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This article first appeared on The Buckeye Flame.

With a unprecedented rise in anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-transgender legislation across the country, out LGBTQ+ candidates faced a range of political climates in their own communities.

While some candidates reported intense anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, other experienced overwhelming community support.

In total, 15 out LGBTQ+ Ohioans ran for public office in the 2024 general election, campaigning to represent voters in major cities and small villages and townships across the state.

Bobbie Brooke Arnold lost her campaign to represent Ohioans in District 40 to incumbent and conservative Republican Rep. Rodney Creech (West Alexandria). 

Sofia Orr, 19, is an Israeli teenager who chose jail over enlisting in the Israeli Death Forces (IDF). Before turning 19, Sofia was jailed three times for refusing to enlist in mandatory military service and spending her time in Neve Tzedek, which is a military prison in Tel Aviv, in protest of the ongoing Israeli war and genocide in Gaza. She believes the two sides "have to exist" and that "revenge is not the answer." This brave Israeli teenager made it loud and clear that she would continue resisting even if the government extended her jail time because it was the right thing to do. Finally, after spending 85 days in prison, Orr was recognized as a conscientious objector. 

Long before the Israeli war on Gaza and when Sofia was 15, she made up her mind not to serve in the military because, to her, the occupation and the war on Gaza and the West Bank was and is still enough reason to refuse and she would rather work advocating for peace.   

Historically, younger voters tend to be more progressive, yet this year the gender divide has been splitting the youngest generation. While the general presidential race remains a statistical tie, the difference between who young men and young women are voting for is apparent. Recent NBC polling data suggests as much as a 16-point difference between the two candidates based on gender. Young men seem to be voting at a higher rate than usual, and strongly towards Trump. This analysis looks at the question, why are so many young men obsessed with Donald Trump?

Democrat and City of Columbus councilmember Shayla Favor is on the precipice of making history. Favor is about to become the first African American and woman to lead the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, and the first Black woman in the state to hold this position.

And not a moment too soon. In a recent interview with WOSU, she said she will hire more people of color. No doubt the lack of diversity in the Prosecutor’s Office, which is being vacated by Democrat Gary Tyack, is confounding. Out of 130 attorneys, only 11 are minorities.

Favor as many know is aligned with Columbus’s “establishment Dems.” Former Mayor Michael Coleman was on stage with her when she announced her candidacy.

She should win handedly against her Republican opponent, John Rutan, who is candid about his own past criminal behavior, as he served time in jail for assault when he was in college. He also told WOSU: “God gave us the death penalty to utilize for evil spirits…And so I’d use them all day long.”

We begin GREEP #196 in the Middle East with DENNIS BERNSTEIN and ANITA BARROWS.

RUTH STRAUSS warns of burning drop boxes and has some advice for the Harris campaign.

Getting Out the Vote is the expertise of the great ANDREA MILLER whose non-partisan Center for Common Ground website shows us how to direct voters to the polls.

From Florida we get the latest update on rampaging fascism from JIM NATHAN.

Atlanta-based RAY MCCLENDON guides us to Communities United for Justice, which supports canvassers in the field.

MARGOT KING & JOHN STEINER update us on the Band of Sisters, which supports women’ reproductive rights.

Swap the Vote is explained by MIKE HERSH as a way to use the Electoral College to balance support for 3d parties in “safe states” versus major candidates in swing states.

Andrea Miller reminds us that leaving messages increases turnout by 5%, and that it’s key to let citizens know that early voting can be decisive.  

We must, says Andrea, let voters know they are invited to the dance, & the dance is democracy.

Election day is approaching fast, and by now much of the public has heard the arguments for and against Issue 1, the constitutional amendment on the ballot that would make citizens, not politicians, responsible for redistricting. 

People from a broad spectrum of groups that support workers and a fair political system have worked tirelessly, canvassing door to door to combat the steady flow of misinformation from the opposition.

A lot of money has gone into the campaign against Issue 1, but who is behind these donations? Just a little bit of digging turns up the usual suspects, and they are all tied to finance capital and the fascist candidate for president, Donald Trump.  

Citizens not Politicians – the grassroots, non-partisan coalition that has worked for the passage of the amendment – clearly (and proudly) displays the organizations and businesses that support Issue 1 on their website. Prominent among these are unions like the AFL-CIO and the IAFF, and endorsements come from groups on the left, right, and center, from businesses and faith organizations.

COTA’s LinkUS levy (Issue 47) could dramatically change Columbus’s transportation culture, but areas desperately in need of LinkUS’s accordion buses or other solutions may have to wait years before massive traffic messes and congestion is alleviated.

A LinkUS spokesperson last month insisted to the Free Press their levy was mostly about getting residents to good paying jobs. Especially those who don’t have a car or are averse to commuting by car.

And not a moment too soon. On a recent sunny weekday afternoon near Rickenbacker Airport, home to thousands of warehouse distribution jobs, hundreds of commuters were lined up and bottlenecked on Alum Creek Drive’s one lane out of the area at Grove Port Road leading to the two 270 exits just a few hundred feet from this intersection. Even so, the never-ending line of cars suggests quitting time near Rickenbacker may be more tiresome to the hardworking warehouse employees than their actual shift.

This story appeared in the Ohio Capital Journal

The United States is the only democracy in the world where a presidential candidate can get the most popular votes and still lose the election. Thanks to the Electoral College, that has happened five times in the country’s history. The most recent examples are from 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote but George W. Bush won the Electoral College after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and 2016, when Hillary Clinton got more votes nationwide than Donald Trump but lost in the Electoral College.

Oct. 15, 2024

For many years we, and others, have been analyzing “Unadjusted Exit Polls” (UEP) for US Elections.  These are exit polls that result from asking voters who have already voted who they supported. A state’s UEP results are shown by the journalistic organizations sponsoring the exit poll at the time the state’s polls are scheduled to close.

These UEPs are distinct from the “Adjusted Exit Polls” (AEPs) that are widely reported in the US after UEPs are adjusted to match official vote outcomes hours after the polls close. It should be noted that this universal US practice of conflating UEPs with AEPs is not generally replicated in other countries.

Hello, fellow Ohioans, 

I just finished reading, and rereading, and then reading again, what I thought would be a straight forward explanation of Amendment 1. The amendment appears on the November 5, Ohio presidential ballot.. 

But, after actually reading the amendment, I was confused, disappointed, and just plain mad, because I knew I was going to vote, “YES”, but after reading the amendment, I couldn’t decide what a “YES” vote actually means!

The language is purposely deceptive and misleading, as written by our Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, but if voters pass this amendment, gerrymandering by politicians will no longer be legal in our state.

If you find this kind of dishonesty hard to believe, or are just as confused as I was, check the Ohio sample ballot, by following the below link.  Once on the page, you’ll need to click on your county. Then scroll through the candidates and on the third page, you’ll find the sample Issue1 ballot. Just read the first paragraph and you’ll understand my concern.