests that people perceive health inequality as unjust and are less likely to blame LGBTQ+ individuals for those circumstances.

Health care systems can build more affirming environments that actively reassure LGBTQ+ patients will receive fair and equitable care. This can encourage more timely access to preventive services, such as vaccinations and cancer screenings.

For LGBTQ+ people, knowing your rights as a patient and seeking out LGBTQ+-affirming providers and community health centers can help mitigate some of the harms of restrictive laws.

Nathaniel M. Tran, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Administration, University of Illinois Chicago and Periwinkle Seljord-Solberg, Graduate Student Assistant in Health Policy and Administration, University of Illinois Chicago

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Leaders in Congress in recent days have insisted that a new federal spending bill needs to be as stripped down as possible and focused on funding related to immigration enforcement amid a two-month partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. They also have suggested the rule could still be revisited in future legislation, but likely not before the current budget measure expires on July 4.

The legislation Congress is considering now “has to be very narrow and tight,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, in a statement shared by a spokesperson. “But we will be looking for, obviously, opportunities to address not only Planned Parenthood, but some of the other issues that might fit in a reconciliation bill.”

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is not considering a renewal of the rule in the House version of the bill either, the Washington Examiner recently reported.

The broad tax and spending measure President Donald Trump signed into law last summer strips federal Medicaid funding from organizations that provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in reimbursements in fiscal year 2023. The rule primarily affects Planned Parenthood, as well as independent health care nonprofits such as Health Imperatives in Massachusetts and Maine Family Planning.

Medicaid, which provides health insurance mostly to people with lower incomes, is funded jointly by the federal government and the states, with the federal government covering roughly two-thirds of the cost.

The rule included in Trump’s tax and spending law was presented by supporters as a ban on funding for abortions, but actually prevented clinics from being reimbursed under federal Medicaid for birth control, infection testing and treatment, and a wide range of other reproductive and primary care services. A federal rule already prevents federal funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest and life endangerment.

Some states already allow state Medicaid to cover abortion services. Others, such as South Carolina, have excluded Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs. South Carolina’s law was upheld last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

At the anti-abortion movement’s annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., in January, Johnson spoke about the Medicaid provision as a major policy victory for Republicans.

“We stand here today with one united voice to affirm the federal government should not be subsidizing any industry that profits from the elimination of human life,” Johnson said.

The rule has survived multiple legal challenges, and its effects have been felt throughout the country. Planned Parenthood says more than 50 health centers across 18 states closed last year, 23 due to the Medicaid rule, according to a recent Democratic congressional report, and the rest due to the temporary loss of federal grants for family planning and preventive health care and other factors. The organization has also reported that visits for contraception and cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood clinics have dropped by double digits.

“So much damage has already been done,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, in a written statement. “Since Planned Parenthood was ‘defunded,’ fewer patients went to Planned Parenthood health centers for breast exams, birth control, and IUDs and other long-acting reversible contraception compared to the same period the year before.”

Planned Parenthood says more than 50 health centers across 18 states closed last year, 23 of them because of the Medicaid rule.

Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, a co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, called the report a “biased review.”

“Planned Parenthood is probably the world‘s largest abortion provider, and abortion is in fact its main book of business,” Harris said. “A majority of Americans believe that taxpayer funding should not be used to pay for abortion. If Planned Parenthood wants to stop doing abortions, and, in fact, go into the business of providing other healthcare, that would be different.”

Some clinics, such as Health Imperatives in Massachusetts, have continued seeing Medicaid patients, in some cases with states’ help.

“While we are encouraged by news that Congress is unlikely to include an extension of the defunding provision in the upcoming bill, the federal government is continuing its orchestrated assault through other avenues on the rights of the people we serve, particularly women, immigrants, and trans youth,” said Health Imperatives President and CEO Julia Kehoe in a written statement. “Our focus remains on providing the highest quality health care to all, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.”

Maine Family Planning had to close three of its primary care clinics due to the loss of federal reimbursements. But with its recently passed budget, the state is one of the first to provide a safety net for reproductive health services, including $5 million annually to support nonabortion services such as contraceptive care, infertility treatments, cancer screenings, prenatal and obstetric care, and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.

Other states — including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington — have committed a total of $300 million to replace the federal Medicaid money. But that amount won’t completely fill the gap left by the absence of the federal dollars, as Planned Parenthood reports its health centers provided an estimated $700 million in care annually to Medicaid patients before the new rule.

McGill Johnson said more than 150 health centers are at risk of closing, and more than 1.1 million patients could lose access to care.

Letting the federal Medicaid rule expire would be a blow to the anti-abortion movement, which has pushed to extend the rule to 10 years and many of whose policy demands the Trump administration has not fulfilled, such as restricting nationwide access to medication abortion.

Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, one of the most outspoken abortion opponents in the Senate, posted on X earlier this month that failing to renew the rule “would be a massive betrayal. Under no circumstance can Planned Parenthood be allowed to get taxpayer money for their abortions and gender transition insanity. Period.”

Hawley posted late last week that he would offer an amendment to ban federal money for Planned Parenthood.

John Mize, CEO of the national lobbying group Americans United for Life, wrote in a recent op-ed in the Washington Examiner that a yearlong extension of the rule is “the minimum acceptable outcome.”

“If reconciliation is not pursued, abortion providers are likely to have federal funds restored until after the 2028 elections, if not another two years,” Mize wrote. “Republicans cannot take for granted the majority they have now.”

Planned Parenthood is also not taking the provision’s expected expiration for granted.

“We know it’s a question of when — not if — anti-abortion lawmakers will attack Planned Parenthood and their constituents’ access to health care again,” McGill Johnson said in the statement.

Stateline reporter Sofia Resnick can be reached at sresnick@stateline.org.

This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Ohio Capital Journal, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Kakarala, who holds the designations MD, DCH, and FAAP, earned his medical degree in India and completed his pediatric residency at the Institute of Child Health in Hyderabad before finishing additional training at Columbia University in New York. He has been a fixture of pediatric care in Seneca County for decades, seeing patients across multiple generations of the same families.

Beyond clinical practice, Kakarala has served as a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toledo College of Medicine for roughly 30 years, precepting more than 250 medical students. The practice says he became the most-requested pediatric preceptor in the program.

Read the full story at https://tiffinohio.net/posts/tiffin-pediatrician-retiring-after-45-years/.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Acton introduced the plan — branded the “ActOn Lowering Costs” agenda — at a roundtable with small business owners and Ohioans at a coffeehouse in Columbus. Her running mate, former Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper, joined her at the event.

“As governor, my number one priority will be lowering costs for working families,” Acton said at the rollout.

Working Families Tax Cut

The centerpiece of Acton’s proposal is a two-part tax package aimed at lower- and middle-income households. It would create a state Earned Income Credit that her campaign says could reach up to 775,000 working families, and a child tax credit of $1,000 per year for children aged 0–6 and $500 per year for children aged 7–18, available to families earning up to $85,000 annually.

According to the campaign, a married couple with two children earning $60,000 a year would receive an additional $1,778 under the combined credits. Acton’s team estimates the child tax credit alone would reach more than 1.4 million Ohio children.

Healthcare and prescription drug costs

Acton, a physician and the former director of the Ohio Department of Health under Gov. Mike DeWine during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, built the healthcare portion of her agenda around five planks.

The plan would launch “Ohio Rx,” an online platform leveraging the state Medicaid program’s single pharmacy benefit manager to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Ohioans. It would also direct state agencies to reduce Medicaid enrollment red tape, require that out-of-pocket medication purchases count toward private insurance deductibles, and strengthen enforcement against surprise billing and aggressive medical debt collection.

On medical debt forgiveness, Acton said she would direct the state to join Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and other Ohio cities that have purchased and retired residents’ medical debt at a steep discount. Her campaign says those municipal programs have collectively relieved close to $1 billion in debt.

Acton’s rollout notes that more than 120,000 Ohioans have dropped Affordable Care Act coverage since 2025 and that 11 rural Ohio hospitals are at risk of closure.

Energy bills and HB 6 rollback

On utility costs, Acton’s agenda calls for reinstating the energy efficiency, demand response, and renewable portfolio standards that were gutted by House Bill 6, the 2019 nuclear bailout law at the center of Ohio’s largest public corruption scandal. She also pledged to appoint Public Utilities Commission of Ohio commissioners “not beholden to utility companies” and to work with the Ohio Attorney General to restore funding for the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.

The plan imposes what Acton calls “cost guardrails” on data centers, requiring operators — not ratepayers or local taxpayers — to absorb the additional electricity, gas, water, and environmental costs their facilities generate. It would also bar relaxed air quality and groundwater standards for data center development and call for Ohio data centers to be built by union workers under community benefits agreements.

Acton pledged to work with the 12 other states in the PJM Interconnection regional grid to push for lower wholesale power costs.

Wage theft, fees and consumer protections

The plan’s fourth section targets what Acton describes as predatory business practices. She pledged a day-one executive order requiring faster processing of wage theft complaints, citing campaign data that more than 213,000 Ohioans are affected by wage theft annually through sub-minimum pay, off-the-books work, unpaid overtime, tip theft, and worker misclassification.

Other consumer-protection provisions include:

• Support for House Bill 563, a bipartisan measure targeting concert and sporting event ticket fees on the secondary market
• A “First Click Guarantee” requiring that the first price shown on a ticket website be the final price paid
• A statewide price-gouging hotline and expanded Attorney General enforcement authority
• Age verification requirements for in-app purchases and age-restricted content in mobile app stores
• New consumer protections for veterans, military families, and student loan borrowers, and SNAP EBT modernization to reduce benefits theft

Acton’s plan cites FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center data indicating Ohio had the sixth-largest volume of elder scam complaints in the country in 2023, with losses exceeding $64 million.

Republican response

Biotech billionaire and Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy has proposed phasing out Ohio’s income tax and rolling property taxes back to pre-pandemic levels. Acton and other Democrats have said those proposals would open a roughly $10 billion hole in the state budget and force deep cuts to schools and local services.

“I think he’s frankly a danger, a real danger, his leadership, to Ohio because he has no idea how to do this,” Acton said of Ramaswamy.

What’s missing

One area not directly addressed in the agenda is property taxes — an issue that has driven sustained protest at statehouses and county auditors’ offices across Ohio, including in Seneca County. Acton told reporters Monday that Ohio’s overall tax code needs a broader examination and said she plans to release a separate property tax policy.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

“My opponent Representative Gary Click has a Surveillance State System fetish!” Watson wrote in the post. “He is supporting multi legislation that is going to infringe on constituents’ constitutional rights!”

In the accompanying video, filmed from his vehicle, Watson named three bills: House Bill 78, which would authorize the use of a digital driver’s license or state ID card; House Bill 116, the Ohio Blockchain Basics Act; and House Bill 649, the Child Care Fraud Prevention Act.

Click (R-Vickery) is a cosponsor of all three bills, according to Ohio legislative records.

Watson also said Click told him directly that he had not read HB 649 before signing on as a cosponsor. Watson said the exchange took place “about two Thursdays ago” with a witness present.

“I did ask Gary … if he actually read the legislation for House Bill 649,” Watson said in the since-deleted video. “And he said that he did not have time to do it. He took advice from a colleague that he thought he could trust … I said, well, you should have read it. He said, ‘Eric, that’s not how it works.’ And I said, well, that’s exactly what’s wrong. And I said, that’s what makes me and you different. I will actually read the legislation before I ever put my name on anything.”

Click has not publicly responded to the video. TiffinOhio.net could not independently verify the conversation Watson described.

What the bills actually do

HB 78, sponsored by Reps. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.) and Joe Miller (D-Amherst), would authorize Ohioans to use a digital driver’s license or digital state ID on a cell phone, tablet, or other wireless device in lieu of a physical card. The bipartisan bill remains in the House Technology and Innovation Committee.

HB 116, sponsored by Rep. Steve Demetriou (R-Bainbridge Twp.), passed the Ohio House 68-26 in June 2025 with bipartisan support. The bill would bar local governments from imposing certain taxes or fees on digital asset transactions, protect self-custody of cryptocurrency wallets, and allow residential and industrial crypto mining subject to local zoning. The measure is under consideration in the Ohio Senate.

Watson’s video linked HB 116 to “data centers” and a “cashless society.” HB 116 itself does not address data centers; it is limited to blockchain and digital asset regulation. The data center legislation Click co-authored is a separate measure — House Bill 646, which would establish a 13-member state study commission on data center impacts. Watson previously criticized HB 646 in a separate video in March.

HB 649, sponsored by Reps. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Township) and D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron), would require every licensed child care center in Ohio to install video surveillance cameras at all entrances, exits, and general non-private areas. Footage would be retained for 60 days and made available to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth for compliance reviews. Within 12 months of enactment, the department would gain live, remote access to the camera feeds.

A substitute version of the bill, analyzed by Policy Matters Ohio, would have required daily facial recognition scans of children for attendance verification. At a March 24 committee hearing, an amendment was added prohibiting the storage of photos or videos of children themselves, though the camera mandate and attendance tracking features remain part of the bill.

HB 649 carries 28 cosponsors, all Republicans, and remains in the House Children and Human Services Committee. A companion measure, House Bill 647, would give the Ohio Attorney General direct authority to investigate and prosecute child care providers and strip providers of appeal rights on state funding decisions.

Context heading into May 5

Watson’s video comes just over two weeks before the May 5 Republican primary for the 88th Ohio House District, which covers Seneca and Sandusky counties. Early in-person voting began April 7.

Click has declined to debate Watson throughout the primary and skipped the League of Women Voters’ District 88 candidates forum in Tiffin earlier this spring. Watson has made Click’s legislative record — particularly on digital ID, data centers, and campaign finance — the central focus of his insurgent challenge.

The winner of the May 5 primary will face Democratic nominee Aaron Jones, a Tiffin City Councilman and U.S. Army veteran, in the November general election.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Conroy’s personal financial disclosure, filed with the U.S. House Clerk in August, lists total assets valued between $361,008 and $966,000 — a portfolio built almost entirely on cryptocurrency. He has also loaned his own congressional campaign $287,500 of personal money since late September, Federal Election Commission records show.

The disclosures surfaced the same week Conroy’s path to the Republican nomination got considerably easier. Cincinnati-area dentist Dr. Steven Erbeck suspended his campaign Monday, leaving Conroy — a former CIA case officer identified as the primary frontrunner by the Cook Political Report — with two remaining rivals in the May 5 primary: Holly Adams and Rosemary Oglesby-Henry. Trump endorsed Conroy on April 14. Erbeck cited “party unity” in his withdrawal statement.

