Ohio has definitely been trending more "red", but it seems like the GOP may soon find themselves a victim of their own "success"...
The issue is abortion rights, and just as in most of the country the GOP in Ohio is desperately out of touch with the majority of the people in the state. The Dobbs decision was supposed to send the issue back to the states, but in every state where abortion has been a ballot initiative the anti-abortion forces have lost. That includes ruby red states like Kansas and Montana...
The only weapon anti-choice forces have are gerrymandered legislatures, who are out of touch with the majority of the citizens they claim to represent. Ohio is a particularly egregous example where the ultra gerrymandered legislature is intent on playing games...
So in order to get a ballot initiative on the Nov ballot statewide, the state Constitution requires that 350,000 signatures are collected. The anti-choice forces knew that measures codifying abortion rights would easily surpass that threshold, and in fact this week the groups supporting such a measure submitted 700,000 signatures, basically double the minimum amount required. So as expected, the measure will appear on Ohio's ballot,and the people will determine it's fate, as the Ohio Constitution intended...
So the Ohio GOP anticipated they'd lose and tried to circumvent the Constitutional process. First off they looked at where other pro-choice initiatives had passed, and determined that all of those voted on in Aug were successfully passed. So the GOP controlled Legislature chaanged the law in Ohio and basically outlawed Aug elections as wasteful and too expensive.
They then introduced a measure to circumvent the Ohio Constitution, and change the threhold for approving a ballot initiative from a simple majority of 50%+ to 60%. It's no accident that polls in Ohio showed pro-choice initiative approval at 59+ %, which is why their only hope is to change the law...
But they can't just change the Constitution to revise the threshold to 60% without a direct vote, which of course would be conducted under the previous threshold of 50% + either approving or rejecting the proposed law. And of course when did they schedule this "special election" to be held? In the month of Aug, despite they themselves outlawing Aug elections.
Clearly they are hoping that confusion and uncertainty over an Aug election will result in a low turnout and allow them to revise the threshold to 60%. But it looks like it may well backfire, and not only result in their 60% threshold being rejected, but also galvanize people who are nominally GOP AND pro choice to vote against GOP candidates who are anti-choice. They have certainly awakened the Ohio Dem party, which has largely been comatose since the Obama years...
The issue is abortion rights, and just as in most of the country the GOP in Ohio is desperately out of touch with the majority of the people in the state. The Dobbs decision was supposed to send the issue back to the states, but in every state where abortion has been a ballot initiative the anti-abortion forces have lost. That includes ruby red states like Kansas and Montana...
The only weapon anti-choice forces have are gerrymandered legislatures, who are out of touch with the majority of the citizens they claim to represent. Ohio is a particularly egregous example where the ultra gerrymandered legislature is intent on playing games...
So in order to get a ballot initiative on the Nov ballot statewide, the state Constitution requires that 350,000 signatures are collected. The anti-choice forces knew that measures codifying abortion rights would easily surpass that threshold, and in fact this week the groups supporting such a measure submitted 700,000 signatures, basically double the minimum amount required. So as expected, the measure will appear on Ohio's ballot,and the people will determine it's fate, as the Ohio Constitution intended...
So the Ohio GOP anticipated they'd lose and tried to circumvent the Constitutional process. First off they looked at where other pro-choice initiatives had passed, and determined that all of those voted on in Aug were successfully passed. So the GOP controlled Legislature chaanged the law in Ohio and basically outlawed Aug elections as wasteful and too expensive.
They then introduced a measure to circumvent the Ohio Constitution, and change the threhold for approving a ballot initiative from a simple majority of 50%+ to 60%. It's no accident that polls in Ohio showed pro-choice initiative approval at 59+ %, which is why their only hope is to change the law...
But they can't just change the Constitution to revise the threshold to 60% without a direct vote, which of course would be conducted under the previous threshold of 50% + either approving or rejecting the proposed law. And of course when did they schedule this "special election" to be held? In the month of Aug, despite they themselves outlawing Aug elections.
Clearly they are hoping that confusion and uncertainty over an Aug election will result in a low turnout and allow them to revise the threshold to 60%. But it looks like it may well backfire, and not only result in their 60% threshold being rejected, but also galvanize people who are nominally GOP AND pro choice to vote against GOP candidates who are anti-choice. They have certainly awakened the Ohio Dem party, which has largely been comatose since the Obama years...
