Loveland Magazine

LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor

Since 2004

Tag: Ohio Capital Journal

  • Colorado judge temporarily blocks Kroger-Albertsons grocery ‘megamerger’

    Colorado judge temporarily blocks Kroger-Albertsons grocery ‘megamerger’

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    A Colorado judge has issued an order temporarily blocking the proposed $24.6 billion merger between the nation’s two largest supermarket chains ahead of an antitrust trial in state court set to begin in September.

    Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in February sued to block the merger between grocery giant Kroger, which operates King Soopers and City Market stores in Colorado, and Albertsons, which operates the Safeway brand. Weiser’s suit alleges that the deal violates state antitrust laws and would have “harmful impacts on consumers, workers, and suppliers.” The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson have also challenged the merger in court.

    Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen on Thursday granted Weiser’s request for a preliminary injunction against the merger, barring the two companies from completing their deal before a ruling is issued in the case.

    Chase Woodruff
    CHASE WOODRUFF

    Chase Woodruff is a senior reporter for Colorado Newsline. His beats include the environment, money in politics, and the economy.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

  • Democrats approve virtual vote by delegates to pick a presidential nominee

    Democrats approve virtual vote by delegates to pick a presidential nominee

    Loveland, Ohio – BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    The Democratic National Committee will move forward with a virtual nomination vote for its presidential candidate as soon as Aug. 1, after its Rules Committee approved the process on Wednesday.

    The DNC has been moving forward with plans to hold a virtual nomination roll call since well before President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.

    The pre-convention vote is necessary to avoid potential legal pitfalls that could arise if the DNC waits to formally nominate its candidate until during its convention in late August, since some states have deadlines to place candidates on their ballots before or during that week.

    DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said at the beginning of the Rules Committee’s meeting the party is striving to “execute this nomination with transparency, with fairness and efficiency.”

    “Many of you have probably seen the reporting that Vice President Harris has received the expressed support from the majority of pledged delegates and might wonder what that means for this process,” Harrison said.

    “Delegates are free to support who they choose and we are glad that they are engaging in this important moment in history,” Harrison said. “As a party we have an obligation to design and implement a fair nomination process for delegates to officially express their preferences through a vote resulting in eventually an official nominee of the Democratic Party who will go on to the top ballot in November.”

    Multi-step process

    Under the process adopted during the panel’s meeting, Harris as well as other presidential hopefuls have from July 25 through July 27 at 6 p.m. Eastern to register their intent to seek the nomination with the DNC Convention secretary.

    Candidates then have until July 30 at 6 p.m. to meet the requirements, including collecting at least 300 signatures from DNC delegates with a maximum of 50 of those people representing any one state.

    DNC Rules Committee Co-Chair Leah D. Daughtry said during the live-streamed meeting that if only one presidential candidate qualifies, she expects the virtual roll call would take place on Aug. 1.

    If more than one candidate qualifies, Daughtry anticipates the virtual roll call would take place on or around Aug. 3.

    Democrats will still hold a ceremonial roll call of the states from the floor of the United Center in Chicago during their convention week, but have argued for months they must certify their nominee beforehand.

    ‘Consistent with our values’

    Minyon Moore, chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, said the party has “the guideposts and the expertise in place to ensure that we will do this right and in a manner that is consistent with our values as Democrats.”

    “We understand that this is an unprecedented situation but I’m confident that we will find a path forward together,” Moore said.

    DNC outside counsel Pat Moore said the virtual roll call will provide an avenue for all 4,699 delegates to cast a vote for the presidential nominee.

    The DNC waiting until the in-person convention to officially certify its presidential nominee, he said, would open the party up to lawsuits.

    “Make no mistake, we have strong legal arguments in response to any such claims and we’re prepared to make them,” Pat Moore said. “But we also have opponents who are willing to make specious arguments and drag out the process in an effort to confuse voters and muddy the waters. And in some states, we will face an unfriendly judiciary.”

    Pat Moore said that ensuring the DNC formally nominates its presidential and vice presidential candidates ahead of any state deadlines is about ensuring voters in every state have their ballots counted in November.

    “Past is precedent: Trump and Republicans have already made it 100% clear that they will challenge the validity of the results if they lose on Election Day,” Pat Moore said.

    “If we take chances with state processes and deadlines, Republican groups could make the same argument to challenge Democratic votes in the post-election setting, arguing that our nominee should never have been on the ballot in the first place,” Pat Moore added. “We should not and must not give them that opportunity.”

