CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio lawmakers are trying to end the state’s years-long moratorium on executions by compelling state prison officials to seek federal help with obtaining lethal-injection drugs.
We’re talking about the grandstanding, since it’ll never happen while Mike DeWine is governor, on Today in Ohio.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.
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Here’s what we’re asking about today:
First it was Dave Yost. Now it’s the Legislature. Both are working to get execution drugs to that death row inmates can be killed. But, as with Yost, why would one be fully justified in calling this ridiculous political posturing with no real world impact?
The Trump steamroller continues in Washington, and now the local impact will be on health. What is happening to local health departments with the budget axe chopping away money for the Centers for Disease Control?
We suspect that we will see more of this as Republicans in Congress realize the voters back home want their heads on a platter, but how did Ohio Congressman Max Miller break with his party and vote against an issue pushed by the Republican House Speaker?
A week after we learned of serious cutbacks in federal food deliveries to food banks, we spent some time at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to get an idea of how hard this will hit people who are hungry. What did we learn?
Which industries did the Ohio House protect as they slashed money from Mike DeWine’s proposed budget, some of which would have been used to help children? Are How do House Republicans justify protecting industry over kids?
A big, good news story for Cleveland and one of its thought leaders. Brandon Chrostowski, the visionary behind Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute, won a big honor this week. What is it?
For a hot minute, a piece of land on Opportunity Corridor was planned as the site for a new Cleveland police headquarters by former Mayor Frank Jackson. Mayor Justin Bibb quickly killed the idea. Is something else coming to that site now the police HQ is off the table?
The fight between the city and Cleveland Browns took a nasty turn Thursday, with Cleveland saying it wants sanctions on Browns lawyers. What is that about?
It’s not just candidates for governor who are getting into the 2026 races way ahead of time. We already have someone running for Congress in Northeast Ohio. Who is it?
More Today in Ohio
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- “If you’re not going to the games, it’s largely not going to affect you:” Breaking down the Browns stadium deal
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris Quinn (00:01.099)
powerful storm rolled through here last night. I hope everybody’s okay and the power’s still on. It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Laura Johnston, Lisa Garvin and Leila Tasi. Leila, first it was Dave Yost, now it’s the legislature. Both are working to get execution drugs so that death row inmates can finally be killed. But as with Yost, why would
one be fully justified in calling this ridiculous political posturing with no real world impact as you did in your column about Dave Yost.
Leila (00:39.362)
Well, we would be justified in calling it out because Ohio hasn’t executed anyone since 2018. And Governor DeWine has been pretty clear that there will be no executions as long as he’s governor, unless the law changes to allow other methods besides lethal injection. And that’s because pharmaceutical companies refuse to sell execution drugs to the state. And if Ohio uses their meds for executions anyway,
They could stop selling any drugs to the state, which would really jeopardize medications for Medicaid recipients and inmates and troopers and more. I it’s a, it’s a huge problem, but that hasn’t stopped state lawmakers from tossing a new provision into the budget this week. It would force prison officials to work with the U S attorney general, Pam Bondi, Trump’s AG pick.
to try to secure lethal injection drugs despite these obvious roadblocks that haven’t changed. This all follows Dave Yost’s letter to Bondi asking for help getting the drugs and blasting pharmaceutical CEOs for letting their moral scruples interfere with the law. Yost, of course, is running for governor. He says it’s all about ending Ohio’s death penalty purgatory. But the thing is, even with all this bluster, there’s still no real plan or clear path forward.
DeWine isn’t budging, the state doesn’t have the drugs, and it’s unclear whether this budget add-on will even make the final cut. So is this a serious move or just more grandstanding with no teeth?
Chris Quinn (02:15.859)
No, come on, let’s face it. It’s not just about the drugs. DeWine has made clear he has a personal animus toward the death penalty. It violates his sense of moral fiber as much as abortion does. You got to give him points for principle. He’s against abortion because he believes it’s the taking of a human life, and he’s opposed to that, and he’s clearly opposed to that on the execution side. So he says it’s about the drugs, but whenever we’ve talked to him,
He gets that little grin and he said he is set at times. There hasn’t been one during my time, right? I’m proudly saying it. He is not going to sign a death warrant. This is not going to happen. So we got 21 more months where there will be no one executed in Ohio no matter what is available. And that’s what makes this ridiculous. They’re posturing to get drugs looking like they’re champions of justice when they know damn well that they won’t be used. And that’s why
I think people are fully justified in calling it out. They’re playing politics with death. Dave Yost wrote an op-ed talking about his days as a prosecutor and trying to justify why he cares about the death penalty. But he knows no one’s going to be executed in this state until the next governor is in office. So why are we fighting for these drugs now?
