Wed 7/26 @ noon
It’s hard to recall a more dishonest, two-faced Ohio politician than our current secretary of state, Frank “Jim Crow” LaRose. He makes professions of fealty to democracy and fair, accessible voting, and then does a 180 and contradicts everything he previously said.
LaRose has become the front man for some of the most dubious, falsehood-based attempts to revoke democracy in Ohio. As secretary of state, he runs Ohio’s elections. And for several years, he’s been playing this trick of simultaneously saying that he’s done an excellent job, that Ohio’s elections are fair & fraud-free, and also calling for onerous restrictions that make it harder to vote in order to prevent to this imaginary fraud. (Has anyone heard anything more about those cases of alleged fraud he “referred” for possible prosecution? Has he produced even a single instance of someone attempting to impersonate someone else at the polling place that requires making every Ohio voter reliant on fewer and less accessible forms of ID? No.)
LaRose assured the crowd at a public hearing on redistricting that he was all for fair districts that empowered voters, not politicians. Then, as a member of the redistricting panel, he turned around and voted for the most lopsided (and unconstitutional) gerrymander in Ohio history.
LaRose was once adamant that low-turnout August elections are bad for democracy, as well as costly to the taxpayers, and led the charge to outlaw them. “Interest groups manipulatively put issues on the ballot in August because they know fewer Ohioans are paying attention,” he said in December 2021. “This is bad news for the civic health of our state. Voters are just as capable of voting on these important issues during the standard primary and general elections.”
That is, until he decided that turning women into reproductive chattel was more important than democracy and he got behind a (possibly illegal) August election (Vote NO on issue 1!!!) to make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio constitution just ahead of the likelihood that a reproductive rights amendment will be on the November ballot.
He keeps lying about why he wants us to vote yes (Protect the constitution from out-of-state, big-money interests — you know, like the ones financing the yes campaign) to take away our own ability to do things like create fair voting laws, take redistricting out of the hands of corrupt politicians like himself, and yes, pass reproductive protections that most Ohioans support.
On Wednesday July 26, the City Club is hosting a panel discussion on “State Issue 1: Amending Citizen Initiative & Our State’s Constitution.” You can join them in person or just listen to the livestream starting at noon if you’re afraid you might stand up and yell “Liar!” at LaRose, who is one of the panelists.
Other panelists include former Ohio governor Richard F. Celeste, one of four former Ohio governors to oppose Issue 1 (that’s every living former governor — two Democrats and two Republicans); former Ohio attorney general, Republican Betty Montgomery; and an “additional panelist TBA.” We can hardly wait to find out who it is! In the interest of “balance” it will likely be someone from a group supporting Issue 1, such as the NRA (worried that a majority of Ohioans don’t like unregulated access to guns); the Ohio Restaurant Association or the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association (both opposed to raising the minimum wage, which is also popular with Ohioans); or even someone such as Mike Gonadakis of extremist anti-choice group Ohio Right to Life.
Former Ideastream host/producer Rick Jackson moderates. Can he keep from rolling his eyes as Frank LaRose lies? Go here for tickets or a livestream link. You can tweet questions to @TheCityClub or text 330-541-5794.
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