Last week, I shared the phenomenal news that in North Carolina, Texas, Arkansas and Arizona, leaders, activists and candidates are all acting on the “run everywhere” mantra.
For example, the number of statehouse seats uncontested by North Carolina Democrats dropped from 29 to 2 That’s a huge gain for democracy and accountability.
Well, this week, Ohio added even more momentum to the movement.
In 2022, there were 20 Republican seats for which no Democratic candidate ran in the primary.
20!
That meant almost 30% of Republican legislators faced no opponent.
And that meant around 2 million Ohioans faced no choice as to who represents them in the statehouse. 2 million people, hearing nothing about what their incumbent state representative had been doing in Columbus…hearing nothing about the nation’s most corrupt statehouse.
And there were four uncontested Senate seats. That’s another 1.4 million Ohioans, left out of Ohio’s democracy. No say in the institution doing so much damage to Ohio public outcomes.
This Week’s Good News
Yesterday was the final day for candidates to file in Ohio. And here’s the good news.
The great news!
Not a single Senate race will go uncontested. Not one!
And compared to 20 seats left uncontested in 2022, this week, Democratic candidates filed to run in 95 of Ohio’s 99 districts.
That’s right, the number of uncontested seats in 2024 should fall from 20 to 4!
Think of the difference: 16 districts, hundreds of communities, almost 2 million Ohioans, who will see a contested race in their community in 2024 who didn’t see one in 2022.
That also means 16 more candidates and campaigns knocking on doors and increasing turnout for the entire statewide ticket—for US Senator Sherrod Brown, our phenomenal Supreme Court Justices, and others.
16 additional politicians who will face some measure of accountability—for, among other things, voting to subvert Ohio’s democracy via Issue 1 in August. The author of that terrible bill ran unopposed in 2022—but he now has a fired up and capable opponent for ‘24.
In the long battle of democracy we find ourselves in, all of this marks a huge step in the right direction.
Incumbents Doth Protest Too Much
Want to see what happens when you run against incumbents? They get scared.
Just look at this tweet from a Republican State Senator in Northwestern Ohio:
Look at the worry you see in that tweet—the worry of a candidate facing accountability. (By the way, Sen. Gavarone is one of the politicians who manipulated the ballot language on Issue 1 to incorporate the politically loaded rhetoric of anti-abortion groups on the far right, so it’s great someone can point that out for the next year.)
What’s Next? Value These Candidates
Ok. I’m done celebrating.
Recruiting is just the first step.
Now it’s time to help these candidates mount the most robust campaigns possible, to allow them to deliver all those positive impacts I describe above.
It’s time to show them that we value the enormous public service they are providing by stepping up and running everywhere.
And YOU can play a great role here. In fact, we need you!
As you may know, an organization we set up called Blue Ohio will crowdfund support to candidates in the toughest districts. And on our monthly calls, we will introduce you to many of these heroic candidates, let them share their stories, and answer your questions.
If you are not already part of Blue Ohio, I hope you will join the 1000+ members who pitch in monthly so that there is enough support for candidates who are taking on these very tough races.
In our first year, alone, we ensured that no candidate had under $5,000 in their campaign. (In 2020, 13 candidates had under $5,000).
And in less than two years, Blue Ohio is now among the largest donors to Democratic legislative candidates in Ohio).
The way we make “running everywhere” our new business as usual is by showing such strong support for these candidates that they and others will be inspired to run every time.
And that is a crucial step in saving democracy.
So, that’s the great news!
And that’s the challenge.
I hope you’ll join us!
Ohioans are looking at a big light at the end of the tunnel in 2024!!! Thanks David for the encouraging news.
I'm so glad to hear that most Republicans will be OPPOSED during their 2024 runs for office in Ohio. We need to make that the norm everywhere!