    Jennifer Shutt
    JENNIFER SHUTT

    Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

  • Ohio Supreme Court will hear Senate president’s fight against deposition in private school vouchers case

    Ohio Supreme Court will hear Senate president’s fight against deposition in private school vouchers case

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments as part of a lawsuit against private school vouchers in the state, to decide whether or not Senate President Matt Huffman needs to answer questions on the topic.

    The court announced on Tuesday that it would take up the case, in which Huffman is asking to avoid answering questions related to the state’s private school voucher program challenge taking place in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

    Huffman appealed to the high court in April, invoking Article 11 of the Ohio Constitution, which states during a session of the General Assembly, senators and representatives are protected from treason, felony, or breach of the peace, “and for any speech, or debate, in either house, they shall not be questioned elsewhere.”

    “This appeal raises significant – and, to date, unanswered – questions about the scope of the constitutional protections provided to the Ohio General Assembly’s members that ‘for any speech, or debate, in either house, they shall not be questioned elsewhere,’ which is commonly referred to as the Speech and Debate Clause,” Columbus attorney Mark D. Wagoner wrote on behalf of Huffman.

    Huffman was one of many parties asked to participate in a deposition or answer questions about the program and its funding. The Senate president was subpoenaed – and is now fighting the subpoena – for an April 2023 deposition “on his knowledge of school funding in Ohio and his involvement in the enactment and expansion of the EdChoice program.”

    The case for which Huffman doesn’t want to provide a deposition is an effort to eliminate the private school voucher program in the state, a program that provides subsidies for public school students enrolled in what are considered by the state to be underperforming schools, allowing those students to attend private schools, often religiously affiliated.

    Huffman was Senate president when when the budget bill that included the private voucher expansion was passed in 2021.

    The program and its most recent expansion have been criticized for taking funding out of public school coffers, funding higher income white students more than the original program’s goal to assist lower income students and minorities, and violating the state constitution which requires the state to properly fund a system of public schools throughout Ohio.

    In December of last year, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page said Huffman did not need to submit to the in-person deposition, but instead could answer questions “that do not implicate legislative privilege” in a written form.

    The judge ruled that the legislative privilege Huffman argued didn’t extend to everything done or related to a legislative process, “but attaches only to meetings, processes, conversations and documents which are an integral part of the deliberative and communicative process by which legislators participate in legislative or committee proceedings.”

    Page also said if the written deposition demonstrated “that an in-person oral deposition of Huffman is likely to provide additional information,” the judge would reconsider the written deposition order.

    Huffman appealed to the Tenth District Court of Appeals in January of this year, asking to be released from the order for written deposition answers, citing the same “legislative testimonial privilege” in the Speech and Debate Clause.

    The appellate court dismissed Huffman’s appeal in March, saying the lower court’s order “permits (voucher challengers) to submit questions but stops short of compelling (Huffman) to answer.”

    The appellate decision said Huffman could again sue on legislative privilege grounds after the questions were submitted to him, “and the trial court will have the opportunity to review (Huffman’s) concerns in the context of the questions being posed.”

    In his appeal to the state supreme court, Huffman’s attorney said “the importance of this language is clear.”

    “The Speech and Debate Clause does not require President Huffman to jump through the additional hoops suggested by the Tenth District Court of Appeals,” the appeal stated.

    Justice Michael Donnelly, Melody Stewart and Jennifer Brunner all voted against accepting the case. Ninth District Court of Appeals Judge Jill Flagg Lanzinger sat in for Justice Joe Deters.

    The court will now set deadlines for documents to be submitted to the court, and oral arguments will be scheduled in the case.

    Susan Tebben
    SUSAN TEBBEN

    Susan Tebben is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience covering Ohio news, including courts and crime, Appalachian social issues, government, education, diversity and culture. She has worked for The Newark Advocate, The Glasgow (KY) Daily Times, The Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. She has also had work featured on National Public Radio.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

  • Signatures certified: Ohio anti-gerrymandering amendment on its way to November ballot

    Signatures certified: Ohio anti-gerrymandering amendment on its way to November ballot

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    A proposed anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio that would remove politicians from the redistricting process in favor of a citizens commission has gathered enough signatures to proceed to voters on the November ballot.

    The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office certified 535,005 signatures for the Citizens Not Politicians ballot initiative that would create an independent redistricting commission and replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission made up entirely of elected officials.

    The coalition of voting rights groups and anti-gerrymandering advocates who made up Citizens Not Politicians submitted more than 731,000 signatures on July 1, well above the required 413,487. The Secretary of State’s Office reviewed the signatures for duplicate or invalid signatures, finalizing the total on Tuesday.

    The office also said the initiative received signatures from 58 of the 88 counties, and at least 5% of the total vote cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election. Ohio law requires measures to have signatures in at least 44 counties.