Conroy’s campaign has also leaned on claims of humble origins that his résumé does not support. In responses to an Ohio Capital Journal questionnaire earlier this year, Conroy told voters, “I wasn’t born into privilege or connections.” His own campaign biography lists Elder High School — a private Catholic school in Cincinnati — followed by a U.S. Air Force Academy appointment, service as an Air Force captain and CIA case officer, and a graduate degree from Columbia University in 2025.

The financial filings describe a wealthy candidate. Conroy’s three largest disclosed holdings — each in the $100,001 to $250,000 range — are shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, and a federal Thrift Savings Plan account. Additional crypto-linked positions in MicroStrategy, a Grayscale Ethereum trust, and two other bitcoin-related funds fall in the $15,001 to $50,000 range, as does a Volkswagen SUV. The filing lists just $4,800 in reported salary income, from a consulting role with Berg Enterprises, along with a deferred federal pension from his time in the Air Force and CIA.

The three campaign self-loans — $150,000 on September 22, $130,000 on September 25, and $7,500 on September 30 — were booked at zero percent interest and are due by the end of next year.

Outside money has piled on top. Red Bridge Leadership PAC, an independent committee set up to support Conroy, announced $200,000 raised in an October press release. FEC receipts show its largest donors include $100,000 from Alabama-based First Principles Digital and $93,000 from Ohio-based Fyda Inc. One entry stands out for its timing: a $90,000 contribution from Conroy’s father, Gary Conroy, booked September 30 — the same day the candidate’s own campaign logged the last of its three personal loans.

The winner of the May 5 primary will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, who is running for reelection and faces Damon Lynch IV in his own primary. The 1st District was redrawn in October to lean more Republican, and the general election is rated a toss-up.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

A massive orange “BGSU” arrived on the Bowling Green State University campus via a flatbed trailer in 2019, a year before seven-foot red “Y” signs popped up at nine locations across Youngstown State University. Heidelberg University in Tiffin installed an eight-foot lowercase “H” soon after. 

“✨Insta worthy✨,” read part of a 2023 Instagram post from John Carroll University announcing the arrival of its own set of white letters on the University Heights campus. 

The city of Cleveland got a pair of big university abbreviations last year. “CSU” went up in two shades of green on Cleveland State’s campus. The eight-foot letters at Case Western Reserve are blue and gray.

And that’s just a sampling of Ohio’s campuses. From small colleges to large research institutions, these signs serve as backdrops for photo shoots and pit stops on prospective student tours. Campuses nationwide are following suit. 

But officials swear it’s more than just a trending photo prop made for the social media era. They say it represents a shift from higher education’s traditional branding playbook as colleges look to become both more accessible in a competitive market – one that includes enrollment and financial challenges – and more welcoming to the communities they call home.  

Joseph Master, senior vice president of brand management at the higher education enrollment and marketing firm Carnegie, thinks these signs are one way colleges are inviting the public in “to be a part of a brand story.” 

“And higher ed didn’t used to do that,” he said. 

Cleveland State University added a large acronym sign in late 2025. Credit: Amy Morona / Signal Statewide

Ohio colleges embrace acronyms

There’s no running national list of which institutions have these signs or who originated this exact style. Perhaps there’s a through line between these iterations and the tradition of carving letters into hillsides in western U.S. states.  

Brigham Young University students helped install a 380-foot “Y” on a Utah hill back in 1906. People are still making the 2.25-mile round-trip hike to what’s become a beloved campus spot.  

The iconic “Hollywood” sign went up in 1923. And tourism bureaus across the country, including in Indianapolis and Cleveland, launched campaigns around oversized script fonts spelling out city names more than a decade ago, around the same time Instagram said it reached 300 million daily active users.

Cities or organizations use these types of signs to help cultivate pride in a place. Colleges didn’t really follow suit, though. Before the COVID-19 pandemic moved so much of campus life online, Carnegie’s Master said these signs probably would have been “a huge branding no-no.” 

Now, higher education seems to be evolving from its traditional marketing rules. Master said college leaders frequently ask how to make institutions more human. Loosening the tight branding grip on strictly using official institutional names – often composed of “just so many words,” he said – can be one way to do that.

“Smart institutions are realizing that their brands are strong,” said Master. “The acronym can be seen as additive, rather than at odds with, say, the official logo.”  

These signs won’t move any enrollment or graduation needles on their own. But many additive efforts – including embracing campus traditions or places where students naturally hang out – can collectively help colleges create what Master calls a more engaged and connected campus environment. 

That’s important. Students involved on campus have higher rates of retention and well-being. Prospective students are taking note of this, too, he said. 

“The number one thing that students right now across the nation care about most when they visit a campus are – and you can’t see me doing this, because I’m doing air quotes – are the ‘vibes,’” he said.  

Case Western Reserve’s letters already a favorite campus spot

Case Western Reserve is many things, including a top producer of scientific research. But, as an academic institution, “you can’t really put your hands around that,” said Erica Starrfield, the university’s vice president of marketing and communications. 

But these installations can be climbed on, stared at, touched. It “allows you to have something physical on your campus,” she said.

Starrfield and her team excitedly watched from the windows as the signs went up in January 2025. Paving the 38-foot concrete base the letters sit on took about three weeks. The installation of the acronym itself, which needed a crane, was completed in two days.

But the process represented the culmination of many decisions leaders made over more than a year.

They had to select who would produce the letters (Wagner Electric Sign Company in Elyria), the sign’s material (steel with aluminum plating) and the location (a busy part of Euclid Avenue to maximize visibility). 

She declined to share the cost for the project, one of several recent branding and marketing initiatives. 

“We want to define that sense of place and be proud of who we are, both for the people on campus, but also for the community,” said Starrfield. 

That pride doesn’t extend to the CWRU corner of Reddit. One user, who said they’re a current student, called the “stupid letters” unnecessary, echoing previous university rebranding campaigns that met mixed reviews. 

Starrfield acknowledged that people might have different opinions, but said these letters have a lot of internal support. She said there’s no specific metric of success the university’s team is chasing. Instead, they’re after more qualitative responses. 

She spotted long lines near the sign during recent graduation and homecoming celebrations as people waited to take photos, and an unofficial survey of students found more than half picked the letters as their favorite spot to take pictures on campus.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

The win comes after the Trump Justice Department and six states quit the case a week into the trial. It agreed to a settlement that critics said was a giveaway to Live Nation.

Despite the settlement, 34 state attorneys general fought on.

The jury presiding over the case in a federal court in Manhattan deliberated for four days before finding for the plaintiffs.

The Biden Justice Department in 2024 sued Live Nation Entertainment under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Live Nation is the largest concert promoter and artist manager in the United States. It’s the largest entertainment venue owner in the world. And it owns Ticketmaster, the world’s largest primary ticket seller, long known for its high “convenience” charges.

The lawsuit against the company said Live Nation was using its dominance in various parts of the marketplace to exercise “its power through a coordinated pattern of anticompetitive conduct that serves a variety of ends: expanding its scope and reach into every crevice of an increasingly more complex and interconnected ecosystem, eliminating rivals, continuing to increase barriers to entry, and inhibiting competition on the merits,” the lawsuit said. “Each act is exclusionary on its own. But the acts also work together across the ecosystem, enhanced by the flywheel and scale effects, to magnify the anticompetitive force of the scheme.”

A week into the federal trial, the Trump Justice Department settled the case in a way that U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said “shows absolute disrespect for the court, the jury and this entire process.”

The terms of the settlement similarly enraged 34 state attorneys general and consumer advocates. They said it required the company to pay out only a few days worth of revenue and required Ticketmaster to give resellers access to its platform — something they said would make scalping worse. 

Subramanian will now determine remedies in a separate proceeding. They may include breaking up the company.

Yost’s office didn’t respond when asked to comment on the Trump Justice Department’s decision to settle the case. But on Wednesday, he took to X to laud the verdict.

“BREAKING: a jury has found LiveNation/Ticketmaster GUILTY of violating antitrust laws, all counts,” he said. “Ohio was one of the states that brought the suit and the verdict includes a finding of liability under Ohio law as well as federal law. Massive win for competitive markets!”

Ron Knox is a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self Reliance, an antitrust advocacy group. He also praised the ruling.

“Today’s verdict is a victory for every music fan who has ever stared in disbelief at a checkout screen full of fees, every independent venue that has been forced to play by Live Nation’s rules, and every artist who has had no real choice but to do business on Live Nation’s terms,” he said in a written statement.

Knox also called out the controversial 2010 decision to allow Live Nation and Ticketmaster to merge in the first place.

“In the nearly two decades since Live Nation was wrongly allowed to buy Ticketmaster, the combined company has used its unquestioned power in the live music industry to rip off concertgoers and bully artists, promoters, and independent venues,” he said. “The evidence state enforcers revealed during trial overwhelmingly demonstrated the harm this monopoly inflicted, and the hubris with which Live Nation inflicted it. The jury’s verdict confirmed that Live Nation’s monopoly, and the predatory tactics it used to preserve and grow it, broke the law.” 

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

VoteRPac, a Toledo group focused on increasing Republican turnout, hosted the debate in Toledo.

The candidates are Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams, former Ohio state Rep. Derek Merrin, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Alea Nadeem, former deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Madison Sheahan, and health care industry worker Anthony Campbell.

Whoever wins the primary will face long-time Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur in the November election. Kaptur has represented Ohio’s 9th congressional district since 1983 — making her the longest-serving woman in congressional history.

Merrin lost a close race to Kaptur during the 2024 election. He received 178,716 votes and Kaptur won with 181,098 votes.

Republican voters in the Northwest Ohio district will cast their ballots in Ohio’s Primary Election on May 5. Early voting is already underway. 

Immigration

All of the candidates said Congress does not need an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants.

“Amnesty is a disaster,” Merrin said. “It encourages more illegal immigration … I think they need to go home and we need tough enforcement mechanisms. We need secure borders.” 

COLUMBUS, OH — FEBRUARY 15: State Rep. Derek Merrin, R-Monclova, talks to the press about the Ohio House Republican leadership, February 15, 2023, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)

The candidates also spoke out against sanctuary cities. 

“I think we need to withhold federal funding from (sanctuary cities) until they come into compliance and do their part to honor our laws and help us battle on the scourge of illegal immigration,” Merrin said. 

Williams said there should not be sanctuary for a criminal anywhere in the world. 

“If these individuals want to commit crimes in our community, we need to find them, and we need to get them out,” he said. 

The candidates also voiced their support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

“ICE officers have to go out every single day to remove those criminals from our street,” Sheahan said. “ICE needs to be able to go out and do their job and remove those illegal criminals. … We will continue to fight to secure the border and allow ICE officers to go out and do their job every single day.”

ICE arrested 240 people in central Ohio during Operation Buckeye in December, but less than 7% of those arrested had a criminal record, according to The Columbus Dispatch. 

“The important work that this administration has done with ICE to deport these people has been the best thing for our country,” Nadeem said. 

Nadeem mentioned how she came from a family of immigrants — she said her mother is Polish and her father is Middle Eastern. 

“Republicans don’t hate immigrants,” she said. “We actually love immigrants … Before we look at any amnesty, we have to deport illegal (immigrants). … I think there’s a place and a time where we can actually look at amnesty, but not today or tomorrow.”

Iran War

Merrin said President Donald Trump has been within his authority when it comes to Iran. 

“I do trust him on this issue,” he said. “I hope the conflict with Iran comes to an end here very, very quickly.”

Sheahan repeatedly said Trump puts the American interest first when asked about Trump’s authority to engage in the Iran War. 

“He’s been very clear that we cannot have a nuclear Iran,” she said. “He’s been very clear that we have interests in the Middle East, that we have to work with our allies and continue to be the leader of the free world as we continue to work with our military and emphasize peace through strength.”

Campbell said the United States can’t tolerate endless and undeclared wars. 

“When it comes to foreign conflicts, we have strayed far away from what the Founding Fathers intended,” he said. “The constitution is abundantly clear — it’s the sole duty of Congress to debate and declare war, while the President must be able to rapidly respond to immediate attacks and protect Americans lives and assets.” 

The loopholes in the War Powers Act need to close, Campbell said. 

“Every dollar that we spend to go into endless war and conflicts we aren’t spending on our own people, our own future,” he said. 

Data centers

Ohio has about 200 data centers, the fifth-highest state in the country. Most of the data centers are in central Ohio. Cincinnati has 26 and Cleveland has 23, according to Data Center Map.

Former Air National Guard Lieutenant Colonel in the Alea Nadeem is running for the 9th Congressional District. (Courtesy of the Nadeem campaign).

“I think this is one where we have to push this down to the states,” Nadeem said. “If you’re going to put a data center in someone’s backyard, why is the federal government involved in that?”

Campbell said data centers are not automatically a positive thing. 

“We can’t blindly build them into this generation’s version of the abandoned shopping malls that we have around,” he said. “We need to really look at those at a local level and put that power into the local level … If a data center comes here, we need to get the guarantee that it’s going to be a net positive for our community’s tax base and infrastructure.” 

Sheahan said she would work with local governments to make sure Northwest Ohio has the proper infrastructure for datas centers. 

“The number one thing that we have to focus on is that we’re currently in an AI race against China,” she said. 

Merrin said data centers do not need to be subsidized and don’t need tax breaks. 

Transgender athletes playing women’s sports

All the candidates agreed transgender athletes should not play women’s sports. 

“I support a federal law banning men into women’s sports,” Merrin said. “We have to safeguard women’s rights, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.” 

Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams is running for the 9th Congressional District. (Courtesy of Williams campaign).

Williams talked about how he helped pass Ohio’s law banning transgender athletes playing women’s sports at the high school level. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the bill, but the bill took effect in 2024 after lawmakers voted to override the veto. 

“Men should never be competing in women’s sports,” he said. “It needs to be federal law.”

Sheahan talked about her time as a student-athlete at Ohio State University on the women’s rowing team. 

“We went out and had the opportunity to compete in a sport that we love because men were not taking those opportunities from us,” she said. “There should never be a moment when a woman has to compete against a male.” 

Bringing federal dollars to the 9th district

U.S. Route 23 needs to be fixed so Toledo can have a direct pipeline to Columbus, Williams said. 

“We got to fix it because there’s a lot of investment that’s going into the Columbus area where we can’t get suppliers up here in Northwest Ohio because of how long it takes to go down (Route) 23,” he said. 

Sheahan said she would use her relationships with people in Washington D.C. to help assist with economic development in the 9th congressional district. 

“We need to make sure it’s a priority that we bring opportunity to the Ninth District,” she said. 

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky. 

