Why Cordray Is the Right Choice and DeWine Is Wrong for Ohio by Jenna Thomas

 

On my way to the last gubernatorial debate, hosted by Cleveland State University, I saw Mike DeWine and his wife Fran walking around the courtyard. Immediately, my head flooded with thoughts, accusations, fantastic one-liners that I could say to him regarding his absolute failure as attorney general, or the sadness and fear I feel when I think about him winning the governor’s race.

After brief introductions, all I could get out was, “As a woman, I am not happy with the Republican Party.”

Now, this does not come even close to the my true anger, nor does it embody all of these reasons I am angry. Not to mention that, as a woman, I have always been unhappy with the Republican Party — nothing new there. Perhaps it was the intimidation I felt; maybe I was overthinking this opportunity. Regardless, this interaction gave me an even greater respect for the women all around the country, passionately yelling in the face of their representatives who voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh.

I will now say all of the things that I meant to say to Mike DeWine:

We notice that you fail to mention protection of minorities when you talk about Ohio — and that is no surprise. I was in the crowd during Ideastream’s Talking Jobs when both gubernatorial candidates were asked a question about LGBT rights. Richard Cordray addressed job discrimination in the LGBT community by first recognizing that Ohioans can still lose their job or their housing for no other reason than their sexual orientation or gender identity. On the issue Cordray said, “That’s wrong. About half the states have said that’s wrong, and have done that in their laws. We need to do that in Ohio….We need to have a state here, and a society here where we are welcoming, inclusive, diverse, and tolerant.”

When you, Mr. DeWine, were asked a similar question regarding housing discrimination in the LGBT community, you said, “I am against any kind of discrimination… I’ll take a look at that.” This was almost comical coming from the man who, as attorney general in 2015, defended Ohio’s ban on gay marriage. You have voted against protections of LGBT every chance you have received and spent Ohio’s tax dollars to fight the case in the Supreme Court. I feel hopeful when I think about how inclusive my generation is. When I look at you, Mr. DeWine, I feel frightened for what my LGBT friends could face against the Republican Party’s bigotry. This translates to other minorities too — the black population in Ohio and across the country faces challenges that must be addressed.

Police brutality and incarceration, public school funding, housing and infant mortality rates are all issues the governor of Ohio will have to face, and this includes added attention in black communities. Cordray recognized this during the Talking Jobs conversation, “We have high urban poverty in Ohio — showing up in infant mortality numbers, which are disproportionate in the African-American community. That is wrong; that should not be the case.”

In addition, Cordray’s support of Issue 1 would eliminate heavy sentencing on drug possession and focus more on rehabilitation. As attorney general, you implemented a new police enforcement training, the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy, but managed to not offer a single course on implicit bias or race.

Mr. DeWine, you failed to protect the taxpayer’s money that funded ECOT, robbing our public schools of resources. Ohioans knew that ECOT was not being fully transparent, and the warning signs should have allowed you to act earlier, but you did nothing. You have made it clear that you are not interested in improving or protecting these communities.

On voting rights you and your lieutenant governor Jon Husted have failed miserably. Husted worked diligently to suppress poor and working voters when he implemented a directive in 2014 to limit early voting hours, and you have been in support of voter ID laws throughout your time in office. This year you praised the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the purges of Ohio’s voter rolls. Young voters want it to be easier for other young people to vote, and care about ending these suppressive tactics. Why are you and your party so interested in making it harder to vote?

Healthcare and women’s rights (or as many like to refer to them, basic human rights) are also issues on which you and I disagree. You fought the Affordable Care Act while in the AG’s office, and disagreed with the Supreme Court when they upheld it again in 2012. While in the Senate, you voted against protections for pre-existing conditions — but now that it is politically advantageous you’ve switched positions.

In the first gubernatorial debate you confirmed that you would sign the Heartbeat Bill, which would outlaw abortion even for rape, incest, or endangerment of the mother’s life. As Cordray has put it: this is too extreme for Ohio. This comes as no surprise as you have spent taxpayer money defending abortion bans for the last eight years. Mr. DeWine, for a person who emphasizes so greatly justice for rape victims, forcing someone to carry a baby to term from those circumstances completely negates those assertions. Cordray has vowed to veto the Heartbeat Bill, and with the help of Betty Sutton, his administration has promised to work to improve women’s opportunities.

It has not just been your refusal to acknowledge social problems, but your active campaign against the solutions for them. Your past has spoken for you when you have refused to take a stance.

Richard Cordray and Betty Sutton have my vote in November, and I will work every day until November 6th to implore other young people to join me.

Jenna Thomas is a sophomore at Cleveland State University studying nonprofit administration and Spanish. She is particularly interested in refugee and immigrant services and criminal justice reform, and is a tutor at Building Hope in the City’s Hope Center. In addition, Jenna is the founder and president of CSU’s university chapter of Free the Slaves working to make CSU a certified Fair Trade University.

 

 

 

 

Post categories:

2 Responses to “Why Cordray Is the Right Choice and DeWine Is Wrong for Ohio by Jenna Thomas”

  1. Marilyn Frenche

    Great commentary Jenna. #FactsMatter
    #FlipItBlueOhio

  2. Kent Adams

    A perfect summary of DeWine’s failures and shortcomings. I hope he happens upon this article and attains some sense of why so many OH voters simply can’t support him.

Leave a Reply

[fbcomments]