There has been a lot of attention on the upcoming August 8 special election on State Issue 1 that asks voters whether it should be harder to amend Ohio’s constitution by raising the voting threshold for proposed constitutional amendments to 60%.
The outcome of that election will have a direct impact on the November general election, as this week, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose confirmed that the abortion rights constitutional amendment did gather enough signatures to make it on the November ballot.
But there’s another election that’s happening in more a year that is starting to heat up — the race for U.S. Senate.
Last week, Secretary LaRose threw his hat into the race, joining other Republican challengers like Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan and entrepreneur Bernie Moreno, who are hoping to oust incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. Aside from Ohio Supreme Court justices, Brown is the last Democratic official to be elected statewide in recent years.
In prior elections Brown has been seen as a safe incumbent, but could all that change as Ohio becomes an increasingly red state? And with LaRose’s announcement this week that he is endorsing Donald Trump for president, will his campaign follow JD Vance’s successful Senate run last year?
On Thursday's "Sound of Ideas," we’ll discuss this race and Ohio’s overall political landscape with two political experts.
Later in this hour, we’ll learn more about a global peace conference in Rwanda that was sponsored by Kent State University.
And we’ll share the musical stylings of harpist Kristy Kline, in the next installment of our "Shuffle" music podcast.
GUESTS:
- Tom Sutton, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Baldwin Wallace University
- Brianna Mack, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Politics and Government, Ohio Wesleyan University
- Amanda Johnson, Ph.D. Director, Center for International and Intercultural Education, Kent State University
- R. Neil Cooper, Ph.D., Director, School of Peace and Conflict Studies, Kent State University
- Kristy Kline, Musician
- Amanda Rabinowitz, Host and Producer, "Shuffle" and "All Things Considered