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Ohio Senate Bill 311 changes several things related to school districts in Ohio, from cracking down on so-called “cheating resources” – services or organizations who advertise services “with the intention of assisting a learner to cheat” on exams or assignments – to truancy enforcement and educator licensure regulations.

One particular provision of the bill received attention in the Senate Education Committee this week, as the the superintendent of Canton City Schools asked the committee to leave control of the disposal of school district property in the hands of local districts, rather than creating further state mandates around it.

The bill revises current state law on the disposition of school district property, specifying that a school district must sell an “unused school facility” at “the appraised fair market value as an educational facility,” and adds chartered private schools to the list of schools a district must offer its unused facilities before moving outside the district for sale.

It also uses an enrollment line 60% or lower to trigger closure and force the sale of school district buildings, something Canton Superintendent Jeff Talbert said creates an “artificial threshold” that does not reflect “the reality of how buildings are actually being used.”

Talbert also said the provision “rejects the stated preferences of local residents and voters that have been asked to decide on the use of and support for school facilities.”

“Any building impacted by voter-approved permanent improvement levies and bond issues should be exempt,” Talbert said.

The superintendent said he was also speaking as co-chair of the Ohio 8 Coalition, a group of superintendent and teacher union presidents from Canton, Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Lorain, Toledo, and Youngstown.

The history of school districts and the changes made throughout the years also plays a factor in deciding what buildings should stay or go, and how they should be used, according to Talbert. Committee member state Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, agreed that shifts over time can bring back the need for school buildings, and the local school boards and communities should have the final say.

“It’s the local officials that have to make the case to taxpayers as to why this building’s open, why this building is closed,” Smith said.

Bill sponsor and Senate Education Committee chair Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, said the provision exists because of complaints “basically coming from community schools who have said that the buildings have been sitting vacant,” and that requests by those community schools to purchase unused property have gone unanswered.

“The concern is that they’re being under-utilized or not being utilized, where they could be utilized for, like, a community school or something else,” Brenner said.

In Canton, Talbert said there was a movement to put students in grade-level-specific classrooms in the past, which the district did. But then, a more recent movement led to a bond issue supported by voters to bring back “neighborhood schools.”

“If buildings weren’t around … that were under-utilized during that time, we wouldn’t have been able to make that shift,” Talbert said. “We’re just asking for that control to remain, for the board to have that opportunity.”

Losing the say in how they are able to deal with property could also mean receiving less for the sale of a building if school boards don’t have discretion to choose who they sell to, and community development plans could even be impacted.

“If this law was in place during the original planning for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village, we would have been forced to sell an elementary school building that sat in the middle of this very large economic development project,” according to Talbert.

A joint statement from the Alliance for High Quality Education, the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, the Ohio School Boards Association, and the Buckeye Association of School Administrators requested changes to the legislation that would allow school districts to “maintain buildings for district operations,” and preserve district property for “anticipated growth or long-term facility planning needs.”

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Husted, a Republican, was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2000 and the state Senate in 2008. He was elected lieutenant governor in 2018 and was appointed to the U.S. Senate last year to fill the seat vacated by Vice President J.D. Vance.

Campaign finance disclosures show that Husted’s first campaigns were supported by Anthem (now Elevance Health), Medical Mutual of Ohio, UnitedHealth Group, and their affiliated PACs. These companies continued to support Husted over the years, as did CareSource, Buckeye Community Health Plan, Summa Health Systems, and Centene.

Husted’s year-end filing for 2025 added a new donor to the list: America’s Health Insurance Plans PAC, a trade organization that represents insurance companies.

All of the corporations backing Husted are now raising rates on Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) plans in Ohio. Buckeye Community Health Plan, for example, is increasing rates this year by 27.25%.

UnitedHealth Group rates are going up by 30.9%.

The sharpest increase is from Paramount Insurance Company, which is hiking rates by 37%.

A spokesperson for Centene, which owns Buckeye Community Health Plan and insures the largest number of Ohioans on Obamacare, told the Ohio Capital Journal the rate increases are necessary to meet patient demand.

“Over the past several months, we have been working closely with Ohio regulators and their third-party actuaries to balance rising health care costs with the needs of Ohio citizens,” the spokesperson said. “Our rate adjustments reflect higher-than-expected care needs than in previous years, including increased hospitalizations, emergency room utilization, and behavioral health services.”

Centene’s gross profit for 2024 was $16.8 billion.

The rate increases come on top of the expiration of enhanced Obamacare tax credits that kept premiums low for 22 million Americans, including 500,000 Ohioans. On Jan. 13, Husted said he opposed a bipartisan plan to reinstate the credits for three more years.

Husted is running for his first full term in the U.S. Senate this year. His likely opponent is former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

An Emerson College poll from December found that nearly half of Ohio voters say the economy, particularly affordability, is their top concern in the upcoming election.

This story was originally published by American Journal News.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

The article’s version history showed that on February 9, 2023, an editor using the handle “Jhofferman” removed language documenting Ramaswamy’s 2011 receipt of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans — a graduate-school funding program for immigrants and children of immigrants — along with references to his participation on Ohio’s COVID-19 Response Team. The editor’s user page disclosed that the account had been paid by Ramaswamy for the edits.

Ramaswamy announced his presidential candidacy roughly two weeks after the changes.

The Soros connection Ramaswamy removed

Paul Soros, who died in 2013, was the older brother of billionaire Democratic donor George Soros — a figure frequently invoked by conservative commentators and a recurring target of right-wing conspiracy theories. The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship program is a merit-based graduate scholarship; it is not affiliated with George Soros’s political or philanthropic giving.

Ramaswamy received the fellowship during his time as a Yale law student. He has publicly acknowledged the scholarship when pressed directly, but has also made attacks on the Soros name a recurring feature of his political rhetoric.

Campaign response

After Mediaite’s report, Ramaswamy senior adviser Tricia McLaughlin told HuffPost the edits were not a “scrub” but corrections of “factual distortions” on “a number of topics, including family members’ names.” McLaughlin said the information was “Googleable” and accused a pro-DeSantis super PAC of amplifying the story.

After other Wikipedia editors debated the conflict of interest, the Soros fellowship reference was restored to the page. The current Wikipedia entry states that Ramaswamy’s campaign “admitted that he had paid an editor to alter his Wikipedia biography before announcing his candidacy, but denied that the payment for edits was politically motivated.”

The Ohio COVID-19 Response Team role

The same February 2023 edit also removed references to Ramaswamy’s service on Ohio’s COVID-19 Response Team. According to Mediaite’s review of the edit history, the editor recorded that the COVID-related content was removed at Ramaswamy’s explicit request, while the Soros fellowship was characterized by the editor as “extraneous material.”

Relevance to the 2026 Ohio governor’s race

Ramaswamy ended his presidential campaign in January 2024 after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses and endorsed Donald Trump. He launched his campaign for Ohio governor in 2025 and has since received endorsements from Trump and the Ohio Republican Party. He faces Democrat Amy Acton, who led Ohio’s public health response during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic — the same period Ramaswamy’s paid Wikipedia edit sought to remove from his public record.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

According to Meta’s Ad Library, a sponsored Facebook ad paid for by The Committee to Elect Gary Click, treasurer Jerri Miller, ran from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22, 2019, delivering an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 impressions. In it, Click — then a first-time candidate for Ohio’s 88th House District — shared a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy post about the shutdown of Three Mile Island Unit 1 in Pennsylvania and added a personal endorsement of House Bill 6, Ohio’s then-new utility subsidy law.

Screenshot via Meta Ad Library.

“I’m glad that Ohio’s leaders thought this through, keeping our best interest at heart!” Click wrote, adding the hashtag “#YestoHB6” and tagging three Republican state leaders: then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, Gov. Mike DeWine, and then-Senate President Larry Obhof.

Running during the referendum window

The timing matters. DeWine had signed House Bill 6 into law on July 23, 2019. That signature triggered a 90-day constitutional window in which opponents could circulate petitions to put a referendum on the 2020 ballot and repeal the law. After the Ohio Attorney General’s Office certified revised petition language on Aug. 29, 2019, Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts had roughly 52 days to gather the 265,774 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

Click’s ad ran in the closing stretch of that signature drive. It began the same day Three Mile Island Unit 1 stopped producing electricity — a moment pro-HB 6 messaging used to argue that without subsidies, Ohio’s Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants would follow. By the Oct. 21, 2019, deadline, opponents had collected 221,092 signatures and fell short, allowing HB 6 to take effect. A separate pro-HB 6 dark money group, Ohioans for Energy Security, spent an estimated $16.56 million on television and radio advertising during the same period, including ads falsely suggesting Chinese interests were behind the referendum effort.

Click was not a member of the Ohio General Assembly in September 2019 and did not vote on HB 6. What the ad documents is a public political communication paid for out of his campaign account, in defense of a law already passed, during the window in which Ohio voters were being asked to repeal it.

Who Click tagged

The three officials tagged in the ad were the Republican leaders most directly associated with HB 6’s passage.

Householder, who had returned to the speakership in January 2019 after a decade out of office, was identified by federal prosecutors a year later as the leader of a $60 million bribery scheme funded by FirstEnergy and routed through the dark-money nonprofit Generation Now. A federal jury convicted Householder on racketeering charges in March 2023, and he is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, was convicted alongside him.

Obhof, a Medina Republican, served as Senate President from 2017 to 2020 and presided over the chamber as HB 6 passed the Senate on June 18, 2019. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the scandal.

DeWine signed the bill into law and has repeatedly said he believed it was sound policy. Text messages and calendars produced in subsequent state and federal proceedings have shown extensive contact between DeWine’s office — and then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, now a U.S. senator — and FirstEnergy executives during the period HB 6 was drafted, passed, and defended. Neither DeWine nor Husted has been charged with any wrongdoing.

What the ad meant for Click’s primary

At the time the ad ran, Click held one elected position: member of the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee for the 26th Senate District, a post he has held since 2017. His campaign for the 88th House District faced two other Republicans — Seneca County Commissioner Shayne Thomas of Tiffin and Fremont environmental engineer Ed Ollom — for a seat being vacated by term-limited Rep. Bill Reineke.

The Ohio Republican Party endorsed Click. On April 28, 2020, in a mail-only primary delayed from March 17 by the COVID-19 pandemic, Click won with 5,385 votes to Thomas’s 4,702 and Ollom’s 3,057. He took office in January 2021 — five months after Householder’s arrest.

HB 6 authorized $1 billion in nuclear plant subsidies, extended subsidies for two Ohio Valley Electric Corporation coal plants, and gutted Ohio’s renewable energy and energy-efficiency standards. The nuclear subsidies were repealed in 2021. The coal subsidies remained law until August 2025, by which point Ohio ratepayers had paid more than $500 million to prop up the plants.

Click is now serving his third term and is seeking a fourth and final term in the May 5, 2026, Republican primary against Tiffin businessman Eric Watson. Democrat Aaron Jones of Tiffin, a U.S. Army veteran and city council member, is unopposed for his party’s nomination. The 88th District covers Sandusky and Seneca counties and includes Tiffin, Fremont, Clyde, Green Springs, and surrounding communities.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Hill has accused Moats of inappropriate touching, of disrespecting his own wife in front of campaign advisors, and of using a racial slur. Moats has denied those claims and gone on the attack himself — calling Hill “a terrible person” with “delusion and mental issues,” using a derogatory slur against her husband, and attacking her appearance in graphic sexual terms. Between them: leaked text messages arguing over a $180,000-a-year compensation deal, and a Moats apology video for a separate campaign line of attack on a rival gubernatorial candidate’s religion.

All of it dropped between Saturday evening and Sunday morning — nearly two weeks into Ohio’s early voting period, with ballots listing Hill and Moats as a joint ticket already in voters’ hands.

Hill’s allegations

In a Facebook post Saturday evening, Hill laid out a detailed set of accusations against Moats. She wrote that Moats had been “warned several times to stop pulling me close to him and putting his arm around me during photo shoots and videos.” She said that at a Friday campaign event, Moats “made many disrespectful comments about his wife, making our female campaign advisors uncomfortable, and leery.”

Hill went further in both the post and a follow-up comment, claiming Moats had deliberately waited to act until the final days before the primary.

“We believe this is absolutely not a coincidence that he waited until right before the primary to pull this stunt,” Hill wrote. “Politics is dirty, but we have to rise above it.”

In a reply to her own post, she added: “I promise you this, this was not an accident that he pulled this stunt right before the primary.”

Hill did not name any outside campaign or actor and did not offer evidence to support the suggestion that the timing was orchestrated.

A separate graphic posted by the campaign stated it “does not tolerate or support racial slurs, abusive language, insubordination, backstabbing nor business irresponsibility / violations.” Hill went on to accuse Moats of calling her a “[n-word] bitch,” a claim Moats has publicly denied.

Moats fires back

Moats denied Hill’s allegations in a statement Saturday and launched his own personal attack.

“Heather is attacking me on social media … doing what she does best, making up complete lies and portraying herself as a victim,” Moats said. “She has zero integrity and is a terrible person, but I’m not going to air out the details. I truly hope she seeks counseling for her delusion and mental issues.”

Mental health advocates have long warned that invoking a political opponent’s mental state as an insult stigmatizes mental illness. Moats did not elaborate on what specifically he was referring to.

Sunday: a second, harsher video

By Sunday afternoon, Moats had posted another video — this one significantly more personal and crude than anything either candidate had said publicly a day earlier.

Opening with his signature “Howdy ho Ohio” greeting, Moats called Hill a “deranged lunatic narcissist” and accused her of responding to his initial criticism by launching “a nuclear explosion” of his character, businesses, and marriage.

Moats directly disputed Hill’s allegation that he had repeatedly put his arm around her during campaign photo shoots — but did so while using an ableist slur against Hill’s husband.

“We had two photo shoots where her half retarded husband was the one taking the pictures,” Moats said, using a derogatory term for people with cognitive disabilities. “Trust me, there is no way on earth that I would pull you in close to me or put my arm around you, especially in the manner that your delusional lunatic mind has made up.”

Moats then pivoted to a series of attacks on Hill’s appearance, saying she was “physically disgusting.”

“No one, even with a handful of blue pills, would be able to actually do anything with you,” Moats said. “It’s that repulsive. And the only thing more disgusting than you physically is what’s on the inside.”

He added: “Your soul is black. You are disgusting on the inside. I hope you get professional help for the delusional thoughts that you have.”

Later in the video, Moats mocked images on Hill’s campaign materials: “If you’re going to lie to Ohioans or to anybody, try to make it at least a little bit believable. Even your AI generated pictures still don’t have you attractive.”

Moats also raised — and then declined to pursue — the possibility of a defamation suit.