    “This certification is a historic step towards restoring fairness in Ohio’s electoral process,” retired Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said in a CNP statement after the signatures were certified.

    The former chief justice came on to the effort early in the process after leaving the Ohio Supreme Court due to age limits. As a member the state’s highest court, she was part of a majority that rejected six maps, both Ohio Statehouse and congressional, adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which includes the governor, auditor of state, and secretary of state, along with legislative leaders, all of whom are elected officials, as dictated by the current redistricting laws.

    O’Connor told supporters at a rally when the signatures were submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office that the measure was “one of the most widely supported citizen-initiated constitutional amendments in Ohio’s history.”

    The initiative now heads to the Ohio Ballot Board, led by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, where the language of the initiative will be reviewed, and can be changed as it was with last November’s Issue 1 abortion amendment.

    According to CNP, the ballot board, which has not yet scheduled the meeting for the measure’s consideration, has until Aug. 22 to “write and adopt the language that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot” based on constitutional requirements to “properly identify the substance of the proposal to be voted on.”

    “We are confident that Ohio voters will see simple, accurate language when they go to the polls on Nov. 5 to vote for this amendment,” O’Connor said in the CNP statement.

    In addition to creating a 15-member independent redistricting commission, the constitutional amendment would ban current or former politicians and party officials, along with lobbyists from having a seat on the commission, and “require the creation of fair and impartial districts, prohibiting any drawing of voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician,” according to the coalition.

    Supporters also say the amendment would create a more transparent process than has been seen in past redistricting efforts.

    Opponents of the measure include Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, who took during a post-primary event by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce to make the case against the effort.

    He argued the new process would provoke an “extraordinary” amount of legal challenges, and he also defended the current process.

    “When allowed to work in the summer of 2023, (the redistricting process) did work,” Huffman said in March.

    After ballot board approval, the initiative will then be included in the November ballot issues statewide.

    Susan Tebben
    SUSAN TEBBEN

    Susan Tebben is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience covering Ohio news, including courts and crime, Appalachian social issues, government, education, diversity and culture. She has worked for The Newark Advocate, The Glasgow (KY) Daily Times, The Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. She has also had work featured on National Public Radio.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

     

  • Federal judge scraps Ohio’s narrow list of helpers for disabled voters

    Federal judge scraps Ohio’s narrow list of helpers for disabled voters

    The 2022 Ohio law requiring photo voter ID also established a list of close family members who can assist voters with their absentee ballots.

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    A federal judge this week blocked part of a sweeping 2022 Ohio elections law that placed sharp restrictions on who may return an absentee ballot. Under that law, only certain close relatives can assist someone with absentee ballots. Anyone outside that narrow list would face a fourth-degree felony if they were caught with someone else’s ballot.

    The challenge, brought by disabled Ohio resident and activist Jennifer Kucera and the League of Women Voters, argued federal law allows a disabled voter to seek assistance from whoever they want — so long as that person isn’t their employer or union leader.

    In her order, U.S. District Court judge Bridget Meehan Brennan determined the Voting Rights Act grants disabled voters that broad discretion, and permanently enjoined enforcement of Ohio’s absentee ballot assistance provisions for disabled voters.

    But she cautioned her order is narrow in scope.

    “The limited injunction relates only to: (a) disabled voters; (b) who want to utilize absentee voting; and (c) who do not want or cannot obtain assistance from one of state’s specified assistors.” Brennan wrote.

    The Ohio law’s strict photo strict photo ID requirements, for instance, are not affected by the order.

    Nature of the case

    At the heart of the challenge is Kucera, a woman living a form of muscular dystrophy that leaves her wheelchair bound with limited motor function. She relies on the help of in-home caregivers for many daily tasks like bathing, dressing and cooking.

    Under Ohio’s law, the only eligible family member who could return Kucera’s ballot is her mother who is elderly, lives half an hour away and faces her own health and mobility issues. Kucera argued her caregivers should be able to assist her with absentee voting under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act.

    Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Attorney General Dave Yost argued those provisions only applied to assistance at the ballot box — not for absentee voting. Judge Brennan rejected that narrow interpretation.

    “As written, the statutory language encapsulates absentee voting since it refers to ‘all action necessary to make a vote effective,’” Brennan wrote, adding later, “The broad language chosen by Congress is determinative. Section 208 applies in equal force to absentee voting.”

    State officials also argued Ohio law doesn’t conflict the VRA because the state can define who qualifies as a “person” under the law. Because section 208 refers to “a person” rather than “any” or “the” person, they argued, the statute presumes some “undetermined or unspecific particular” that state lawmakers may define. But Brennan said Ohio’s leaders are focusing on the wrong part of the phrase.

