Yesterday, a faction of Ohio politicians seated in unconstitutionally gerrymandered districts (per the courts, not me) rammed through a resolution to hold a special election in August (which violates a law they passed only months ago ending special elections in August) to permanently amend that Constitution to make it harder for the voters of Ohio to themselves amend the Constitution, which would move the goal posts on a current citizen-led effort to protect Ohio women’s right to choose.
That’s a long sentence, I know.
But without all that context, you wouldn’t appreciate just how much the rule of law has been destroyed in the state of Ohio. How far we have fallen from a healthy democracy grounded in the rule of law and the people. How illegitimate lawmaking itself has become here.
Think about it: Seated in districts that currently violate the law, they called for a special election that violates a law they passed only months ago. (Oh, and if challenged, any suit would go before a court whose makeup they shaped by rigging the rules/ballot of how we elect courts).
And let me assure you, watching all this lawlessness play out in person, as I did yesterday, was downright stomach-churning.
Often it’s the smallest things you notice in person that tell you so much:
As I write in Laboratories of Autocracy and my forthcoming book, Saving Democracy, these statehouses are essentially hijacked through gerrymandering, occupied by extremists sealed off from the people.
And that reality was perfectly symbolized yesterday when the few of us who made it to the Statehouse Gallery, after patiently waiting in line in the Rotunda for more than an hour, found ourselves surrounded by dozens of young legislative staff who’d been sent by their bosses (directly, not through the line) to occupy as many of the (few) seats in the Gallery as possible.
That’s right—to minimize the number of everyday Ohioans who would witness what they were about to do to our own Constitution, the politicians who are supposed to represent us sent staff who work for us to keep us from accessing seats meant for us.
And then they kicked us all out—hand-signaling to that staff beforehand to leave before the rest of us would be removed.
And then they rammed through their lawless resolution with no everyday Ohioans to see it.
Now that is a group of politicians afraid of the people!
On the positive side….the pro-democracy legislators brought passion and fire to the speeches we witnessed. They called it all out! Thank you to them.
And most importantly, the people themselves showed up, and were heard loud and clear. Even with the doors closed, the roars from the Rotunda could be heard throughout the ignoble session. And from the many I met, it was clear Ohioans from all over the state had shown up. It was an outpouring I have not seen in Ohio since the attempted power grab against collective bargaining in 2011.
And now that they and a billionaire backer bullied enough stragglers in the legislature to pass this attack on democracy, that large crowd and that outrage are the most important elements from yesterday.
Because the campaign to defeat this Resolution is now on. And we must defeat it, and defeat it soundly. (Just like we did in that 2011 attempt).
I will provide details on the campaign effort and how you can help in coming newsletters.
For now, don’t forget what they did yesterday, or how they did it. And commit that we will do all we can to ensure it does not stand.
A final note: national media spent yesterday focused on a Trump town hall and George Santos. Nothing on the attack on democracy in states like Ohio….nothing.
And that, my friends, is precisely why they choose statehouses to do their dirty work.
Stomach Churning