“I’ve had so many people this morning text me and say I should sue you for defamation,” Moats said. “That’s not my character. But come on, Heather. People aren’t stupid. They can see through your lies. Just go away.”

The $180,000 texts

Hill’s Saturday posts also included screenshots of what she said were text message exchanges between the two candidates.

In one exchange, Hill writes to Moats: “If I’m correct, you stood by my side a lot and you also did several other things with them. Will you please give the same package where you will receive a pay making about $180,000 a year plus 2% commission while you will receive a job … who will be in charge of fundraising.”

Moats replies: “I’m not a fundraiser Heather. I didn’t fundraise for my own campaign — because I could see how difficult raising money was going to be. I’m not a campaign manager. You told me on day 1 you were interviewing a campaign manager.”

A later screenshot shows Moats using an expletive telling Hill to leave him alone, calling her “delusional,” and saying he is blocking her number. Another shows Moats writing: “Wow! Definitely never ever expected that out of you. Very surprised. I will not contact you. Absolutely heartbroken!”

The full context of the compensation dispute is not clear from the screenshots Hill made public. Neither campaign has released additional details about the terms of Moats’ role or the source of the figures.

The atheist video

Before Sunday’s escalation, Moats had posted a different, much calmer video to YouTube on Saturday — one that made no mention of the personal dispute and instead offered an apology for a separate Hill campaign line of attack.

“The campaign that I was part of really put out some falsities, some things that just simply were not true about another candidate,” Moats said in the video. “When you’re calling someone an atheist and they clearly say otherwise, who are you to continue to put that rhetoric out there?”

Moats did not name the candidate. The other two Republicans on the May 5 primary ballot are biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is Hindu, and Tiffin native Casey Putsch, who describes himself on his campaign website as “your Christian, America First candidate for Ohio governor.”

“Our campaign has taken a lot of missteps,” Moats said. “One of them is falsely accusing another candidate of some stuff that just wasn’t true. And even once it was found out to be false, it was still put out there over and over. So I don’t agree with that.”

17 days and a ballot problem

Hill has said she intends to remain in the race and is not conceding. She said her campaign is “working with the S.O.S. office to make the replacement legal,” referring to the Ohio Secretary of State, and that further information would be released soon.

What that means for voters is unclear. Early in-person voting began April 7. Absentee ballots have been in circulation for weeks. Any ballot already cast for the Hill ticket lists Moats as her lieutenant governor candidate — and Ohio’s ballot-printing deadlines for the May 5 primary have long since passed.

Hill and Moats announced their joint ticket on Jan. 8 and filed their candidacy paperwork together on Feb. 3. Moats, a retired U.S. Air Force major who served three deployments to the Middle East, owns a tree service and stars in the Prime Video and YouTube reality series “Unstable Lumberjacks.”

Hill, 49, is a Morgan County businesswoman and former Morgan Local School District board president. She has centered her long-shot campaign on abolishing Ohio’s property tax, parents’ rights in education, and keeping tax breaks away from data centers. She briefly considered leaving the Republican Party in August 2025 before ultimately remaining in the GOP primary.

Ramaswamy, running with Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, is the race’s front-runner with endorsements from President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike DeWine. Putsch is running alongside Warren County Republican Central Committee member Kim Georgeton.

Former state health director Dr. Amy Acton is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

The ad, sponsored by Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and his running mate, Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, tells voters that “Amy Acton called off Ohio’s election at the last minute, defying a judge’s orders and abusing her power.” Acton is the only Democrat running for governor and faces Ramaswamy, the heavy favorite in the May 5 Republican primary, in the general election.

“In government this happens all the time. Do you think a member of the president’s cabinet would issue this kind of order without his approval?” DeWine told NBC4’s Colleen Marshall. “I told her to issue the health order. The decision was mine.”

DeWine, who endorsed Ramaswamy in January, said he made the call to protect older voters and those with underlying health conditions from disenfranchisement, and to shield poll workers who typically spend 13 hours at precincts on Election Day.

“I ultimately thought if I did not make that decision people were going to die,” DeWine said.

What the record shows about the 2020 poll closure

The scheduled primary was March 17, 2020 — three days after DeWine said he directed Acton to close Ohio’s schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the hours before the primary, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose filed for a temporary restraining order seeking to postpone the election. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Frye declined to issue that order.

Frye wrote that he was reluctant to override an election date set by the legislature and concerned about setting a precedent. “There are too many factors to balance in this uncharted territory to say that we ought to take it away from the legislature and elected statewide officials, and throw it to a common pleas court judge in Columbus with 12 hours to go to the election,” Frye wrote.

Acton then signed a health directive closing the polling places under the emergency powers granted to the health director. DeWine said the decision followed a phone call among state leaders that included himself, then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, LaRose, Acton, and the state chairs of both major parties at the time — Jane Timken for the Ohio Republican Party and David Pepper for the Ohio Democratic Party. Pepper is now Acton’s lieutenant governor running mate. According to DeWine, all participants on that call agreed that closing the polls was the right call because of COVID-19 concerns.

Voting was ultimately extended largely by mail, with the primary stretching into April 2020.

McColley stands behind the ad

McColley, who drove a legislative push in 2020 to limit the Ohio health director’s emergency powers after the lockdown orders, defended the ad’s framing even as DeWine disputed it.

“I stand behind it,” McColley said of the ad. “She violated her constitutional and statutory authority.” McColley told NBC4 he believes DeWine would not have issued the directive without Acton’s signature and input.

Not the first time DeWine has pushed back

It is not the first time DeWine has contradicted fellow Republicans who have pinned COVID-19 decisions on Acton. DeWine and Husted — now a U.S. senator — have each told NBC4 in recent months that DeWine had final say on the state’s pandemic response and that the decisions were his to make.

Ramaswamy holds endorsements from President Donald Trump and the Ohio Republican Party heading into the May 5 primary. Acton is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

New reporting from The Associated Press adds previously unreported text messages and fresh dark money documentation to a growing evidentiary pile that undercuts Husted’s long-standing denials. The new disclosures land as the criminal case against two former FirstEnergy executives heads to a fall retrial in Akron — and as national Senate Republicans move to shield Husted’s seat with the largest single-state PAC commitment of the 2026 cycle.

A $79 million show of concern

Earlier this month, Senate Leadership Fund — the principal super PAC aligned with Senate Republican leadership — announced plans to spend $79 million supporting Husted in his expected November matchup against former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic frontrunner. The figure represents roughly a quarter of SLF’s $342 million initial commitment across eight contested Senate races, and exceeds the PAC’s planned spending in Michigan ($45 million), Georgia ($44 million) and New Hampshire ($17 million).

Husted was appointed to the seat on Jan. 17, 2025, by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the vacancy created by JD Vance’s resignation ahead of his inauguration as vice president. He faces no Republican primary challenger on May 5.

The Sept. 28 calendar collision

On April 1, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross formally declared a mistrial in the state bribery case against former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former senior vice president Michael Dowling after jurors deadlocked following nine days of deliberation. According to the AP, Baker Ross has scheduled the retrial to begin Sept. 28 — roughly a week before early in-person voting begins in Ohio’s Nov. 3 general election.

Husted testified remotely as a defense witness during the first trial in March. The AP reports he could be called to testify again in the retrial.

”None”

In November 2021, Jones and Dowling — by then fired from FirstEnergy — identified Husted in a shareholder lawsuit as an individual “likely to have discoverable information” about the scheme. Asked at the time to describe his role in the passage of House Bill 6, the nuclear bailout at the heart of the scandal, Husted answered: “None.”

He has reiterated that position repeatedly as additional evidence has emerged.

In 2024, asked about text messages between FirstEnergy executives describing his involvement, Husted told reporters: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We weren’t involved. Texts to other people — texts to other people shared amongst themselves — have nothing to do with me. And I wasn’t involved in that conversation.”

In a January 2026 interview with NBC4 Columbus, Husted said: “My role was very clear. I wanted the nuclear power plants to remain operational.” He added that the legislation was “about keeping those plants open and keeping the lights on for millions of Ohioans.”

What the record shows

Public records and evidence produced in multiple criminal proceedings describe a pattern of contact between Husted and the central figures in the bribery scheme that does not align with a “none” description of his role.

Husted’s official calendars, obtained by the Ohio Capital Journal through a public records request and reviewed by the AP, document multiple meetings and phone calls with former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, and former Public Utilities Commission Chair Sam Randazzo during the period in which HB 6 was drafted, passed, signed into law, and defended against a referendum effort. Federal prosecutors have described Jones, Householder and Randazzo as the three figures at the center of the scheme.

Evidence introduced in the state criminal case established that on Dec. 18, 2018, Husted and then-Gov.-elect DeWine dined at the Athletic Club of Columbus with Jones and Dowling. Prosecutors allege Jones and Dowling drove from that dinner to Randazzo’s home, where the central $4.3 million bribery arrangement was negotiated. On Feb. 4, 2019, DeWine appointed Randazzo to chair the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

A Jones text entered into evidence described DeWine and Husted as having been “forced to perform battlefield triage” to salvage Randazzo’s appointment when a 198-page dossier warning of his FirstEnergy ties threatened to derail it.

A separate Jones text identified “State Official 2” — later confirmed to be Husted — as among those “fighting to the end” for a more generous bailout.

The $600 million reaction

Among the details the AP surfaced as not previously reported is Householder’s reaction inside a June 2019 exchange in which Jones sent Dowling screenshots of a conversation with Householder about extending the nuclear subsidies from six years to 10. The bill charged Ohio ratepayers $150 million a year in nuclear surcharges.

“Ugh, that adds $600M,” Householder wrote about the cost of the extension Jones said Husted was seeking.

“Husted called me 2 nights ago and was supposed to get it in the Senate version,” Jones replied.

“He’s not a legislator,” Householder responded, referring to Husted, who was lieutenant governor at the time.

“I know but he said Senate leaders would listen,” Jones wrote. “He didn’t deliver.”

Dark money, and what FirstEnergy called it

The AP also disclosed DOJ interview notes from longtime Ohio lobbyist Neil Clark — a co-defendant with Householder in the original federal racketeering case who died by suicide in 2021 — in which Clark told federal agents that FirstEnergy and its subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions funneled dark money to nonprofits that benefited both Husted and DeWine. Clark specifically identified Freedom Frontier as one of those groups.

Freedom Frontier is the same organization that received a $1 million contribution from FirstEnergy in 2017, according to documents obtained in public records requests. FirstEnergy’s internal records designated the contribution’s purpose as “Husted campaign.” Husted was running in the Republican primary for governor at the time.

Clark separately referred to Husted as FirstEnergy’s “golden boy” in materials previously reviewed by reporters covering the case.

Campaign finance rules generally prohibit candidate campaigns from coordinating with the kind of nonprofit groups, including Freedom Frontier, that can raise and spend unlimited money without disclosing donors. A Husted campaign spokesperson told reporters in 2024 that “the Husted campaign never received this donation and is not affiliated with any of these groups.”

The Naples fundraiser

Internal FirstEnergy communications from 2017 and 2018, which the AP reports are evidence in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, include discussions among Jones, Dowling and others about attending Husted events as far back as 2016. The communications also reflect Dowling’s concerns about dark money contributions becoming public, and discussions of contributing under alternate names.

In July 2018, as Jones and Dowling planned a DeWine-Husted fundraiser in Naples, Florida, the two discussed contributing under one name while covering event costs under another — so there would be, in the words of the communication, “no cost billed to (the) campaign.”

Prior coverage and what’s next

TiffinOhio.net has previously reported on Husted’s April 2019 scheduled phone call with Randazzo two days before HB 6 was introduced, and on the $663 annual increase in average Ohio residential electric bills since HB 6 took effect in 2019.

Husted has never been charged with or accused of any crime in connection with the scandal.

Asked by the AP to respond to the new reporting, Husted declined further comment through his spokesperson, Josh Eck, who said the senator “has commented extensively with the media and given testimony under oath and doesn’t have anything additional to add.”

The retrial of Jones and Dowling is scheduled to begin Sept. 28 in Akron.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

“Due to IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES the Heather Hill for Ohio Governor campaign has made the tough decision to replace Stuart Moats as my Lt. Governor running mate,” Hill wrote in a graphic posted to her campaign Facebook page Saturday evening. “We are working with the S.O.S. office to make the replacement legal and further information will be released soon.”

Hill said she will remain in the race and is not conceding.

Ohio’s early in-person voting began April 7, meaning ballots listing Hill and Moats as a joint ticket have been in voters’ hands for nearly two weeks. Hill did not say in her Saturday posts how, or whether, a new running mate could appear alongside her on ballots already cast or already printed.

In a second, longer post the same evening, Hill made specific allegations against Moats. She wrote that at a Friday campaign event, Moats “made many disrespectful comments about his wife, making our female campaign advisors uncomfortable, and leery.” She also claimed Moats had been “warned several times to stop pulling me close to him and putting his arm around me during photo shoots and videos.”

“We believe this is absolutely not a coincidence that he waited until right before the primary to pull this stunt,” Hill wrote. She did not offer specific evidence to support that characterization and did not name any outside campaign or actor in the posts.

A graphic shared by the campaign stated it “does not tolerate or support racial slurs, abusive language, insubordination, backstabbing nor business irresponsibility / violations.” Hill went on to accuse Moats of calling her the n-word.

Moats pushed back against Hill’s allegations in a separate public statement Saturday.

“Heather is attacking me on social media … doing what she does best, making up complete lies and portraying herself as a victim,” Moats said. “She has zero integrity and is a terrible person, but I’m not going to air out the details. I truly hope she seeks counseling for her delusion and mental issues.”

Hill also posted screenshots of text messages between herself and Moats. In one exchange, Hill asks Moats to justify a compensation arrangement she characterizes as “$180,000 a year plus 2% commission.” Moats replies that he is “not a fundraiser” and says he had been “bowing out” of fundraising duties because of how difficult raising money was going to be. In a later message, Moats uses an expletive telling Hill to leave him alone, calls her “delusional,” and says he is blocking her number.

Also Saturday, Moats posted a video to YouTube apologizing on behalf of the campaign for what he described as false attacks on a rival candidate.

“The campaign that I was part of really put out some falsities, some things that just simply were not true about another candidate,” Moats said in the video. “When you’re calling someone an atheist and they clearly say otherwise, who are you to continue to put that rhetoric out there?”

Moats did not name the candidate in the video. The other two Republicans on the May 5 primary ballot are biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is Hindu, and Tiffin native Casey Putsch, who describes himself on his campaign website as “your Christian, America First candidate for Ohio governor.”

“Our campaign has taken a lot of missteps,” Moats said in the video. “One of them is falsely accusing another candidate of some stuff that just wasn’t true. And even once it was found out to be false, it was still put out there over and over.”