    “Congress has already defined for the states — and the courts — who the unspecified person is: “a person of the voter’s choice,” Brennan wrote.

    The judge added that because Congress included exceptions (a voter can’t look to their boss or an agent of their union) in the legislative text, the appropriate supposition is that those carve outs are the only ones lawmakers wanted — not that state officials are free to add more.

    Looking around the country, Brennan added, courts have reached similar conclusions. In Arkansas, a law criminalizing people from assisting more than six voters “essentially added a clause to Section 208 that is not there.” In Wisconsin, a court rejected a legal interpretation prohibiting any third party from returning ballots, and in Texas a judge invalidated a law limiting who could serve as an interpreter.

    “Use of an indefinite article is not an invitation for states to act in contravention of Congress’ clear intent: allowing disabled voters to choose for themselves a person to assist them with voting,” Brennan insisted.

    “If Congress wanted to allow states to modify or this right, it would have said so,” she added.

    “It did not.”

    Relief & Response

    In addition to Ohio officials defending the state’s restrictions, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party intervened in the case. They argued enjoining the state law “would erode ‘Republican voters’ confidence,’” and could threaten GOP turnout.

    “Intervenors cite no evidence that Republican voters would be dissuaded from voting if disabled voters are able to choose who assists them in submitting an absentee ballot,” Brennan wrote. “In any event, the clear violation of a federally guaranteed voting right in this case outweighs any harm.”

    The parties and state officials also argued it’s too close to an election to make any changes. Judge Brennan applied a multi-factor test from an earlier case known as Purcell — timing, potential confusion, and burdens. Brennan determined with months to go until early voting begins timing isn’t a problem, and doing nothing would create confusion for disabled voters because of the disagreement between state and federal law. As for burdens following from her order, Brennan emphasized that protecting disabled voters who need assistance amounts to a subset of a subset of voters.

    In a flurry of statements, leaders from the organizations challenging the state law praised the ruling. Jen Miller who heads up the League of Women Voter of Ohio, hailed it as a “victory for voters.”

    “We applaud the court for upholding the Voting Rights Act because grandkids, roommates, and other common-sense helpers should be able to assist their loved ones without fear of a felony sentence,” she said. “Many Ohio voters with disabilities cannot easily travel to the one -county drop box while others may struggle to reach their mailbox or seal the ballot envelope.”

    ACLU of Ohio’s legal director Freda Levinson said, “We are thrilled that the court ordered the state to stop denying Ohioans with disabilities the opportunity to cast their ballots via assistance from a trusted person of their choice. This is the correct reading of the Voting Rights Act and a validating decision for Ohio voters.”

    Secretary of State Frank LaRose did not respond to a request for comment.

    Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.

    Nick Evans
    NICK EVANS

    Nick Evans has spent the past seven years reporting for NPR member stations in Florida and Ohio. He got his start in Tallahassee, covering issues like redistricting, same sex marriage and medical marijuana. Since arriving in Columbus in 2018, he has covered everything from city council to football. His work on Ohio politics and local policing have been featured numerous times on NPR.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

  • What to know about Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden as his successor

    What to know about Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden as his successor

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Sunday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the new Democratic presidential nominee, passing the torch to the California native who has helmed administration initiatives on reproductive rights and gun violence prevention.

    A former U.S. senator from California who vied for her party’s presidential nomination in the 2020 primaries, Harris, 59, would represent a new generation at the top of the ticket after Biden, 81, withdrew from the race under pressure from Democratic leaders following a disastrous late June debate performance.

    Harris, the nation’s first woman vice president, now has a chance to become the first woman president, depending on what Democrats decide. She is also the first Black vice president and first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

    Some in the party publicly floated her as a potential replacement for Biden following the debate. Biden initially refused to end his reelection bid despite a growing number of calls within the Democratic Party for him to step aside. He bowed out on Sunday.

    “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden said in a Sunday post on X.

    Policy initiatives

    During her time as vice president, Harris became a leading voice in the administration’s fight for reproductive rights and abortion access — often seen as Democrats’ strongest issue since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which ended nearly half a century of the federal constitutional right to abortion.

    Harris launched a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour in early 2024, bringing her to several swing states. And after touring a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, Harris was believed to be the first sitting president or vice president to tour an abortion clinic.

    Harris has also focused on gun safety throughout her vice presidential tenure. She announced the launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center in March to assist states, local governments and others in “optimizing the usage of red flag laws,” according to the White House.

