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2018 was a big election year in Ohio. Republicans held onto all five statewide executive offices including governor and super majorities in both the Ohio House and Senate. But there were a few bright spots for Democrats, among them the reelection of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and the election of two Democrats to the Ohio Supreme Court.With election 2018 over, the focus now shifts to governing. Stay connected with the latest on politics, policies and people making the decisions at all levels affecting your lives.

Strickland Pushes Apprenticeships and Better College Financing as He Stumps for Senate

Ted Strickland
KEVIN NIEDERMIER
/
WKSU

  Former Ohio Governor and Congressman Ted Strickland says he would work to ensure college graduates are nearly debt-free if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate. The Democratic hopeful laid out this plan today during a stop in Northeast Ohio.

  During a tour of an apprentice training program at the Painter’s and Allied Trade Union headquarters in Strongsville, Strickland said such programs are valuable because they provide a good career without the crushing debt of a college education. But as Senator he says he would push for more affordable higher education opportunities.

“By putting together a complex system of student funding. Part of that would obviously be the Pell Grant program which I strongly support. We should expand it. The Perkins Loan program. But we also need to allow students who do have debt to refinance their debt at a lower interest rate.”

Strickland says colleges and universities also need to do more to reduce costs. He hopes to challenge Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman in November. He chided Portman for voting against student loan refinancing and voting to reduce Pell Grants.