Moats, a retired U.S. Air Force major who served three deployments to the Middle East, was announced as Hill’s running mate on Jan. 8. He owns and operates a tree service, co-operates a horse stable with his wife, and stars in the Prime Video and YouTube reality series “Unstable Lumberjacks.” Hill and Moats filed their joint candidacy paperwork on Feb. 3.

The Hill-Moats ticket is one of three on the Republican side of the primary ballot. Ramaswamy, running alongside Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, has been endorsed by President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike DeWine and is widely considered the race’s front-runner. Putsch is running with Warren County Republican Central Committee member Kim Georgeton.

Former state health director Dr. Amy Acton is running uncontested in the Democratic primary, with former Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper as her running mate.

Hill, 49, is a Morgan County businesswoman and former Morgan Local School District board president. She has centered her campaign on abolishing Ohio’s property tax, expanding parents’ rights in education, and keeping tax breaks away from data centers. She entered the race in January 2025, briefly considered leaving the GOP in August 2025 to run as a Libertarian or with a third party, and ultimately remained in the Republican primary.

This is a developing story.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial campaign removed both names from vivekforohio.com/endorsements within two days of TiffinOhio.net reporting on Creech’s BCI investigation and resurfaced video of Click reminiscing about talking to “young girls” about sex. Click scrambled back onto the page within hours of the reporting and told followers the removal was “greatly exaggerated.” Web Archive snapshots proved otherwise.

OH-9 congressional candidate Josh Williams quietly removed Creech from his own endorsements page the same week. As of Saturday, Creech is again listed at joshwilliamsforohio.com/endorsements — reinstated without public acknowledgement. Click, endorsed by Williams since August 2025, never left Williams’ page.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno was dropped as the headliner of Click’s campaign kickoff when the event was rescheduled in March. Neither Click nor Moreno addressed the change. Eric Watson, Click’s Republican primary challenger, called the three-term incumbent “a liability” on April 13.

But the pattern isn’t two unlucky lawmakers caught in the same news cycle. Click and Creech are legislative partners. And Click’s own documented record — his own words on the Ohio House floor — is what turns their alliance from coincidence into a pattern the Ohio GOP keeps trying, and failing, to get rid of.

What Click said about young girls

In 2023, Click testified before the Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee in support of House Bill 68, his legislation to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.

During the hearing, Click told committee members that “young girls” had described to him how painful it was for them to have sex.

Click, a former senior pastor at Fremont Baptist Temple, has never publicly identified who those young girls were, how old they were, in what setting the conversations occurred, or why a pastor was discussing sex with minors at all. A leaked 2022 audio recording previously revealed that Click had never spoken with a single transgender person before introducing HB 68’s predecessor bill — the same legislative vehicle he now sponsors under the title “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act.”

Click quietly stepped down as senior pastor of Fremont Baptist Temple in 2025, assuming the honorary title of pastor emeritus, a transition first reported by TiffinOhio.net.

What Creech is accused of

In 2023, a minor female relative accused Creech of climbing into bed with her while erect and wearing only his underwear, according to Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation records obtained by the Statehouse News Bureau. Text messages showed the minor complaining that Creech had been rubbing her legs and grabbing her waist and that she was “put to tears” from being so uncomfortable around him, according to NBC4.

Creech told investigators he had gotten into bed with the minor in his underwear but denied the sexual nature of the allegations. Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll, brought in as a special prosecutor after the Preble County sheriff and prosecutor recused themselves because of personal relationships with Creech, declined to file charges — but wrote that Creech’s “behavior during the time of the investigation was concerning and suspicious.”

In February 2026, after Creech publicly dismissed his own daughter’s statements about the alleged conduct as “textbook parental alienation”, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman reinstated him to his four committee assignments, signed a letter requesting the Ohio Republican Party endorse him for re-election, and the party obliged.

How Click wrote Creech’s defense into legislation

Three weeks after Creech invoked “parental alienation” to dismiss his daughter, Click introduced House Bill 693, titled the Affirming Families First Act. Co-sponsored by Williams, the bill would write a statutory definition of “parental alienation” into Ohio law — a concept that researchers, child welfare advocates, and the United Nations have described as pseudoscience weaponized in family court to discredit children who report abuse.

Parental alienation syndrome was developed by Dr. Richard Gardner, a psychiatrist who built a career as a paid expert witness in more than 400 child custody cases, most often testifying on behalf of fathers accused of sexually abusing their children. ProPublica has documented cases in which parental alienation claims overrode prior substantiated findings of abuse and placed children in the custody of the parent they said had abused them.

HB 693 would embed that framework directly into Ohio statute. Under its definition, a child’s rejection of a parent — including a child’s resistance to contact with a parent they say abused them — could be characterized as parental alienation if the child has allied with a support network outside the home.

It is the same framework Creech used to discredit his own daughter in a public Facebook exchange in February. Click’s bill would give that framework the force of law.

The legislative alliance

HB 693 is not the only bill Click and Creech have attached themselves to in tandem.

Both men are cosponsors of House Bill 249, the “Indecent Exposure Modernization Act,” which the Ohio House passed 63-30 on March 25. The bill’s sponsors market it as a child protection measure. During committee testimony, Planned Parenthood of Ohio’s Danielle Firsich called out the contradiction: “You have a man who was just put back on his committees, who was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor, who is a sponsor on this bill.”

Click and Creech are also among the 28 Republican cosponsors of House Bill 649, which would require every licensed child care center in Ohio to install surveillance cameras with live remote access for state officials. Hundreds of commenters called the bill “creepy” and “insane” across Facebook and X. The word used most often to describe Creech in those comment threads was “pedophile.”

Click has built his political brand around protecting children. Creech is accused of climbing into bed with one. Their legislative partnership is not an accident of the alphabet.

Husted: the holdout

The one Ohio Republican who has not walked away from either man is also the one in the most competitive race on the 2026 ballot.

U.S. Sen. Jon Husted is running in the November special election to retain the seat appointed to him by Gov. Mike DeWine after JD Vance became vice president. His opponent is former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up.

On March 19, the Husted campaign posted an endorsement graphic on X listing dozens of Ohio House Republicans backing his bid. Both Click and Creech were on it. The campaign reposted the graphic hours later. Husted’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether the campaign was aware of the allegations against Creech, according to Heartland Signal.

Click is not just an endorser. He is listed as Husted’s Sandusky County campaign chair on a county-by-county leadership graphic the campaign posted on Dec. 10, 2025.

Also on the March 19 endorsement graphic: Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton), who told BCI investigators that Creech’s comments about the allegations were “disgusting, uncalled for, and appalling.” Plummer shares an endorsement list with the lawmaker he described that way. So does Huffman, who had asked Creech to resign nine months before reinstating him.

Most other high-profile Ohio Republicans have moved — publicly or quietly — to create distance. Ramaswamy scrubbed Creech and tried to scrub Click. Moreno abandoned the kickoff. Williams deleted Creech before putting him back. Watson, running against Click directly, has made Click’s toxicity the core of his primary pitch.

Husted, in the tightest Senate race of the cycle, has done none of those things.

The Creech model

When endorsers walk away, Click posts through it. He framed his Ramaswamy removal as “greatly exaggerated.” He has repeatedly urged constituents on his official state representative Facebook page, his campaign page, and his personal profile not to believe TiffinOhio.net reporting. He has not addressed the substance of any of it.

Creech, who has denied the allegations and called the reporting “demonstrably false,” at least had the situational awareness not to scramble back onto a page he’d been scrubbed from. He remains absent from Ramaswamy’s endorsements page as of Saturday.

The Republican primary for Ohio House District 88, which covers Seneca and Sandusky counties, is May 5. Click faces Watson in the GOP primary and Democrat Aaron Jones in the November general election. The Republican primary for House District 40, which covers Preble County and portions of Montgomery and Butler counties, is also May 5. Creech faces former state Rep. J. Todd Smith and Lew Lainhart.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Jones’s kickoff at Reino’s Catering & Party Room coincided with Downtown Tiffin’s Third Thursdays, and drew supporters from across the two-county district.

“I’m not running because I’ve been planning a political career,” Jones told the room. “I’m running because the people in this district deserve someone in Columbus who actually understands what it’s like to clock in every day, make ends meet, and fight for your family. That’s the life I’ve lived, and that’s who I’ll fight for.”

Jones, a production supervisor at Toledo Molding & Die with more than 20 years at the company, is a U.S. Army veteran who served as an Airborne Infantryman with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment — the Old Guard. He was elected to represent Tiffin’s 1st Ward on City Council in 2024 and is running in his first race for state office.

He said his platform will center on public schools, working families, and ensuring communities have a voice in decisions that affect their water, infrastructure, and quality of life.

Jones is unopposed in the May 5 Democratic primary and will advance directly to the November 3 general election. There he will face the winner of a contested Republican primary between three-term incumbent Rep. Gary Click of Vickery and challenger Eric Watson of Tiffin. The 88th District covers all of Seneca and Sandusky counties.

Jones lives in Tiffin with his wife Tracy. They raised their sons in the community and have four grandchildren.

More information is available at jonesforohio.com.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Big money is starting to flow into Ohio’s 2026 elections – and it’s coming from some notable places.

A cryptocurrency-backed group announced this week that it plans to spend $8 million opposing Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s U.S. Senate election in November. Brown, a former Democratic senator, is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted, whom Gov. Mike DeWine appointed to his seat last year. The spending comes after millions in cryptocurrency industry money helped contribute to Brown’s Senate ouster in November 2024 – and could foreshadow more to come later this year.  

Meanwhile, one group backed by the sports betting industry has spent about $1 million on state legislative races so far this year. Another has given $650,000 to a super PAC, a political action committee that can accept unlimited amounts of money, that’s backing Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in this year’s governor’s race.

A new federal disclosure from that PAC also reveals new contributions from an Ohio charter school operator and a billionaire school choice backer who has now given the group $20 million.

New federal campaign finance disclosures detail the spending and reveal which races have attracted interest group money in Ohio’s 2026 elections.

The U.S. Senate race

The Sentinel Action Fund announced Wednesday that it plans to spend $8 million this year opposing Brown. The political action committee’s financial backers include a pair of major cryptocurrency interests:

• The Solana Policy Institute, a nonprofit arm of Solana, a cryptocurrency platform, which has given $740,000
• Multicoin Capital, an Austin-based crypto-focused venture capital firm, which gave $250,000 last year

Sentinel Action Fund’s backers include non-crypto money, according to filings the group made Wednesday and last year with the Federal Election Commission shows, including:

• $1.125 million from the DeVos family, Republican megadonors based in Michigan
• $1 million from the Lexington Fund, a political nonprofit tied to Republican activist Leonard Leo
• $500,000 from Stephen Schwarzman, the co-founder and CEO of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private equity firms
• $400,000 from RAI Services Company, an affiliate of the Reynolds tobacco company
• $350,000 from Altria, Philip Morris’ parent company and another major tobacco corporation

Brown leads Husted in fundraising as Republicans target U.S. Senate race

The $8 million follows the $79 million Senate Republicans separately announced they planned to spend in Ohio this year.

That’s the most they’re planning to spend in any of the eight battleground Senate races as Republicans try to keep their majority in the chamber. Democrats face an uphill climb that could be getting more feasible as the national mood sours against Republicans.

On Wednesday, Brown and Husted also disclosed their campaign finance activity during the first four months of this year.

Brown raised $10.1 million and has $16.5 million in cash in his bank account after spending $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2026.

Husted raised $2.9 million and has $8.2 million in cash after spending $627,000.

Individual donations to candidate campaigns are capped by law, unlike the unlimited contributions that flow to super PACs like Sentinel. 

But Brown’s major contributors included labor unions, like the Ironworkers and the United Food & Commercial Workers, both of which gave $10,000. 

Brown also disclosed receiving $33,400 in contributions bundled by JStreet PAC, a left-leaning pro-Israel lobbying group.

Husted’s large donors included Jan Koum, the co-founder of WhatsApp, and Frank Love and Greg Love, the family that owns Love’s Travel Stops. He also collected tens of thousands of dollars in corporate PAC contributions, including from a variety of Ohio companies: American Electric Power, Cardinal Health, Goodyear, J.M. Smucker, NiSource, NetJets, Eaton and Anduril, a military contractor that’s building a giant factory in the Columbus area. 

In all, Ohio’s Senate race this year is looking increasingly like a repeat of the historically expensive 2024 election, in which Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno defeated Brown 50% to 47%.

In that race, Republicans and Democrats spent nearly $250 million total, with the number roughly split until late-arriving money from the cryptocurrency industry tilted the balance in Moreno’s favor. The industry has signaled it may spend big again to defeat Brown this year.

Brown, at the time, was chair of the powerful Senate banking committee and was seen by the industry as an adversary. His campaign manager, Patrick Eisenhauer, has issued a more conciliatory statement for this current election.

“Sherrod Brown recognizes that cryptocurrency is a part of America’s economy,” Eisenhauer said. “He’ll keep an open mind towards all issues as they come before the Senate, and work to ensure that as more people use cryptocurrency, it expands opportunity and lifts up Ohioans.”

Sports betting

As previously reported by cleveland.com, a group called the American Conservative Fund, which has ties to the sports betting company Draft Kings, has spent roughly $1 million on ads in five contested Ohio House Republican primary races so far this year.

That money is being spent on three open races and against incumbents in two races, according to Medium Buying, a political ad firm in Columbus. One of those incumbents, state Rep. Gary Click, introduced a bill earlier this month that would ban Ohioans from using their mobile devices to bet on sports. 

Another political group backed by the sports betting industry showed up Wednesday in a campaign finance disclosure filed by V-PAC: Victors not Victims, the super PAC formed by Ramaswamy’s allies to support his run for governor.

The Sports Betting Alliance, an industry trade group, gave $150,000 to VPAC in January, adding to the $500,000 it gave the PAC last year.

The spending comes as Ohio transitions to new leadership in the governor’s office. 

Outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine, who is term-limited, signed the 2021 law legalizing sports betting in Ohio. But he later said doing so was his biggest regret of his time in office. He’s pushed for restrictions on sports betting, like banning prop bets on college sports and pushed for greater limits on “micro-prop” bets for baseball following a gambling scandal involving two Cleveland Guardians pitchers.

Neither Ramaswamy or his likely opponent in the November election, Democratic frontrunner Dr. Amy Acton, have shared a public position on sports betting.

In a statement provided for this story, Acton campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock said Acton “believes that Ohioans should decide how to spend their hard earned money, whether that’s at the grocery store or betting on their favorite team.”