    She also called on states to pass so-called red flag laws — which enable law enforcement to petition civil courts to take away firearms from those who could pose a danger to themselves or others — and use Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funding to “to help implement laws already enacted.”

    The administration championed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Biden signed into law in June 2022. The measure was regarded as the most comprehensive federal gun safety legislation in almost 30 years.

    She’s also been a sharp opponent, alongside Biden and other Democrats, of Project 2025 — the nearly 900-page document from the Heritage Foundation that proposes a sweeping conservative agenda if former President Donald J. Trump is elected. Though Trump has distanced himself from the platform, some former members of his administration helped write it.

    Harris has also drawn criticism on both sides of the aisle for her efforts surrounding immigration. Biden tapped her in 2021 to help address the “root causes” of migration in Central America.

    She visited the U.S.-Mexico border in June 2021 after making stops in Guatemala and Mexico earlier that month, the first international trip for her as vice president.

    Republicans have repeatedly called her a “border czar” despite her focus being on migration’s “root causes” in Central American countries.

    During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was one of several speakers who dubbed her a “border czar,” adding the barb that “appointing Kamala Harris to oversee the border is like appointing Bernie Madoff to oversee your retirement plan.”

    Harris also holds the record for the highest number of tie-breaking votes cast in the U.S. Senate.

    Public polling and perception

    Since the fallout from the June 27 debate, a slew of polls have offered mixed outcomes as to whether voters would choose Harris over Trump if the two were up against each other.

    An Economist/YouGov poll conducted July 13-16 shows both Harris and Biden narrowly behind Trump, with Biden performing slightly better than Harris.

    Only 39% said they would choose Harris, compared to 44% who would vote for Trump. Similarly, 41% said they would vote for Biden, compared to 43% choosing Trump.

    As of mid-July, her approval ratings also appeared dim, with 50.4% of Americans disapproving of her and 38.6% approving.

    California background

    Prior to serving as vice president, Harris was a U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021. With a long career in law enforcement, she served as the attorney general of California and was also the district attorney of San Francisco.

    Harris vied for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election before ultimately withdrawing her candidacy months later and subsequently endorsing Biden. She dropped out prior to the Iowa caucuses, ending her bid in December 2019, despite being initially viewed as a top Democratic contender.

    She was born in Oakland, California, in 1964 to immigrant parents. She is married to Doug Emhoff, who is the first Jewish spouse of either a U.S. president or vice president, according to the White House. He’s also the first second gentleman in U.S. history.

    Harris is an alumna of Howard University, a historically Black institution, and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings.

    Shauneen Miranda
    SHAUNEEN MIRANDA

    Shauneen Miranda is a reporter for States Newsroom’s Washington bureau. An alumna of the University of Maryland, she previously covered breaking news for Axios.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

  • BREAKING: President Joe Biden bows out of reelection campaign, endorses Harris

    BREAKING: President Joe Biden bows out of reelection campaign, endorses Harris

    BY:  AND  – Ohio Capital Journal

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race Sunday, he said in a letter posted to social media, creating an unprecedented vacancy atop the Democratic ticket one month before he was scheduled to officially accept his party’s nomination.

    In a followup post less than 30 minutes later, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place as the Democratic nominee.

    Biden’s withdrawal came after a weeks-long pressure campaign from party insiders following a disastrous June 27 debate performance against GOP candidate former President Donald Trump.

    The move throws an already-unusual presidential race into further chaos, and it was not immediately clear Sunday how Democrats would choose a replacement for Biden in November’s election, though Harris would have a strong claim to lead the ticket.

    Biden praised Harris as “an extraordinary partner” in the administration’s accomplishments.

    Biden, who has been fighting a COVID-19 infection at home in Delaware since last week, was not specific about his reasons for stepping aside, but said he believed it was in the country’s best interest.

    “It has been the great honor of my life to serve as your President,” he wrote in the one-page letter. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

    Biden, 81, appeared frail and confused at several points throughout the debate, leading to worries among elected Democrats and the party’s voters that he was no longer up to the task of governing or contesting Trump’s bid to win back the White House.

    As several congressional Democrats called for him to quit the race, others asked that he ramp up his public schedule and include more unrehearsed appearances that could demonstrate his fitness.

    But a more robust schedule of news interviews, press conferences and campaign rallies did not sufficiently quiet the Democratic voices saying Biden’s candidacy was likely to throw the presidential race to Trump – whom Biden and others have described as an existential threat to U.S. democracy – and deeply handicap Democrats in other races up and down November’s ballot.

    On Friday, Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico brought the number of senators calling on Biden to drop out to four. A day earlier, Montana Sen. Jon Tester said Biden should drop his reelection campaign and that Democrats should hold an open nomination process at their Chicago convention next month.