Leila (03:34.146)
Yeah, I mean, think what the greatest tell is that this is all about politics is that they’re not actually changing the execution protocol. The law still requires lethal injection and the state still can’t get the drugs. And so even if prison officials jump through all these hoops, the end result is the same. There’s no executions because they’re not going be able to get their hands on the drugs. So it’s a law that sounds tough, but does absolutely nothing.
Chris Quinn (03:59.957)
Right. There are other ways they can execute people. right. If they really were serious about it, change it. Bring back the firing squad or whatever. But this is politics. Everything they’re doing down there is politics.
Leila (04:09.006)
On the other hand, I have been wondering why doesn’t the governor just commute these to life sentences?
Chris Quinn (04:17.365)
That’s a point. That’s a good question. Next time we’re talking to him, we can ask him about that. You are listening to Today in Ohio. The Trump steamroller continues in Washington and now the local impact will be on health. Laura, what is happening to local health departments with the budget acts chopping away money for the Centers for Disease Control?
Laura (04:41.049)
Well, those health departments are bracing for possible layoffs, higher expenses and reduced community services because we’re talking about millions of dollars in terminated federal grants. And these were for COVID-19. So I think it’s pretty easy for Republicans to say, hey, COVID’s not a real problem anymore. Although you could, I guess, argue that, but we don’t need these grants. But they were in 2024 allowed to be spent on anything.
It’ll be harder for health departments to investigate the spread of diseases, address health disparities, promote vaccination, and educate the public about infectious diseases. However, we know this administration does not believe in vaccines or necessarily equity. So we’re talking about $11.4 billion in funds that were allocated according to reports and 9.8 million of that money was in Cuyahoga County in 2022 and 2023 combined.
Chris Quinn (05:39.435)
I don’t think we could say the administration doesn’t believe in vaccines. Donald Trump was responsible for the rush to get the COVID vaccine into American hands. And it was a miracle how fast that thing was turned around. I do wonder if what’s driving this is he he believes that the COVID epidemic really did hurt his reelection chances in 2020 that he was cruising along and the epidemic hit and it was bad news and everybody was scared and he and he believes that the
medical establishment scared people and the way the information spread scared people and partly cost them election. Of course, he believes he won the election. but is this an effort that in case we have another pandemic to kill the ability to warn people? I just the idea that you’re going to endanger people’s health for these venal reasons. These are critical services that many people rely upon.
Laura (06:18.201)
Great.
Chris Quinn (06:36.991)
And another pandemic will come. It will come eventually. It could come sooner than later. And we’ll be even less prepared than we were last time. And we weren’t prepared then.
Laura (06:48.697)
I don’t know that it’s that pointed, that that planning ahead. I mean, look at everything he’s done. He’s just slashing money everywhere. So if this is something that looks like it’s easy to cut, well, look, COVID-19, we don’t need that anymore. We’re going to cut it. But the clawback of the public health funds is unprecedented because a lot of these places have the money already, if not spent, obligated. Lake County earmarked $214,000 of this money for construction.
project. They’re still going go ahead with it, but they were counting on it. So this isn’t just, you know, you’re not going to get it anymore. This is money they were banking on for programs. So I don’t know how they cope with this. I mean, it’s the same thing as the food bank and everything else, right? This is going to endanger people’s lives. For what?
Chris Quinn (07:39.419)
There’s so much coming out of Washington that I don’t think anybody is considering the ramifications of. It’s why the courts are hitting the brakes and saying, let’s think about this. But they’re cutting for the sake of cutting without thinking about how it will affect people. And I believe that over the next couple of years, we’re going to be reporting nightmares. Wait till we see how every price you hit goes up with these tariffs. Everything you buy three, four months from now is going to be
25%, 10%, 15 % more than it is now. It’s going to wipe out people’s budgets. We’ll keep reporting on the impacts of Donald Trump’s decisions locally. There’s a lot of them, and you’re listening to Today in Ohio. We suspect that we will see more of this as Republicans in Congress realize the voters back home want their heads on a platter. But how did Ohio Congressman Max Miller break with his party and vote against an issue being pushed by the Republican House Speaker?
Lisa (08:32.988)
you
Chris Quinn (08:38.347)
Lisa.