A Ramaswamy spokesperson didn’t return a message.

School choice backers

V-PAC’s largest contributor was Jeffrey Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire. He gave the group $10 million, according to the new filing, doubling the $10 million contribution he gave to VPAC last year. Yass is also one of the largest donors to school choice causes in the country, having given hundreds of millions of dollars to school voucher and charter school advocacy over the years.

Ramaswamy received a contribution from another donor in the school choice world – Pansophic Learning gave $25,000. A company subsidiary, Accel Schools, operates a large network of online and in-person charter schools in Ohio.

Ramaswamy has made expanding school choice one of the pillars of his campaign platform for governor. He’s also suggested he might seek to dismantle Ohio’s public school teachers’ unions, while raising teacher salaries and instituting merit-based pay.

Acton, meanwhile, has pledged to increase funding for traditional public schools and is endorsed by large teachers’ unions.

Ramaswamy expands cash lead

In total, V-PAC reported raising nearly $11 million in its most recent fundraising period, giving it a total of $23 million in cash.

The super PAC’s new money adds to Ramaswamy’s historic fundraising lead in the race.

Ramaswamy has raised $19.4 million in total for his campaign, and reported having $12.9 million in cash in a state filing in January. 

Acton has reported raising $5.3 million overall and reported $3 million in cash in January.

Both Ramaswamy and Acton are due to make an updated state disclosure later this month. The filing will be the last one before the May 5 primary election.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

“Am I happy about the cuts? No, I’m not happy about the cuts,” Kennedy said during a lengthy hearing in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, one of several congressional panels he’ll testify before in the days ahead. 

Kennedy added that President Donald Trump and White House budget director Russ Vought also didn’t truly want to propose funding cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, often called WIC, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. 

“Nobody wants to make the cuts. Russ Vought doesn’t want to make the cuts. President Trump doesn’t,” he said. “But we got a $39 trillion debt.”

Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, who asked the questions, then referenced comments Kennedy made earlier in the hearing about Froot Loops, when he said it “isn’t even a food. It’s just poison.”

Moore noted the cereal is “a lot cheaper than good, healthy food.”

Froot Loops includes a corn flour blend, sugar, wheat flour, whole grain oat flour, modified food starch and other ingredients. 

Trump advocates reductions for HHS

The Trump administration’s budget request for the fiscal year set to begin on Oct. 1 proposes Congress increase defense spending by more than half a trillion dollars, accounting for a 43% boost, and that lawmakers cut domestic spending by 10%. 

It suggested Congress reduce spending at HHS by $15.8 billion, or 12.5%, to $111.1 billion, though lawmakers largely rejected proposed spending cuts to the department during last year’s government funding process. 

Vought testified earlier this week that the administration expects to ask Congress for additional defense spending for the war in Iran, though he said he couldn’t give lawmakers a ballpark estimate for how much that will add to the current request for $1.5 trillion in defense funding. 

Lawmakers questioned Kennedy about dozens of other issues throughout the hearing, including how he’s spoken about vaccines since being confirmed HHS secretary, the rise in measles cases throughout the country and comments Kennedy and Trump made about the possible causes of autism. 

Utah Republican Rep. Blake Moore, after sharing that his 10-year-old is on the autism spectrum, said he was “underwhelmed” by what the administration has released so far about possible causes. 

He also said that his wife was hurt by claims from Trump and Kennedy that women who take Tylenol when pregnant could increase the risk their children are later diagnosed with autism. 

“We don’t even know if she took Tylenol during her pregnancy, but that was a hurtful moment for her,” Blake Moore said. “And I just want to encourage the administration and your team to keep at it. And I think there’s more we can do here with low expectations.”

Medical experts say that decades of research shows autism is the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors.  

Measles death

California Democratic Rep. Linda T. Sánchez questioned Kennedy about comments he made during his Senate confirmation hearing on vaccines, arguing that he hasn’t stuck to the commitments he made during that process. 

She then asked him if the measles vaccine could have prevented a boy from dying of the disease in Texas. 

“It’s possible, certainly,” Kennedy said. 

But, he repeatedly declined to answer a question from Sánchez about whether Trump approved the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision to remove a messaging campaign to encourage vaccination, even as she asked it several times. 

Sánchez then displayed a poster showing a photograph of Kennedy and Kid Rock to illustrate her discontent with his work so far as HHS Secretary. 

“Now, one thing that I find incredible is that you suspended this pro-vaccine messaging campaign. But somehow you’re spending taxpayer dollars to drink milk shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock,” she said. “And somehow you think that’s a better public health message than informing the public about the importance of vaccines.”

Day care, Medicaid, Black maternal health

Illinois Democratic Rep. Danny K. Davis pressed Kennedy about whether he agrees with a statement Trump made earlier this month when the president said, “We can’t take care of day care. It’s not possible for us to take care of day care. Medicaid, Medicare, all of these individual things. They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing, military protection.” 

Kennedy responded that he was “told to make a 12% cut across our department” because the national debt, which has accumulated over decades, has reached $39 trillion. 

“We’re now having to tighten our belt,” Kennedy said. 

Davis also questioned Kennedy on funding and initiatives to reduce Black maternal mortality, saying “the Trump administration is undermining Black maternal health from all sides.”

“The GOP slashed over a trillion dollars from Medicaid, which pays for over 40% of births in the United States. President Trump just proposed cutting maternal and child health programs by over $800 million,” he said. “DOGE canceled funds for several research projects that could save countless Black mothers, like the Morehouse School of Medicine research on improving the health of Black pregnant and postpartum women.”

Kennedy responded by arguing that he and others in the Trump administration are “doing more to advance maternal health than any other administration in history.”

“There was tremendous duplication in the departments. We had 42 different maternal health services in our department,” Kennedy said. “And we cut some of those and consolidated them. Right now, we are investing huge amounts of money in maternal health.”

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Help us spotlight community favorites: cast a vote in the 2026 Tiffin’s Best Restaurants Awards (reader’s choice).

Downtown Tiffin, Ohio (TiffinOhio.net Photo / CC BY-SA 4.0)

The restaurants below are updated for April 2026 and listed in no particular order—classic Tiffin institutions alongside spots that get buzz for pizza, brunch, date night, and game day. Double-check hours and menus before you head out.

Fort Ball Pizza Palace

91 N Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

If you ask longtime locals where to start, Fort Ball Pizza Palace comes up a lot—and for good reason. It’s one of those places that feels like part of the city’s fabric: familiar, busy, and reliably satisfying. Pizza is the headline, but you’ll also find hearty Italian-American staples and plenty of “let’s grab food with friends” energy. View the website and Facebook page.

Photo by Brenna Huff on Unsplash

Reino’s Pizza & Pasta

73 E Market St, Tiffin, OH 44883

For a comfortable sit-down Italian meal downtown, Reino’s Pizza & Pasta remains a dependable pick. Think classic pasta plates, pizzas, and a cozy, family-friendly vibe that works whether you’re meeting friends or keeping it simple on a weeknight. Find this restaurant on Facebook.

Xcaret Mexican Restaurant

870 W Market St, Tiffin, OH 44883

When you want a lively meal with big flavors, Xcaret Mexican Restaurant is a go-to. It’s a reliable choice for a casual lunch or dinner, with familiar favorites and generous portions. Find this restaurant on Facebook.

Photo by Tai’s Captures on Unsplash

Kiku Japanese Fusion

870 W Market St Unit 120, Tiffin, OH 44883

If sushi (or hibachi) is the plan, Kiku Japanese Fusion offers a wide menu and a modern, comfortable dining room. It’s a solid pick for everything from a quick lunch to a “let’s actually sit down and enjoy this” dinner.

Clover Club Sports Tavern & Eatery

266 S Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

Looking for a sports-bar style meal—burgers, wings, sandwiches, and a laid-back atmosphere? Clover Club Sports Tavern & Eatery fits that niche well, especially when you want something casual and filling. Find this restaurant on Facebook.

The Turntable

116 S Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

For a “date night” or “out-of-town guests” kind of meal, The Turntable stands out. It’s one of the more distinct dining experiences in town, with a creative menu approach and an atmosphere that feels intentionally curated. Find this restaurant on Facebook.

Photo by Steven Weeks on Unsplash

MST Pub & Grub

92 Madison St, Tiffin, OH 44883

For an easygoing, central spot to grab classic pub fare, MST Pub & Grub is a strong option—especially if you’re already downtown and want something straightforward and satisfying.

Sabaidee Coffee and Crepes

45 S Sandusky St, Tiffin, OH 44883

If your 2026 food plans include a better breakfast or a relaxed brunch, Sabaidee Coffee and Crepes is hard to skip. Crepes (sweet and savory) plus coffee, right near campus, makes it a convenient stop whether you’re starting your day or taking a break.

The Empire Bistro

138 S Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

The Empire Bistro (formerly The Empire Restaurant) is a casual downtown bistro—burgers, salads, steaks, weekly specials, and a strong beer lineup in a neighborhood-pub setting. It’s a fit when you want a full meal without the white-tablecloth formality. See our coverage of the Empire Bistro rebrand for more on hours and the concept.

Photo by Aidan Tottori on Unsplash

Ironwood Steakhouse

4399 S State Route 231, Tiffin, OH 44883

If you’re looking for steak in the Tiffin area, Ironwood Steakhouse is a top-tier choice for a more upscale meal. It’s well-suited for celebrations, anniversaries, or any time you’re aiming for a classic steakhouse experience.

Photo by Ömer Haktan Bulut on Unsplash

Jolly’s

66 E Market St, Tiffin, OH 44883

An old-school Tiffin staple, Jolly’s is the classic “grab something quick and nostalgic” stop—especially in warmer months when drive-in energy feels exactly right.

Casa Express Mexican Grill & Beer Garden

271 S Sandusky St, Tiffin, OH 44883

For another Mexican option with a fun atmosphere, Casa Express is a popular pick with a big menu and an easygoing, group-friendly vibe.

Pioneer Mill of Tiffin

255 Riverside Dr, Tiffin, OH 44883

For a meal that feels uniquely “Tiffin,” Pioneer Mill brings together river views, history, and a setting that’s great for visitors or a slower-paced dinner.

Hunan King

253 S Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

If you’re looking for dependable Chinese food in town, Hunan King is one of the familiar favorites—good for dine-in or takeout when you want something quick and comforting.

Paulette’s

238 S Sandusky St, Tiffin, OH 44883

For breakfast and lunch, Paulette’s is a reliable “classic diner” choice—simple, hearty, and convenient, especially if you want a straightforward meal that hits the spot.

Photo by Ali Inay on Unsplash

Benchwarmers

105 Allen St, Tiffin, OH 44883

If you want comfort food and a sports-bar feel (plus the convenience of delivery), Benchwarmers Restaurant & Delivery is a good option to keep in rotation.

Carmie’s

2460 OH-231, Tiffin, OH 44883

If BBQ is what you’re craving, Carmie’s BBQ & Grill is a strong choice—especially for big, satisfying plates and a friendly, casual environment.

Jac & Do’s

283 S Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

For thin-crust pizza fans, Jac & Do’s Pizza is one of the longtime local fixtures. It’s a familiar, no-frills pizza stop that many people consider a staple.

Wall Street Pub & Grille

235 Miami St, Tiffin, OH 44883

Wall Street Pub & Grille is a solid all-around option for a “meet in the middle” meal—burgers, sandwiches, entrées, and a bar setting that works for groups.

Photo by Hybrid Storytellers on Unsplash

Heavenly Pizza

69 W Market St, Tiffin, OH 44883

For another pizza option downtown, Heavenly Pizza is worth a look when you want something quick, casual, and easy to love.

Napoli’s

378 W Market St, Tiffin, OH 44883

Napoli’s is another familiar pizza-and-Italian stop that’s easy to work into a downtown evening—whether you’re dining in or taking food home.

Hoptometry Brewing Company

255 N Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

If you want craft beer plus a surprisingly satisfying food menu, Hoptometry Brewing Company is a great choice for 2026. It’s an easy pick for a casual night out when you want drinks and a solid meal.

Photo by Edward Franklin on Unsplash

GW’s

275 S Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

GW’s Fine Food & Spirits is one of those dependable “any time of day” picks—good for a straightforward meal when you want something familiar and reliable.

Asian Grill Buffet

870 W Market St #135A, Tiffin, OH 44883

If you’re in the mood for variety, Asian Grill Buffet offers the buffet-style option—handy when you’re dining with a group that wants different things.

These are just some of the many places to eat in Tiffin. For 2026 trips and nights out, downtown Tiffin (Washington and Market corridors) is the easiest hub for walking between bars and restaurants—then branch out to W Market and SR 231 for more variety.

Quick answers (Tiffin dining)

What are the best restaurants in Tiffin, Ohio?
Opinions vary, but locals often name Fort Ball Pizza Palace, Reino’s, The Turntable, Ironwood Steakhouse, Xcaret, and Hoptometry among the standouts—this guide explains what each is best for.

Where should I eat downtown Tiffin?
Start with Reino’s, Heavenly Pizza, GW’s, The Turntable, The Empire Bistro, MST Pub & Grub, Hunan King, and Hoptometry—all are central or a short walk apart.

Best pizza in Tiffin?
Fort Ball Pizza Palace, Reino’s, Jac & Do’s, Heavenly Pizza, and Napoli’s are the names you’ll hear most often; try more than one and decide for yourself.

Did we miss your favorite restaurant? Let us know!

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

But Policy Matters Ohio says it’s yet another giveaway to the richest while middle and low-income Ohioans struggle just to pay their bills.

Ohio House Bill 617 introduced by state Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Township, would eliminate capital gains from state and local taxes. 

Capital gains are profits from selling things like stocks, bonds, real estate, artwork and jewelry. 

In other words, it’s not a tax on income from work, but on income from selling stuff you have. So it follows that the people with the most stuff are on the hook for the most capital gains tax — and they stand to gain the most if it’s eliminated.

That’s exactly what Policy Matters Ohio projects will happen if HB 617 becomes law.

It said the 80% of Ohioans on the lower rungs of the income ladder will save at most $42 a year. Meanwhile, the top 1% — those making $1.8 million or more — will save on average $6,424.

That group would get 61% of the tax-break pie, while the 60% on the bottom rungs would get just 3%, Policy Matters projected.

The group analyzed data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy to make its projections.

Young, the sponsor of the latest proposed cut, said it’s necessary to attract and keep big money in Ohio.

“Capital is mobile, and if we want to attract and retain opportunity, we must ensure our tax policies reflect that reality,” he said in a March 24 press release.

Conservatives have for decades been selling tax breaks and other benefits to the wealthiest as a way to grow the economy and lift up people all along the economic spectrum. 

