Democratic News

COLUMBUS— Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron), Assistant Minority Leader Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus), Minority Whip Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) and Assistant Minority Whip Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester) issued a statement today in advance of potentially another record-shattering day of COVID-19 cases.

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D - Toledo), Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) issued statements on what to expect going into the last weekend of early voting in Ohio. The members also recapped their requests of Secretary LaRose over the last several months, requests that have largely been ignored. National news outlets this week covered Ohio’s long and entirely predictable early voting lines. The Guardian reported on Columbus’s “quarter-mile lines” and the Washington Post reported on Cuyahoga County’s “extraordinary, blocks-long lines.”

COLUMBUS- State Reps. Jessica E. Miranda (D-Forest Park), Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati), and Sedrick Denson (D-Cincinnati) issued the following statements in response to yesterday’s lawsuit filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

COLUMBUS – House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) and House Democrats Monday announced the approval of funds by the state Controlling Board to further aid Ohio’s response to the health and economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COLUMBUS— Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement today following a press conference with Governor Mike DeWine and Statehouse Republicans discussing Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Funding.

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today issued a statement on the one-year anniversary of the enactment of House Bill (HB) 6, the multi-billion corporate bailout bill at the center of an ongoing FBI criminal investigation into an alleged $60 million racketeering and bribery scheme led by former Republican Speaker Larry Householder. Former Speaker Larry Householder and several associates were arrested and indicted for their roles in the alleged corruption scheme.        

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D - Toledo), Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) are again demanding answers from Secretary LaRose. They asked him yesterday to confirm that his order cutting the time period that counties have to count votes will not actually block any votes from counting.

COLUMBUS- State Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown) today issued the following statement in response to Secretary LaRose’s failure to answer a legislative inquiry into Midwest Direct and the secretary’s directive calling on county Board of Elections to complete their vote counts by November 18^th at 2pm:

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D - Toledo), Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) wrote a letter to Secretary of State Frank LaRose asking him to account for a directive he issued late Friday afternoon. The directive cuts off six days of vote counting time that counties might need to finish the count. It moves the deadline from November 24 to November 18 for counties to complete the official canvass.

COLUMBUS – House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement today following the news that Ohio broke its single-day record of COVID-19 cases with 2,039 in the last single 24 hours, according to the Ohio Department of Health. This is the first day over 2,000 cases since the pandemic began.