Lisa (08:39.389)
Yeah the bay village republican join democrats and nine other republicans to vote down legislation that would have banned proxy voting but for congress members he was the only. Republican ohioan to vote against it that thing failed in hundred and twenty two to two oh six the proposal would have allowed members of congress to designate a colleague to vote in their place on the house floor and in committees for up to twelve weeks after the birth.
you know, either by a woman or, you know, a parent. It doesn’t have to be the birthing person. The proxy voting was allowed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the pandemic, but it was vigorously opposed by Republicans. Miller says, hey, we’re supposed to be the pro-life, pro-family party. As a new dad, I felt I couldn’t support this legislation. He does have a young child. Apparently the child had complications after birth, so he understands that.
Congressman Jim Jordan of Champaign County, he says, proxy voting is unconstitutional. This was back in May, 2020 during a social media post. says, you just got to show up for work. And right after this vote, speaker Mike Johnson abruptly adjourned the meeting. He called the vote unfortunate. He says, well, 96 % of Republicans voted for it. So he’s going to regroup and come back.
Chris Quinn (10:01.335)
I think they’re realizing the people back home are revolting. They’re just not accepting what’s happening in Washington, and they’re furious that their representatives and senators will not even get back to them. And I get notes every day from people about the lame responses they’re getting or non-responses. And I think Miller gets that. I think he understands that every time he makes a vote, there are people raising hell about it. You saw Republicans in the Senate yesterday vote.
for a measure to block Donald Trump’s Canadian tariffs. It won’t happen in the House, so it’s a hollow gesture, but it was Republicans voting against Donald Trump, and that’s the beginning of the erosion. And I think you’ll see more of it, because people aren’t having it. And when prices go sky high this summer, it’s just going to be pitchfork and torches time, and maybe Max Miller’s better tuned into it than others. It’s a simple thing, too. Everybody is giving parents leave now.
to spend the first couple of months with their kids, or many are, everybody should. And all Congress is doing here is saying for the first eight, what is it, eight, 10 weeks of your time with your new child, you can have a proxy vote. You don’t have to come here and abandon your kid during that critical time. And the venal Republicans in Congress don’t care. They don’t care about the family as much as they say they do.
Lisa (11:23.495)
I just remember that scene and forgive me, I don’t remember what name or state she was from, but that woman who had just given birth and rushed to Congress to make a vote with this newborn baby in her hands. mean, that’s what he’s trying to prevent. And know, Miller’s kind of on a roll. I mean, we’ve reported on him recently about a couple of bills that he’s co-sponsoring, you know, to try and help farmers and sustainability of our environment. So interesting trend.
Chris Quinn (11:51.191)
Well, I think he’s hearing the whispers out of Columbus that they’re going to change his district a bit, which might make him more vulnerable. And he’s going to have to pick up some independent voters that he didn’t need last time. He’s he might have a real race on his hands. We’re hearing candidates raising their hand. So maybe maybe he’s listening. Nobody else seems to be certainly Bernie Moreno is not. But maybe he’s listening to what people are saying back home. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
A week after we learned of serious cutbacks in federal food deliveries to food banks, we spent some time at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to get an idea of how hard this will be for people who are hungry. Leila, what did we learn?
Leila (12:35.566)
Well, in short, this is really going to hurt. a week after the feds abruptly canceled 20 truckloads of food that were supposed to arrive between now and July with zero warning or explanation, really, the food bank is now bracing for empty shelves. And that’s on top of a separate cut from the Trump administration that’s already set to wipe out another million pounds of food starting this summer.
Reporter Molly Walsh walked the warehouse floor with CEO Kristen Warzoka, who’s really doing the mental math as she scans the pallets. And what should be a mountain of supplies looks a lot more uncertain now. The food bank served a record 424,000 people last year. That’s the highest in its history. And demand keeps climbing. One in four kids in their service area faces food insecurity. So for now, they’re still getting donations and non-federal support. So it’s
not total panic mode yet, but this is a massive blow to their inventory and also to their morale. Staff and volunteers told Molly how hard it is knowing that they may not have enough to meet their need and especially when summer hits and more kids rely on them for meals. And again, this isn’t just a Cleveland problem. We’ve got Akron, Canton, Lorraine, food banks all across Northeast Ohio are getting hit.
Chris Quinn (13:55.891)
It’s really that moment. There’s no bread, let them eat cake. This is what happens when you pack the government with billionaires who have no idea what it’s like for people trying to make ends meet. Donald Trump has proven he does not care about the needy and taking food away from them does not seem to bother him at all. I really don’t look forward to how this is going to go down. The food bank is going to be desperate. Maybe Northeast Ohio will rally and provide more donations to help cover it.