However, British economists David Hope and Julian Limberg in 2022 published a paper surveying the effects of 50 years worth of “dramatic decline in taxes on the rich across the advanced democracies.” 

They found the cuts increased income inequality without having a significant effect on economic growth or unemployment.

“Our results therefore provide strong evidence against the influential political-economic idea that tax cuts for the rich ‘trickle down’ to boost the wider economy,” they wrote in Oxford Academic’s Socio-Economic Review.

Since the time John Kasich was governor, Ohio’s Republican leadership has provided a number of tax cuts and other benefits to the wealthiest Ohioans. Among them:

• The 2013 LLC tax break, which provides 40% of its benefits to the largest 7% of limited liability businesses and costs taxpayers about $1 billion a year.
• JobsOhio was created in 2011 under Kasich’s leadership. It has given more than $1 billion in what used to be public money to business interests, but it has struggled to show that it’s created a significant number of jobs. It did, however, give $60,000 to a woman with whom former Ohio State President Ted Carter had an “inappropriate relationship” to make four podcasts. She only made one.
• The “flat” state income tax passed in 2025. Policy Matters said it will cost $1 billion a year, with 40% of the benefit flowing to people making over $1.8 million a year.

In all, the legislature has cut income taxes by nearly $16 billion since 2005, with 70% of the benefit flowing to the wealthiest 20% of Ohioans, Policy Matters said.

It’s hard to see how those cuts have delivered on promises to benefit all Ohioans. U.S. News and World Report ranks the state 38th in economy and 43rd in employment. It also has the 16th highest poverty rate.

And, as taxes are cut, the state still needs money to fund services. Aditi Srivastava of Policy Matters Ohio wrote that the state will likely raise taxes that fall most heavily on the poor to fill the gap.

“Repealing the capital gains tax would deepen existing inequities and likely require other regressive forms of taxation like sales and use taxes,” she wrote.

Srivistava added that eliminating state and local capital gains taxes in Ohio will make an existing problem worse.

“HB 617 represents a costly and inequitable policy choice that prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthiest Ohioans at the expense of the state’s fiscal health and public investments,” she wrote.

“At a time when Ohio already struggles to adequately fund schools, Medicaid, and essential services, repealing the capital gains tax would further erode revenue, deepen reliance on regressive taxes, and widen economic inequality—without delivering meaningful benefits to most Ohioans.”

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Both approaches allow certain power customers to benefit from relatively small, privately financed power plants. But they accomplish that in different ways.

The pilot program is geared toward residential customers, while the virtual net metering program is reserved for mercantile customers like hospitals, manufacturers, and school systems.

As Ohio and other states wrestle with a power supply crunch fueled by data centers, supporters contend both ideas will help ease that pressure by getting new power online quickly. That promises lower bills for program participants, but also indirect benefits for the broader market.

Community power

The community power pilot has already passed the Ohio House. That bill, Ohio House Bill 303, directs state regulators to approve 1,500 megawatts of community energy projects around Ohio. The bill carries provisions to encourage development on brownfields and ensure facilities are spread throughout the state.

After four years, state regulators will prepare a report for lawmakers detailing the program’s impact, and then the General Assembly will be able to decide whether to continue, expand or scrap the idea.

The measure’s co-sponsor, Ohio state Rep. Sharon Ray, R-Wadsworth, emphasized the pilot program is structured to ensure costs aren’t shifted onto customers who aren’t participating.

“Community energy is the fastest way to bring additional power online through private investment, not additional riders passed on to the customer,” she said.

And to Ray, the program’s focus on small power facilities, makes it both nimble and resilient.

“Multiple smaller size, distributed generation facilities are more secure, less vulnerable to disruption, more reliable in aggregate, easier to repair, faster to build, and easier to site via local control at the municipal, township and county level,” she said.

Committee members asked about potential savings — anywhere from 10%-20%, Ray explained — and whether private investors are ready to pursue the idea.

“Oh, I think we will see private investment within the year if this bill passes,” Ray said.

“I mean, people are ready to come in and start these programs immediately. You know, a lot of people believe solar will be the first, but that that doesn’t look like it may be the case — it may be biomass.”

Committee chair, Ohio state Sen. Brian Chavez, R-Marietta, pressed for Ray to come up with “some kind of success criteria that is tangible” at the front end, rather than relying on “where the winds are blowing in 48 months.”

Virtual net metering

Ohio law currently allows consumers to sell power back to their utility — from a home solar array for instance — to reduce their monthly bills. But the catch is that power source has to do be on or adjacent to the ratepayer’s property.

Ohio Senate Bill 298 expands that concept by allowing certain customers to strike deals with off-site power plants. The utility would then apply the power those plants produce to the specified customers’ energy bills. The only difference is where the power gets produced.

But the measure places strict limits on the program. Residential customers can’t participate, for instance. There are also significant restrictions when it comes to siting. Power plants must be built on rooftops, brownfields, landfills or former mines. The bill explicitly prohibits building on agricultural land.

But Kurt Princic from CEP Renewables said those restrictions might actually be a good thing. His company specializes in redeveloping distressed site like former landfills. Princic said Ohio’s brownfield program has been very successful, but at this point, the low hanging fruit is gone.

“What remains are particularly challenging sites, he said, “Senate Bill 298 offers a new option for these sites, which can bring billions of dollars of private investment into the state.”

Princic said CEP controls 15 sites that could collectively generate 210 megawatts of energy. And while those parcels generate less than $200,000 in local tax revenue right now, he estimated they could produce nearly $2 million for local governments through S.B. 298.

Committee members seemed particularly concerned about who bears the cost for connecting net metered power to the grid. Several speakers said the generator would be on the hook for those costs and they’d likely get baked into the rates they offer customers.

The proposal drew support from the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, groups representing industrial and commercial power users and environmental groups. Spencer Dirrig from the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund said their only suggestion would be to include retired coal plants among the sites eligible for development.

Like the community power pilot, net metering supporters emphasized speed, savings, and supply.

Testifying on behalf of the Ohio Manufacturers Association, John Seryak underlined the potential for net metering to reduce strain on the grid.

“Each project invested in, he said, “while good for the generation owner and the subscribing customer, would create room on the transmission grid for even more economic development in the state,”

Citizens Utility Board Executive Director Tom Bullock explained the program greenlights power producers who can move quickly.

“This is medium tier energy development,” he said. “Most of our discussion usually talks about base load, which is important, (but) takes a long time. It’s very expensive.”

In contrast, Bullock said, medium tier development, “is quick to market, and it’s cost efficient. So there’s a lot of benefits that we can position the state of Ohio and our consumers to take advantage of in this proposal.”

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Nick Evans on X or on Bluesky.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Since the Reagan era, prevailing GOP strategy has featured a strong outreach to evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics, and that embrace of Christian groups fueled the emergence of a public policy environment that enabled public funds to be transferred to private and religious schools in the form of educational vouchers. 

Never mind that most state constitutions like Ohio ban the use of public funds to support religious schools.

But in Texas, which followed Ohio’s lead in offering a robust universal voucher program that allows students to attend private and religious schools at public expense, Lone Star State residents are finding out that maybe it’s not a good idea to mix politics and religion after all. 

The new controversy in the land of Greg Abbot and Ted Cruz involves the desire of several Islamic schools to acquire public funds from the state’s voucher program to subsidize tuition for their enrolled students. 

But there’s the problem. These schools aren’t, Texas pols might say, of “the Christian persuasion.” And in Texas and elsewhere, that’s an emerging issue. 

Recently, the New York Times highlighted the problem with these schools.

The Texas governor said it out loud. We believe in parents wanting school choice for their children, but…

… But don’t send any money to those people and those schools. (Dear Reader: Substitute the word those for the religion or sect that you don’t want public money to be sent to in support of their educational and spiritual programming.)

So much for the idea of universal education vouchers.

What is going on now in Texas is a controversy long predicted by public school advocates here in Ohio who are strongly anti-voucher and oppose the diversion of more than $1 billion annually in public funds to mostly religious schools under the guise of educational choice options for parents. 

A view that is growing in the Buckeye State is that since there are few limits on family income to be eligible for the EdChoice program, these vouchers are going to families that already had children enrolled in private and religious schools.

Data from the previous school year showed that 90% of voucher students aren’t from low-income families, which itself is antithetical to the original idea of vouchers as a means to “save” low-income students from “failing public schools.”

Just like the old saw of not mixing politics and religion, the idea of vouchers being designed for low-income students was from another era.

Moreover, the great majority of new voucher students have never attended public school, where the voucher only serves to offset part of the tuition payment already incurred by families whose income was substantial enough to enroll their children prior to vouchers being available.

Since the controversy in Texas served to illustrate a flaw in that state’s voucher policy beyond the idea of sending public funds to support religious schools, it has also helped to illuminate some additional thinking in Ohio about how wrong state policy is with the EdChoice scheme. 

In a recent column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dan Heintz, a teacher and member of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education, also said something out loud that perhaps Greg Abbot and other strong-minded Texans might want to think about as they fine-tune their new voucher system.

“Allowing a billion dollars a year of taxpayer money to be hijacked by the unconstitutional EdChoice voucher program will be hard for GOP legislative candidates in November. Too many of the voters they rely on have recognized the dirty truth of EdChoice: If your family is not receiving a voucher, your family is paying for a voucher.”

As the voucher wars heat up in this election year, we have several interesting developments to watch. In Texas, we have the incredible situation of Muslim schools suing the state for violating the constitution because of alleged discrimination shown against them in being excluded from the original voucher invitation.

In Ohio, a school board member reminds the public that whether or not you receive a voucher for whatever kind of private or religious school, you are still paying for it.

And through it all is the lingering constitutional issue that the Ohio EdChoice program presents to anyone who has read its Article VI, Section 2:

“The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.”

Whether it is a Christian or a Muslim school located in Texas or Ohio, and whether we have any family members enrolled or not, we are paying for it.

And what was that talk about choice?

As we continue thinking about the voucher wars known in Ohio as EdChoice, forget about the tired arguments about saving children from failing schools.

You can also forget about whether we should be supporting any kind of religious school, whether Christian or Muslim.

Once again, I call on Republican politicians to go back to school and face mandatory enrollment in a “Science of Reading” class.

The prompt for the politicians to read is this clause: “…no religious or other sect, or sects, shall have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.”

Dear Speaker Huffman and Senate Education Chairman Brenner: can we once again assist you in understanding the meaning of no?

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

That’s according to a new report from Good Jobs First, a watchdog group that focuses on economic development incentives. The lack of disclosure comes as other states record mounting losses in tax revenue to data center subsidies. Three states — Georgia, Virginia and Texas — report losing $1 billion or more per year to data center incentives, according to Good Jobs First.

The study found that Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah all failed to report data center incentives, which generally include sales, use and property tax breaks.

For years, states have used incentives and tax breaks to compete for data centers, sought for their massive investment in construction and equipment. Currently, 38 states offer dedicated tax incentives for data centers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

Good Jobs First said in most cases, states are failing to disclose incentives in violation of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, a private organization that sets financial reporting standards for state and local governments. 

“No form of state spending is more out of control today than data center tax abatements,” Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First and primary author of the study, said in a news release. “Hyperscale data centers are not only extractive of electricity, water, and land; they are also undermining public budgets.”

Data centers, sprawling campuses of computer servers that store and transmit the data behind apps and websites, are facing heightened local opposition as residents complain about rising electricity prices and raise environmental concerns. State lawmakers are also looking to limit or repeal the incentives that paved the way for massive growth in data centers. 

Maine lawmakers this week approved a moratorium on data centers larger than 20 megawatts — the first statewide ban of its kind in the country. 

That legislation, pending action from the governor, bans new data centers through November 2027 and creates a new state council to provide strategic input, facilitate planning considerations and evaluate policy tools to address data centers, Maine Morning Star reported.

The Good Jobs First report recommends that all states fully report their losses from data center tax breaks, including how those incentives affect local revenue streams.

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Ohio Capital Journal, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Officers responded to the home just after midnight after one of the couple’s teenage children called 911, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a morning news briefing. Both of the couple’s children, who are in high school, were inside the home at the time of the shooting.

“One of the children was the 911 caller,” Davis said, adding that the son described events that investigators have since corroborated through interior home surveillance cameras.

Police said Cerina Fairfax was shot and killed before Justin Fairfax took his own life. Davis said the violence unfolded quickly, with little or no gap between the shooting and the 911 call.

“If there was a window, it was a very short window,” Davis said. “I think it all kind of happened at once. It all happened pretty spontaneously.”

Authorities gather evidence, cite domestic strain in shooting

Authorities are executing a search warrant at the home to recover evidence, including the firearm used in the shooting and any additional weapons.

Davis described the case as both “high profile” and deeply tragic, noting Fairfax’s once-prominent political standing.

“At one point in time, I think it’s fair to say that Justin Fairfax was a rising star politically, not just in Northern Virginia, but in Virginia,” Davis said.

“So it’s high profile in nature. It’s tragic in nature, certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.”

The couple had been separated but continued living in the same home in separate bedrooms, Davis said. 

Divorce proceedings were underway, with court appearances scheduled in the near future. Fairfax had recently been served legal paperwork related to the case, which investigators are examining as a possible factor.

“That may have been a spark … that led to this tragedy,” Davis said, while cautioning that detectives are still working to determine a definitive motive.

Police said the department had previously been called to the home once, in January, after Fairfax alleged that his wife assaulted him. Investigators reviewed footage from cameras installed inside the residence and determined that no assault had occurred, Davis said. 

The cameras later helped corroborate the sequence of events described by the 911 caller, he added.

Davis emphasized that authorities are prioritizing support for the couple’s children, who lost both parents in the incident.

“Our victim services division is leaning into the family, the surviving relatives, the children in particular,” he said. “We’ll do everything we can for them.”

He also noted the broader emotional toll of domestic conflict, particularly during separations.

“Half of America probably goes through divorce proceedings at some point in time, and very, very rarely, thankfully, does it ever end up like this,” Davis said. “It is very sad for this community.”

Virginia leaders react with shock, grief over Fairfax deaths

A wave of shock and grief rippled through Virginia’s political community Thursday, with officials expressing condolences and focusing on the Fairfax family’s children.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger urged Virginians to keep the children in their thoughts following the killings. 

“I am deeply saddened by the tragedy that occurred last night. I am praying for the Fairfax children, and I ask my fellow Virginians to hold them in their hearts and prayers,” she said. 

Spanberger called the death of Dr. Cerina Fairfax “a horrific tragedy,” remembering her as “a devoted mother” and “beloved dentist in the Fairfax County community,” and extended condolences to both the Wanzer and Fairfax families. 