    In the U.S. House, 29 Democrats had called for Biden to withdraw from the race by the end of the day July 19.

    In a post following the announcement to his social media site, Truth Social, Trump said Biden was “never” fit to serve as president.

    “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!” Trump wrote. “He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement. All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t – And now, look what he’s done to our Country.”

    More details of announcement

    In the letter, Biden praised his administration’s accomplishments over three-and-a-half years, saying he’d worked to make “historic investments” in the country, lowered prescription drug costs, nominated the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court and “passed the most significant climate legislation in the history of the world.”

    “Together we overcame a once in a century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,”  Biden wrote. “We’ve protected and preserved our Democracy. And we’ve revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world.”

    Biden said he would “speak to the Nation later this week” about the decision.

    He praised Harris and other supporters.

    “For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected,” he wrote. “I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.”

    In follow-up posts, Biden said he was endorsing Harris and added a fundraising link.

    “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” he said. “And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

    Trump gains in polls

    The about face in what was to be a 2020 presidential election rematch leaves Democrats searching for a new candidate as Trump, who promises authoritarian-style leadership, has gained support in recent polls.

    With just 107 days until Election Day, Biden’s move marks the latest date in modern presidential history that a candidate has withdrawn from the race.

    President Lyndon Johnson announced in March 1968 that he would not seek reelection that year, leaving Democratic delegates to decide on a replacement – ultimately Vice President Hubert Humphrey – at the party’s convention that summer in Chicago.

    Harris appears to be in a strong position to replace Biden as the party’s standard bearer, though questions remain about how the process will play out and who would become the vice presidential nominee.

    Democrats praise decision

    Reaction poured in shortly after the Sunday afternoon announcement, with Democrats largely praising Biden’s record and calling his decision courageous.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that he understood Biden’s decision to step out of the race was “not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first.”

    “Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader but he is a truly amazing human being,” the New York Democrat said.

    Several Republicans called for Biden to resign his office.

    “If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X. “He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”

    A crescendoing chorus to step down

    Biden faced calls for him to abandon his reelection bid from congressional Democrats, even as he tried to stabilize the debate aftershock by holding a series of campaign rallies, sitting down for interviews and holding a press conference at the annual NATO conference.

    Democratic lawmakers largely presented a public front of support for Biden in statements and passing interviews in the U.S. Capitol hallways with reporters.

    What began as a trickle of dissent from rank-and-file Democrats — beginning with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and a handful of doubtful senior House Democrats — steadily grew to a torrent by Friday.

    50-year career in Washington

    Biden’s exit marks the closure of a long, storied career in Washington, including 38 years in the U.S. Senate, featuring stints leading the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees, and eight years as vice president under President Barack Obama.

    Biden’s presidency was punctuated with major economic wins for Democrats, beginning with nearly $2 trillion to combat the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    His leadership with a Democratic majority in Congress resulted in substantial nationwide infrastructure investments, drove financial incentives to tackle climate change and revive the U.S. global role in semiconductor manufacturing, and strengthened flagging tax enforcement.

    However, low approval ratings followed Biden throughout his presidency as Americans aimed their frustrations over inflation at the White House and assigned blame for record numbers of border crossings as a divided Congress – after Democrats lost their House majority in the 2022 midterms – failed to pass immigration restrictions negotiated with the administration.

    Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war also hurt his support among young and progressive voters as Israel’s continued offensive against Hamas militants in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip killed tens of thousands of civilians. Protesters against the U.S. supply of weapons to Israel interrupted dozens of Biden’s reelection campaign events through 2024.

    Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.

    Jacob Fischler
    JACOB FISCHLER

    Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

    Ashley Murray
    ASHLEY MURRAY

    Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

  • Ohio suicides went up in 2022, according to new report from Ohio Department of Health

    Ohio suicides went up in 2022, according to new report from Ohio Department of Health

    (Photo by Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline.)

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know needs support now, call, text or chat the 988 Lifeline.

    The number of Ohioans who died by suicide increased by 2% in 2022, according to new data from the Ohio Department of Health.

    There were 1,797 suicide deaths in Ohio in 2022 — the 13th-leading cause of death in Ohio, according to ODH’s Suicide Demographics and Trends 2022 report. Suicide was the second-leading cause of death among Ohioans ages 10-14 and 20-34 that year.

    Demographics

    Males accounted for 80% of Ohio suicide deaths and Ohioans between the ages of 35-44 had the highest rate of suicide deaths.

    Firearms accounted for more than half of all suicide deaths — 64% of male suicide deaths and 36% of female suicide deaths.