Leila (14:28.042)
It is so cruel, so cruel, so short sighted. mean, when families can’t put food on the table, it drives up pressure on schools, hospitals, shelters, all the systems that kick in when basic needs go unmet. Food banks are one of the most efficient safety nets we have and slashing their supply in the middle of a hunger crisis is just a moral failure. And it’s terrible policy that ends up costing more in the long run.
Chris Quinn (14:55.893)
But again, you got billionaires making these decisions. They’ve never known hunger in their lives. Right. They just don’t care about poor people. It’s really that idea of, well, too bad. And occasionally I get an email from somebody responding to comments like this saying, who says that my federal taxes should be used to feed the hungry? And you just think, my god, man, stop watching Fox News. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Leila (14:58.978)
Right. What do they know? What do they care? Yeah.
Chris Quinn (15:22.281)
Which industries did the Ohio House protect as they slashed money from Mike DeWine’s proposed budget, some of which would have been used to help children? And Laura, how do House Republicans justify protecting industry over kids?
Laura (15:37.207)
Well, I don’t really think that they do. They don’t admit to their motives. It’s not like when they pass a bill, they’re like, and here’s who gave us the money to make sure this will happen the way they wanted it. But we’re talking about the tobacco industry. And Governor Mike DeWine has long sought just limits basically on the tobacco industry. the state doesn’t want, know, state legislature doesn’t want to give it to him. So in the state budget revisions, we’re talking about what the House came back with with their budget.
They slash funding from the state’s tobacco use prevention, cessation and enforcement fund that operates Ohio’s tobacco cessation hotline and enforces age requirements for for buying the cigarettes, is 21 in this state. So the House budget slashed it by eight million dollars from 20 million dollars. And this this is what helps people quit. That’s what the state health department says. It’s one of the strongest bulwarks against tobacco addiction.
making it five times more likely for people to quit smoking than people who do it without any help at all. So obviously, we’re not going to be able to keep up that kind of work. And obviously, they didn’t allow for the sin taxes that DeWine wanted. He wanted these cigarette enforcement taxes, the sales tax, to go up from $1.60 to $3.10 per pack, and doubling the tax per unit on liquid or non-liquid nicotine products like vapes.
create a registration program for vape sellers. So this was all gonna help fund the stadiums idea and the youth sports, which the house said, nope, we’ll just bond out the money. But why you could say, hey, smoking has been declining, it’s not as big of a problem. One in five high school students in Ohio are still using e-cigarettes. I mean, that is mind boggling.
Chris Quinn (17:25.789)
Yeah, I just they can’t justify any of this. They’re protecting the tobacco industry because the tobacco industry is in their heads and possibly in their pockets. They’re protecting the sports betting industry for the same reason. There is no legitimate justification for any of this. None. And yet they look into the cameras and spew out words, meaningless words about how they’re protecting Ohioans. And they’re not. They’re damning Ohioans. They’re putting
Laura (17:39.619)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (17:54.889)
our tax dollars at risk for the stadium instead of doing what Mike DeWine proposed, which is let the sports betting industry pay for it. And they’re the ones that make money on it. There’s no way you can justify that. There’s no way you can justify not reducing smoking while getting some money to help take care of children. And that’s who we have in the Ohio legislature. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Laura (18:18.466)
No argument.
Chris Quinn (18:20.319)
A big good news story for Cleveland and one of its thought leaders Brandon Christowski, the visionary behind Edwards Leadership and Restaurant Institute. He won a big honor this week. Lisa, what is it?
Lisa (18:32.817)
Yeah, he will receive the 2025 James Beard Foundation Impact Award for efforts to create an equitable and inclusive culinary landscape through his Edwin’s Leadership and Restaurant Institute. As we all know in Cleveland, this was established in 2013 to train people recently released from prison in all aspects of the restaurant business, including, you know, he has a bakery and a butcher shop as well.
He said, we finally brought a James Beard Award back to Cleveland. He says, now we can use this big key to open even bigger doors. He will be formally honored at a ceremony June 14th to 16th in Chicago. This award is new this year. So he’s like, you know, the first winner of this new award. It’s gonna be awarded to people who reshape the food system with equity, sustainability and economic opportunity.
Also, another Cleveland person is getting a James Beard Award. Toni Tipton-Martin. She was the Plain Dealer food editor in the 90s. She’s going to get a lifetime achievement award.
