Democratic News

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) issued the following response to Ohio Secretary of State John Husted’s mischaracterization of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which found Husted’s voter registration purging to be illegal and ordered him to stop purging voters for not voting:

“I refuse to let this secretary of state mischaracterize yet another win for Ohio voters. Jon Husted’s suggestion that we want ineligible or dead voters on the rolls is nothing but inflammatory partisan politics. This decision validates the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of people who never should have been purged in the first place – people who simply moved within the state or didn’t vote in every election. I look forward to seeing the hundreds of thousands of purged Ohioans who are still eligible to vote restored to the rolls.”

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) released the following statement in response to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturning the district court and ordering Secretary Husted to stop purging voters for not voting:

“Today’s decision is a victory for voters, voting rights and common sense. Husted must stop illegally purging eligible and registered voters. Now, Ohioans who are registered and show up to vote can be confident that their ballots will be counted instead of thrown out.

State Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) today encouraged local education leaders and parents to avoid reading too much into new state report cards for local school districts. School districts across the state Thursday received report cards under a new testing system.

“Schools once again are forced to adjust to the ever-changing education policies that come out of Columbus,” said Cera. “Just as teachers, administrators, students and parents figure out the last round of standards, Columbus is putting a new system in place, and it is frustrating to say the least. But, we cannot be discouraged by a new state website with flawed letter grades. In many classrooms throughout our community, we know our kids and teachers are making progress, much of which can’t be measured by bureaucrats in Columbus or a test vendor in Washington.”

Over the past three years, the state has changed testing vendors and methods three times, leaving local districts with a constantly changing evaluation system for student achievement.

Following the state’s release of so-called school “report cards” today, state Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo), the House Democratic Caucus education lead – is releasing the open letter below to all statewide news editors and education reporters:

“The floggings will continue until morale improves.” This famous line attributed to Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty has also been used to summarize the state of contemporary education policy. Now that the federal government has recognized the flaws inherent in trying to promote learning through punishment and set a new course with the more flexible Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Ohio could also right our course. Instead, Republicans and the Ohio Department of Education are more than doubling-down on the punishment strategy by delivering six letter grades in a gimmick known as the state school report card.

State Reps. Kent Smith (D-Euclid), Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) and state Sen. Mike Skindell (D-Lakewood) joined local advocates and elected officials today in South Euclid, Ohio to highlight pending legislation that calls for amending the U.S. Constitution and eliminate First Amendment protections for corporate personhood, abolishing the notion that money is equated to speech. The lawmakers are introducing a statewide resolution in the Ohio legislature to support the proposed federal amendment.

“It goes without saying that when the founding fathers wrote the First Amendment they were concerned with the rights of John Doe the individual, not John Doe’s private investment company,” said Smith. “When money is considered speech, those who have the most money have the most speech. This contradicts the basic cornerstone philosophy of American democracy of one person, one vote.”

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) released the following statement in response to the decision by a panel of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals:

“The Court found that Husted has been illegally tossing out the ballots of eligible and registered voters. He must stop. Husted’s job is to let the people vote, not to break down our democratic system.

State Rep. Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) today introduced a bipartisan resolution with state Rep. Rick Perales (R-Beavercreek) to recognize Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 as National Hispanic Heritage Month in Ohio.  

State Rep. Denise Driehaus is providing a public service announcement on Ohio's new Good Samaritan Law. The law protects people from prosecution or punisnhment when they call 911 for help treating an opioid overdose.

Ohio Legislative Black Caucus President and state Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Cincinnati) responded to today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision denying a stay request by Democratic leaders in Ohio to reinstate same day registration and the first week of early voting in Ohio – a process used by some 90,000 Ohioans in the past:

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) released the following statement in response to the United States Supreme Court’s decision to deny a stay request filed by Ohio Democrats to reinstate same day registration and the first week of early voting in the Buckeye State:

“I am very disappointed in this news from the U.S. Supreme Court. As the trial court found, the burden of Ohio Senate Bill 238’s elimination of the first week of early voting and same day registration disproportionately falls on minorities here in Ohio. Unfortunately, the Court is not always well-equipped to remedy every discriminatory measure that lands before it. I will continue to fight legislative efforts to restrict voting, especially those that harm minority voters.”