    Breaking it down by sex, males 75 and older had the highest rate of suicide deaths and females ages 25-34 had the highest rate of suicide deaths.

    Black non-Hispanics saw the the largest increases in rates of suicide deaths (16%) from 2021 to 2022. White non-Hispanics had both the highest rate of suicide deaths (16.1%) and the total number of suicide deaths (1,525).

    Vinton County had the highest suicide death rate (38.8 per 100,000) and Mercer County had the lowest rate (9.4 per 100,000). Franklin County had the most suicide deaths with 168, Cuyahoga County had the second most with 163 and Hamilton County had the third most with 136.

    Thirteen of the 15 counties with the highest suicide death rates were rural.

    988 Suicide and Crisis Line

    The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline moved to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline two years ago and since then Ohio 19’s call centers have responded to nearly 340,000 calls, texts and chats — an average of more than 14,000 contacts each month.

    “988 is saving lives,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement. “The lifeline is providing free, around-the-clock support to Ohioans in crisis by connecting them with someone to talk to for help at the moment it’s needed most.”

    Ohioans facing a mental health or addiction crisis and their families members can call or text 988 or chat 988Lifeline.org to get connected to a trained call specialist who can help.

    “988 is confidential and functions as a crucial gateway to crisis support within our communities,” Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Director LeeAnne Cornyn said in a statement. “Our hope is that reaching out to 988 in a behavioral health crisis becomes as natural to Ohioans as dialing 911 in other types of emergencies.”

    There have been an average of 9,804 calls from Ohio area codes; 2,686 texts received per month and an average of 1,652 chats per month.

    Cities across Ohio are trying to raise awareness of 988.

    The City of Columbus Department of Public Utilities put up more than a dozen signs about 988 throughout the city. Some of the police departments in Huron County have added 988 decals to their cars. Heidelberg University rented three billboards about 988 to inform students at the private college in Seneca County.

    “Any person or organization that puts effort toward building awareness about 988 is helping save lives,” Ohio’s 988 Administrator Doug Jackson said in a statement.

    Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.

    Megan Henry
    MEGAN HENRY

    Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

  • Vance, Moreno blamed “fascist” rhetoric for Trump shooting. Both said similar things — about Trump

    Vance, Moreno blamed “fascist” rhetoric for Trump shooting. Both said similar things — about Trump

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    Just after a 20-year-old shooter made an attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life last Saturday, a host of Republicans rushed to blame Democrats and the media for the shooting.

    They include Ohio U.S. Senator and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno. They also include Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

    Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia even posted on X that the district attorney of Butler County, Pennsylvania, where the shooting took place, should file criminal charges against President Joe Biden.

    All rushed to judgment in the hours after the shooting. Some did so even before the shooter’s identity had been released. Yet four days later, the shooter’s motives are unknown and even the basics about his politics remain vague.

    But one fact seems clear. The two most prominent Ohio players in the post-shooting blame game have in the past compared Trump to the most noxious fascist of them all — Adolph Hitler.

    Spokespeople for Vance and Moreno didn’t respond to requests for comment on statements the two made about Trump, whom they were against before they were for.

    On Saturday, just two hours after a 20-year-old took shots at Trump, Vance took to X to blame Biden.

    “Today is not just some isolated incident,” he wrote. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

    In February 2016, Vance sent a text message to a former Yale Law School classmate in which he made an even starker comparison about Trump.

    Vance said he’d been going “back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler.”

    Trump is under federal indictment on charges that he tried to steal an election that he lost, he’s called to “terminate” the Constitution over his loss, he’s embraced political violence and police brutality — and he’s called his political opponents “vermin.”

    In saying — repeatedly — that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” the former president clearly rhymed with Hitler, who several times used the same metaphor to attack Jews and any other “race” that he considered inferior to “Aryans.” Of Jewish men who “allow” Jewish women to marry Christians, Hitler said, “He poisons the blood of others but preserves his own blood unadulterated.”

    It might seem that some of the rhetoric stems from Trump’s own words and actions. It might also seem that the rush to blame others for the shooting was really an attempt to bully people from speaking publicly about Trump’s anti-democratic conduct.

    But to Moreno, the GOP challenger to Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, blame for last week’s shooting lies with the media and Democrats.

    “They’ve been calling (Trump) Hitler for eight years,” Moreno said in a recording that his campaign posted on X. “The shooter is 20 years old. From the time he was 12 years old, they’ve been telling him (Trump) is the reincarnation of Adolph Hitler. If you could take a shot at Adolph Hitler in 1935, would you be a good person or a bad person? That’s how (the shooter) viewed it. That’s on them. It’s on them, meaning the Democrats, and also on the mainstream media.”