Chris Quinn (19:35.519)
We should point out the Beard Awards have categories like a lot of other contests do and what we’re talking about here is the inaugural round of this new category. And really, you can’t think of somebody better suited for this award than Brandon Krustovsky. What he’s done is just terrific. He’s created a place for people coming out of prison to learn a business while
while hosting a very fine restaurant that just moved into Cleveland Heights into the former night town. He’s got butcher shops now. He’s got all sorts of adjunct businesses and it always is employing people as they leave prison. It’s amazing what this guy has done. A special, special guy for this city.
Lisa (20:25.351)
And I think the fact that he’s the first recipient sets a really high bar for the years to come.
Chris Quinn (20:29.493)
Yeah, it does. It does. It’s just he’s somebody we should celebrate. He’s he’s really kind of a special Clevelander. You’re listening to Today in Ohio for a hot minute. A piece of land on Opportunity Carter was planned as the site for a new Cleveland police headquarters by former Mayor Frank Jackson. Mayor Justin Bibb quickly killed that idea. Laila is something else coming to that site now that the police headquarters is off the table.
Leila (20:59.47)
Yeah, something is finally in the works there and hopefully it will bring new jobs. The 12 acre plot at East 75th and Grand that headquarters, know, formally planned for the headquarters, it’s now being eyed for a possible land swap. The city, a nonprofit called the Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund, and an unnamed private developer are all talking about a three-way deal that could put that property back into play for economic development.
And this is how it would work. The developer wants that land, but they also own land that the Good Jobs Fund is interested in. So the city might trade the former police headquarters site to the fund, and then the fund would trade with the developer. So it’s still early, but Cleveland is moving ahead to prep the land, consolidating the parcels, clearing rights of way, and getting everything shovel ready. So it’s attractive to potential job creators. And city council just signed off on the first steps to make that happen.
But Councilman Richard Starr, who represents that neighborhood, says that whatever ends up there, it just needs to deliver real jobs and career opportunities for local residents. It’s the kind of thing that Opportunity Corridor was supposed to bring in the first place. So yeah, it’s not going to be the headquarters for police, but maybe something better is coming. And this time, it could potentially serve the people who live nearby.
Chris Quinn (22:20.245)
Right now that I drive by that track to land fairly frequently and it’s tall grasses and kind of a mess. And it looks to me like it’s a place where people dump stolen cars because random vehicles show up there from time to time. What I remember though, when Jackson was pushing his kind of radical idea to put the police headquarters that far out of downtown was there wasn’t development coming to opportunity Carter, even though was getting close to opening.
Leila (22:33.195)
Wow.
Chris Quinn (22:48.875)
And this piece of land in particular was going to be a hard sell. And so that’s why he was saying, I think putting the headquarters there will take a piece of land that we’re not really going to find a use for. And it’s going to bring safety to that corridor that might attract more developers to do it. So it’s really interesting that that’s not true, that somebody does want to develop that land. It is sellable. And Justin Bibb
I think recognize that that’s why he put the police headquarters in a renovated building downtown.
Leila (23:21.548)
Yeah, I think though that Richard’s star is right here. I mean, the test is how the site gets developed and who benefits from it. Because Opportunity Quarter was pitched as a way to spark inclusive growth in historically disinvested neighborhoods, not just attract shiny new projects. So if this land ends up becoming another warehouse with low wage jobs and no clear path to advancement, we’ve kind of missed the point.
So the city has a chance here to set the bar higher and demand developments that build some wealth and create career paths and actually invest in the people who’ve lived in these neighborhoods all along. I hope that whoever they have in mind for this is in keeping with that long-term mission for Opportunity Corridor.
Chris Quinn (24:08.577)
There’s another issue though with this. If you don’t drive it, you don’t know it, but opportunity corridor is often a parking lot. Even though it’s a fairly new road, the day it opened, it had high usage and there are many parts of the day where you’re stuck. So anything you add out there is going to add to what has already become a traffic nightmare. And I hope they start thinking in terms of traffic engineering.
Leila (24:16.686)
Hmm.
Chris Quinn (24:35.627)
to keep traffic moving through there. A lot of people that work in the hospital district, for instance, use that to get home to the West side and they’re stuck in traffic jams every day. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. The fight between the city and the Cleveland Browns took a nasty turn Thursday with Cleveland saying it wants sanctions on Brown’s lawyers. This is all a fight about where the next stadium will be. Laura, what is this nasty spat about?
Leila (24:40.268)
Right.
