Following last week’s elections, we’re checking in with some of the members of the state legislature from Northeast Ohio about their priorities for the next term. Democratic State Rep. Tavia Galonski was reelected to a third term last week to represent Akron in the Ohio House.
Galonski won by her largest margin ever and will represent the newly redrawn 33rd district, which covers the greater Akron area.
"I continued to play the messages that they wanted to hear, which were about protecting working families, protecting the right to choose and generally protecting freedoms," Galonski said, "and I think that was a winning strategy for me in the 33rd."
She heard a lot of concerns about losing access to abortion on the campaign trail, and she said she shares these concerns, especially with Republicans expanding their supermajorities in the House and Senate.
“It’s a shame that our legislature has decided that gigantic government is more important than a person’s freedom," Galonski said.
In the past, Galonski has focused her efforts on criminal justice reform and economic justice. She said abortion is another economic issue.
“I’ll be trying to help physicians who want to practice medicine here in Ohio without the threat of a felony," Galonski said, "and I will be trying to help people keep legislators out of their doctor’s offices.”
She’s worried that with such large margins, Republicans will be able to pass controversial bills with no input from Democrats, such as abortion restrictions, limiting access to contraception and prioritizing school vouchers over public school funding. These bills could be coming as soon as this lame duck session, Galonski said.
"What I can see so far on the committees I sit on is that the Republicans who are in charge intend to push their full extreme agenda on regular, every day Ohioans," Galonski said, "and I think that's pretty unfortunate."
With the state legislature shifting even more to the right, Galonski worries young Ohioans may want to leave the state.
"If you talk to young people who are already saddled with a bunch of debt, and now, to tell them that they don't have any control at all over the size and timing of their families, they would be foolish to stay here when Michigan has made those reproductive freedoms possible for them," Galonski said.
Kentucky also voted in support of abortion rights last week, rejecting a constitutional amendment that would have said citizens had no right to abortion.
"There aren't as many reasons to stay here in Ohio," Galonski said, "but what I hope is - and I'm always going to travel in hope - I hope that the young people who are here see this for what it is, which is a naked power grab, and they make the decision to stay here and fight."
Galonski is also worried that the state's Fair School Funding Plan will lose bipartisan support this session and that public schools will decline.
"I shudder to think of how much further down the rankings Ohio will continue to fall," Galonski said.
The Ohio legislature returns for the lame duck session Tuesday.