She added that the case is a reminder that “domestic violence can occur in any family and in any place,” noting that resources are available for those facing abuse or mental health crises.

Former Gov. Ralph Northam said he and his wife Pam were “devastated by this heartbreaking news.”

“I had the privilege of getting to know the Fairfaxes while our families served together. We are praying for (the children), and the entire Fairfax family during this incredibly difficult time,” he said.

Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi said the news had shaken the commonwealth and that she was awaiting more details. 

“Virginia woke up this morning to the devastating news regarding Cerina Fairfax and former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. My thoughts are with their children, loved ones, and numerous friends,” she said.

House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, called the killings “an unspeakable tragedy.” 

“Our hearts are with the family, especially the children and loved ones whose lives have been forever changed by this devastating loss,” he said.

House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said, “There aren’t words to describe this tragedy. My prayers are with their children and their extended family.”

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said in a joint statement they were praying for the family “as we all process this shocking and horrifying news.”

Fairfax, 47, served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022. A Democrat, he was elected alongside Northam and was once viewed as a potential future statewide candidate.

Fairfax’s political career was derailed in 2019 when two women publicly accused him of sexual assault. Fairfax denied the allegations, and no criminal charges were filed. 

The accusations sparked national attention and calls from some Democratic leaders for his resignation, which he resisted.

Before entering politics, Fairfax worked as a federal prosecutor and later in private legal practice. After leaving office, he returned to practicing law, Davis said, though details about his recent employment were not immediately available.

The investigation into Thursday’s fatal shooting remains ongoing. Authorities said they are continuing to collect evidence and interview witnesses as they work to piece together the final hours leading up to the killings.

The Virginia Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline is a free, confidential resource that is available 24/7. Virginians can chat online with a trained advocate, text an advocate at 804-793-9999, or speak on the phone with an advocate at 1-800-838-8238.

The Virginia Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 at 9-8-8. 

This story was originally produced by Virginia Mercury, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Ohio Capital Journal, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

On December 26, 2024 — while still serving as co-chair of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — Ramaswamy posted a lengthy argument on X defending tech companies that hire foreign-born engineers instead of Americans. The reason, he argued, was cultural failure.

“The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born and first-generation engineers over ‘native’ Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit,” Ramaswamy wrote. “A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.”

He added: “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.”

The post aligned him with Silicon Valley’s years-long push to expand the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers to hire foreign nationals in specialty occupations — primarily technology and engineering. CNN reported that Ramaswamy and Musk used the moment to defend companies that depend on H-1B workers, arguing tech firms cannot operate without importing foreign labor.

His own company filed 29 H-1B applications

Ramaswamy’s defense of the practice was not abstract. According to federal records from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services H-1B Employer Data Hub, Roivant Sciences — the pharmaceutical company Ramaswamy founded — had 29 H-1B visa applications approved between 2018 and 2023, as first reported by Politico. Ramaswamy stepped down as Roivant’s CEO in February 2021 but remained chair of its board of directors until February 2023.

When Politico asked his campaign about the gap between that record and his stated immigration policy positions, press secretary Tricia McLaughlin did not dispute the filings. “The system is broken and needs to be fixed,” she said in a statement, comparing it to using electricity while criticizing energy regulations. “Vivek believes that regulations overseeing the U.S. energy sector are badly broken, but he still uses water and electricity,” she said. “This is the same.”

’Indentured servitude’ — but keep the pipeline open

Ramaswamy has publicly called the H-1B program “indentured servitude” and pledged to gut its lottery-based selection system. But he has never called for ending the importation of foreign tech workers. His stated goal is to replace the lottery with what he describes as a merit-based model — one that, under his own framing, would accelerate the flow of foreign engineers into American workplaces rather than stop it.

“The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission,” he told Politico. “It’s a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H-1B immigrant. I’ll gut it.”

Critics from the left and right noted that his proposed solution addresses the mechanism of the H-1B program, not its core economic effect on American workers. A 2020 report by the Economic Policy Institute found that the structure of the H-1B program has allowed employers — including major tech firms — to pay visa workers at wage levels set below the local median for their occupation. A separate EPI analysis in 2023 found that the top 30 H-1B employers laid off at least 85,000 workers in 2022 and early 2023 while simultaneously filing for 34,000 new H-1B hires.

Bipartisan pushback

Ramaswamy’s December 2024 comments drew immediate backlash from across the political spectrum. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, his onetime rival in the 2024 Republican primary, responded directly: “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.”

Pro-Trump podcaster Brenden Dilley wrote on X: “I always love when these tech bros flat out tell you that they have zero understanding of American culture and then have the gall to tell you that YOU are the problem with America.” Steve Bannon, on his War Room podcast, called the pro-H-1B arguments a “total scam.”

The public blowup over the comments contributed to reported tensions between Ramaswamy and both Trump and Musk. Ramaswamy departed DOGE on January 20, 2025 — Inauguration Day — and formally launched his Ohio gubernatorial campaign the following month.

What it means for Ohio workers

H-1B is a federal visa program; Ohio’s governor has no direct authority over it. But Ramaswamy’s ideological alignment with the tech industry’s preferred approach to labor supply — importing credentialed foreign workers rather than investing in domestic workforce development — is a contrast that his opponents in the May 5 primary have already begun pressing.

Republican primary challenger Casey Putsch has made it a centerpiece of his campaign. “Our kids are denied high-paying jobs due to foreign H-1B visa labor,” Putsch’s campaign website states, positioning Ramaswamy implicitly as part of the problem he’s running against.

Ramaswamy has offered no state-level workforce or labor development policy addressing how Ohio workers — particularly in manufacturing communities already hammered by plant closures and job losses — would compete in the technology economy he describes as essential to the state’s future.

Attempts to reach Ramaswamy’s campaign for comment were unsuccessful.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

The Seneca County Board of Developmental Disabilities placed Superintendent Lewis Hurst, 60, of Republic, on paid administrative leave following a special meeting Saturday, March 28, according to a statement reported by the Advertiser-Tribune. The board described the action as a “private personnel issue” that is “not otherwise related to Mr. Hurst’s leadership” and declined to elaborate. Natasha Nichols, Director of Service and Support Administration, has been named interim superintendent.

Hurst faces one count of theft under Ohio Revised Code 2913.02, a fifth-degree felony, according to court records and a Perkins Township Police Department investigation report obtained by TiffinOhio.net. The alleged offense occurred January 24, 2026.

Read the full story at https://tiffinohio.net/posts/seneca-county-opportunity-center-superintendent-on-leave-faces-felony-theft-charge/.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey M. Brown issued a TRO Thursday allowing Happy Harvest locations and Get Wright Lounge to sell their existing products. Happy Harvest has locations in Delaware, Marion, and Wood counties. Get Wright Lounge has one location in Columbus. 

“The judge here is concerned about retailers that have made big investments in inventory, and they can’t move it, they can’t transport it, they can’t sell it,” said Scott Pullins, the attorney for the plaintiffs. “He’s given them, really, a grace period that the legislature should give them.” 

Ohio S.B. 56 took effect March 20 after Ohioans for Cannabis Choice failed to get enough signatures to get a referendum on the November ballot for voters to block the law.

Under the new law, THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts will be reduced from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70%, cap THC levels in adult-use flower to 35%, and prohibit smoking in most public places.

The two businesses will only be able to sell products to people 21 and older, according to the Franklin County TRO. 

“Products obviously cannot resemble candy or anything along those lines,” Pullins said. He was not sure how much stock the stores had left. 

“If you haven’t gotten it out of state before the law goes into effect, you’re kind of stuck,” Pullins said. “You get caught transporting it, and they’re going to charge you with felony drug trafficking.” 

The new law prohibits possessing marijuana in anything outside of its original packaging, criminalizes bringing legal marijuana from another state back to Ohio, and requires drivers to store marijuana in the trunk of their car while driving.

A preliminary injunction hearing will be scheduled in about two weeks, Pullins said. 

“We’ll come in and bring witnesses in, but we think we have a good shot at least being able to continue in business through November,” he said. 

The new federal restrictions on hemp products is set to take effect Nov. 12. Congress voted in November to ban products that contain 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container when they voted to reopen the government. 

Previously, the 2018 Farm Bill said hemp can be grown legally if it contains less than 0.3% THC.

Ohio state Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester, recently joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff. She voted against Senate Bill 56 in November.

“(She’s) someone that can testify to the legislative process, how it was handled,” Pullins said. “She’s been very supportive throughout the process.”

A Sandusky County judge recently issued TRO on the hemp portion of the new law which allows the sale of intoxicating hemp products to continue in Fremont. 

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

Ten Republicans defected, including Reps. Maria Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez of Florida, Rich McCormick of Georgia, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Mike Turner and Mike Carey of Ohio and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. 

Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California independent who caucuses with the GOP, also voted for the bill. 

The bill, which succeeded 224-204, came as Trump’s administration has sought to revoke legal protections for immigrants with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, including Haitian nationals, amid his crackdown on immigrants without legal status.  

The bill now heads to the GOP-led Senate, and should that chamber pass the measure, would almost certainly be vetoed by Trump. 

Discharge petition

The Democratic-led effort came to the floor under a discharge petition, which allows a bill to skirt Republican leadership and be brought to the House floor once it gains the signatures of a majority of House members.

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley — a Massachusetts Democrat and co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus — brought forth the petition in January and it reached the 218-signature threshold in late March.

Pressley’s petition forced a floor vote on a bill from New York Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen. The version voted on by the House would require the secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for TPS until April 2029. 

Lawler, a New York Republican, was an original co-sponsor of Gillen’s measure.

Lawler, Salazar, Fitzpatrick and Bacon had also signed on to Pressley’s discharge petition.

The bill’s passage in the House came just days before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over Trump’s efforts to revoke TPS for 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. 

A federal judge in February blocked the termination of TPS for Haiti from going into effect — shortly before the designation was slated to end. 

TPS is provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary to nationals who cannot safely return home. The deportation protection lets individuals legally work in the United States, with renewal cycles that range from six to 18 months.  

‘A death sentence’

“Let us be clear about what deportation would mean — we would be sending parents back into danger, ripping our seniors away from their caregivers, faith leaders back into instability, and essential workers back into insecurity,” Pressley said at a Wednesday press conference she and Gillen held with colleagues and advocates regarding the effort. 

“To deport anyone to a country that is grappling with layered political, humanitarian and economic crises is unconscionable, it is dangerous and it is preventable,” Pressley added. 

“To deport anyone to Haiti right now is unlawful, and it would be a death sentence.” 

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.

A Columbus-area restaurant announced Wednesday it has canceled a fundraiser it had agreed to host for a Republican governor candidate, citing the candidate’s comments regarding “Adolf Hitler, Nazis, and the Holocaust.”

Casey Putsch was set to hold an event at La Chatelaine, a French Bistro, on Friday. But the restaurant announced on Wednesday that the event was canceled.

Signal Statewide has reached out to La Chatelaine seeking comment for this story.

In a Facebook post, the restaurant said its owners didn’t adequately vet Putsch, who has a history of making winking allusions to Nazism and Hitler, before it agreed to host the event.

The post said the business’s owners have roots in Poland, France and Belgium – which Nazi Germany invaded and occupied during the World War II era – and have loved ones who witnessed and survived the resulting “atrocities and destruction.” For decades, the family wrote, they have hosted annual celebrations honoring American WWII veterans for their role in defeating the Nazis and liberating Europe.

“We unequivocally denounce those who express pro-Nazi opinions and beliefs, and will not host individuals who are at odds with our stance,” the restaurant’s owners wrote. “We acknowledge we should have more carefully researched him and his campaign before agreeing to host this event.”

Putsch’s campaign described the restaurant’s cancellation as a result of “extreme harassment from the left and Vivek SHILLS.” The campaign announced it would instead meet in a park in Columbus and then travel to a nearby “secret location.” It did not immediately return a message from Signal. 

Putsch’s winking references to Nazism

Putsch, a Northwest Ohio car researcher and YouTube personality, is running for the Republican nomination for governor against billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in the May 5 primary election. The winner would go on to face Dr. Amy Acton, a Democrat, in the November election. 

Putsch is widely seen as having little chance of winning. Wagers listed by Kalshi, the political betting website, imply Ramaswamy has a 97% chance of getting the GOP nomination. 

But Putsch has attracted outsize attention thanks to his campaign communications, in which he at times has made references to Nazism, in part via his last name, which also is a German word for a coup d’etat. 

Most recently, Putsch attracted controversy for touting a “beer hall rally” at a brewery in Toledo. Critics saw the use of the unusual term “beer hall” as intentionally referencing the Beer Hall Putsch, the historical name for Hitler’s initial failed attempt to seize power in Germany in 1923. Putsch told the Toledo Blade he couldn’t help what his name is, and said he wasn’t responsible for the name of his event.

But Putsch’s campaign has been promoting other events with transgressive names, such as an upcoming “savor a sacred cow” event scheduled for a steakhouse. The term is an apparent reference to Ramaswamy’s vegetarian diet and his Hindu faith, which venerates cows.

Putsch also posted a YouTube video last year in which he attempted to prompt Grok, an AI chatbot, to share positive aspects of Hitler’s management of Germany in the 1930s. He objected when the chatbot added Holocaust context to its answers and called the disclaimers “partial,” or biased. He described the video as a stress test of the model’s moderation limits.

Putsch attracts support from ‘groypers‘

Ohio’s governor’s race has attracted broader interest from the far right due to the presence of Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants. 

Ramaswamy has written about racist attacks he’s received because of his heritage during his campaign for governor. A New York Times op-ed that he wrote in December specifically referenced Nick Fuentes, a prominent white supremacist who has developed a following among some young conservatives and vowed to try to defeat Ramaswamy in Ohio.

Putsch, by contrast, has courted Fuentes’ followers. He was measured in his response when a podcaster asked him recently about the support his campaign has received from Fuentes and “groypers,” the term for Fuentes’ online following.

“I’ve heard him get called every name imaginable. But I’ve never heard him be called a liar,” he said of Fuentes.

Putsch went on to describe groypers as politically engaged, economically frustrated young Americans who are “thinking for themselves,” and said he takes personal offense at criticism of the movement.

“They’re hearing somebody talk about a thing that no one else has the courage to talk about,” he said. 

“I’ve run into lots of them,” he later added. “They make up a huge portion of Gen Z. And it’s understandable why.”

He also didn’t push back when the host brought up likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton’s Jewish faith as a negative trait.

“Yes, there is that,” he responded. He went on to link Acton’s faith to her lack of public comments on Israel and Palestine.

Originally published on TiffinOhio.net.