Laura (25:02.285)
Well, Cleveland and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which is part of the same lawsuit, say that the Browns wanting to update their lawsuit is improper. That basically they didn’t do it the right way at the beginning, so they want to restart and that they should not be allowed to do that. They want the judge to block this update of a lawsuit and they want sanctions against those lawyers for attempting to file it. And because they say, hey, this has been going on for months, we don’t want to go back to square one.
So sanctions against lawyers are penalties that could be imposed by a court for violating rules, procedures, and ethical standards. They can range from fines to disbarment. mean, obviously, I don’t think we’d be talking about disbarment here, but it is nasty. this is one of two lawsuits. There’s one in federal court as well. And the proposed update, we’ve talked about it on this podcast. It didn’t have a lot new in it. It seemed to be making the case that this isn’t really leaving town.
It’s not really applicable with the Modell law because this is all over the Modell law passed after Art Modell took the Browns to Baltimore saying, if you are going to take a team out of the city, you’ve got to give the locals a chance to buy it first. And what the Browns are arguing is we’re not really leaving the city.
Chris Quinn (26:17.419)
We’re getting ever closer to the end of this journey. The state will decide on the money for the Browns by the end of June. And Mike DeWine could veto that because he wants to do it another way, but he probably won’t. He usually doesn’t. So they’ll have the state money. They have their own money. They have a path that they don’t get the local money in the way they want. My bet is Cleveland ends up making a deal with the Haslums and this all gets
Laura (26:33.304)
Right.
Chris Quinn (26:45.035)
flushed away without being resolved by judges or the courts. The one standout remains the county. want to bond, so borrow money through the county’s bonding ability. County Executive Chris Ronane just keeps saying no way. Eventually, my bet is they’ll come to some kind of terms. The county needs to be protected. The taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook. my bet is we’ll never get a decision on this set of lawsuits.
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. It’s not just candidates for governor who are getting into the 2026 races way ahead of time. We already have somebody running for Congress in Northeast Ohio. Lisa, who is it?
Lisa (27:28.497)
He’s former Ohio lawmaker Kevin Coughlin. He’s a Republican from Bath Township. He’s going to be running for the 13th congressional district GOP primary. This is the second time he’s challenged the incumbent Amelia Sykes, an Akron Democrat. The 13th district is all of Summit County, Northern Stark, and a sliver of Portage County.
Dave’s redistricting app calls it a toss-up with a slight Democratic edge. But as we talked about early in this podcast, the lines could change with Ohio congressional maps being redrawn later this year. Coughlin won a three-way GOP primary last year and he got nearly 49 % of the vote versus Sykes. He said in his announcement that he says we can replace Sykes’ liberal rubber stamp with common sense solutions and that we need somebody who will stand with Trump.
Ohio Democratic Party, spokeswoman Carrie Katie Seward says, well, he would just be another vote to make life more expensive by allowing billionaires to run the government. And they’ve denounced Coughlin’s previous stances on abortion and they have accused him of wanting to gut federal senior programs. But I guess he figures with the, the maps changing lines, he might have a better chance. He, wasn’t far behind Sykes last year.
Chris Quinn (28:40.587)
Yeah, yeah, that’s what we’ve heard. We’ve heard they’re changing the lines to get to get her out. They want her out. They want him in. And he probably knows that. That’s why he’s getting in this early. Sadly, he’s another culture warrior. He doesn’t have a whole lot of thought to what he says. It’s all the same. The same nonsense you get all the time. Sentences without real thinking behind it. You love to hear from a politician that just goes outside the box with new thoughts and he’s not it.
But my bet is this will change enough where he will win that seat.
Lisa (29:13.725)
Yeah. And it’s ironic that he calls Sykes a liberal rubber stamp when he’s just gonna be a Trump rubber stamp.
Chris Quinn (29:21.065)
Yeah, that’s all he wants to be. will have to see. The problem is by the midterms, based on what we saw this week in Florida and Wisconsin, there’s anger growing. know, it’s the Musk spent a lot of time and money trying to win that Supreme Court race in Wisconsin for the Republican. And he failed miserably. She trounced that guy as like 55 to 45 landslide. And the Florida the Republican won, but it wasn’t nearly by what you would have thought.
in a Trump district. And so it doesn’t matter what they do to change those maps. If people are in pitches, torches and pitchfork time, no one in the Republican Party is going to win easily. And Kauffman could be sitting here again in two years, the loser. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the Thursday episode. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Leila. Thank you for being here. We’ll be back Friday to wrap up the week of news.