Ohio delegate breakfasts at both the Democratic and Republican conventions often draw top national names – from civil rights icon John Lewis to House Speaker Paul Ryan. But at today’s Democratic get together, a good part of the time was focused on politics at the state level. From Ohio Public Radio station WKSU, M.L. Schultze has more.
Ohio’s swing-state status in presidential years earns it a lot of attention at the conventions.
But Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper acknowledges there’s little reflection of that at the state level, where Republicans dominate statewide offices and both houses of the Legislature.
“A successful party is not just the party that wins when the whole nation needs us to win the presidency. Yes, that’s important; yes, that’s exciting. Yes, we delivered in ’08 and ’12. But something doesn’t feel that good when you win it for the nation, but then you lose it in your own state, year after year.”
To counter that, Democrats have started an institute for people interested in running for local office.
Pepper also urged Democrats to stop using the term “off-year election,” saying that tells voters those elections are less important.