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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.

State Lawmaker Is Ready to Work on Democratic Platform

photo of Alicia Reece
OHIO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Both major parties are working on the platforms that will be decided at their conventions next month. And the 15 member committee working to create the Democratic Party's platform meets in St. Louis this weekend.  It includes four members of Congress, several activists, and a state representative from Cincinnati.

The platform is expected to include Israel, trade, Wall Street, super delegates, fracking, Black Lives Matter and health care – but Rep. Alicia Reece wants to add in criminal justice reform and voting rights changes too.

“I’m going to fight for all of these. We know that we’re not going to get everything, but I think that one thing that we can guarantee is that the state of Ohio, our voices, I’m going to present them. And out of that we will have some of the different issues that I think are important.”

Hearings on the platform were held in Washington and Phoenix, and Reece held a hearing in Columbus – activists told her they want payday lending regulations, public money only for high-performing charter schools and workplace discrimination protections for women.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.