    But on Moreno’s Twitter account in 2016, Moreno himself comparing Trump to Hitler. In a now deleted post, the future Senate candidate retweeted a poll featuring Trump and Hitler, and he appended a comment.

    “He attacked immigrants, tries to silence the press, & appeals to the darkest part of human nature,” it said.

    Moreno didn’t say to which man he was referring. But his use of the present tense is telling, given the fact that Hitler was 70 years dead at that point.

    Moreno’s spokeswoman was asked for examples of the press comparing Trump to Hitler for the past eight years. She was also asked whether Moreno worried that blaming press and political opponents for Trump’s attempted assassination would paint targets on their backs, given all the armed, unstable people there are.

    She didn’t respond.

    Marty Schladen
    MARTY SCHLADEN

    Marty Schladen has been a reporter for decades, working in Indiana, Texas and other places before returning to his native Ohio to work at The Columbus Dispatch in 2017. He’s won state and national journalism awards for investigations into utility regulation, public corruption, the environment, prescription drug spending and other matters.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR

     

  • State Board of Education of Ohio continues to search for options amid dismal funding outlook

    State Board of Education of Ohio continues to search for options amid dismal funding outlook

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    Another cloudy financial outlook has the State Board of Education of Ohio looking at further ways to make cuts, though the options are dwindling, according to leadership.

    At the board’s July meeting, Superintendent of Public Instruction Paul Craft led the state agency’s budget committee through current balances and future projections for their $17 million operating budget.

    With the changes made to carve out the board from the rest of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce — changes tacked on to the previous state operating budget by the General Assembly last year and allowed despite a lawsuit against it — the board is left to use only the funds collected from teacher licensure fees as spending money for the entire agency, according to Craft.

    In a separate bill passed by the Senate just last month, $4.7 million would be transferred from the state’s general revenue fund to the board’s licensure fund, also called Fund 4L20. That bill was passed by the House as well, but because they made changes before approving the bill, the Senate will need to concur on the changes, which won’t happen until at least November, when the legislature is scheduled to come back from summer break.

    “This fund, supported by license fees paid by teachers and other school staff, is used by the State Board of Education to pay its operating expenses,” an analysis of Senate Bill 117 by the Legislative Service Commission stated, adding that the expenses are associated with educator credentials, investigations and disciplinary actions for education misconduct and background checks for school teachers and staff.

    But Craft told the committee the fund wasn’t previously used for all the board’s expenses, causing a tenuous situation that Craft warned of at the beginning of the year, as the funding they were receiving from the general revenue fund every year dried up.

    In fiscal year 2022 and 2023, the licensure fund was “running some deficits,” Craft told the board committee, but with the general revenue funds, the agency was able to pay the bills.

    “Things changed rapidly,” he said, once fiscal years 2024 and 2025 approached.

    The expenditure line has “jumped up quite a bit” since the board became its own agency with only the licensure fund from which to draw money.

    The board is now using Fund 4L20 to pay the rent for its office building, support costs and IT expenses, things that were folded into the state’s Department of Education (as it was previously called) general expenses when the board was a part of it.

    “Those are now things that are being charged against the teacher licensure fund that had never been drawn against the teacher licensure fund,” Craft said.

    Revenue projections for the 2025 fiscal year are coming in about $2 million less than hoped, Craft told the board committee, adding that the projections are also lower than “historical average.”

    Some of the hits to the board’s wallet stem from a familiar place of financial hardship: the COVID-19 pandemic.

    When lockdowns and school closures hit the state in March 2019, the fiscal year 2020 was impacted, including the process of renewing and approving teacher licenses.

    “It was a very, very slow hiring year, as you can imagine,” according to Craft.

    Because college courses were hard to access and renewals were harder to arrange, the state allowed teachers to take a one-year extension on their five-year licenses. But that gap in licensure fees hadn’t come to bear in the board of education’s revenue stream until now, since the licenses are now set to be renewed in fiscal year 2026 with the one-year extension.

    The board also just received a $1.3 million bill for the Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA) contract, a program that is required of teachers by state law before they are eligible for a professional teaching license.

    The board is also expecting new expenses from expanded background check processes through what’s called the RAPBACK system, also required by the legislature. That is compounded with paying the 11 state board employee salaries under the umbrella of a licensure fund that sees ebbs and flows throughout the year based on number of teachers, coaches and administrators who apply for them. Typically, the demand ends by fall, when education staff who need them have received them.

    “Right now, you can see that we need to end the year with some balances in order to make it through the lean months that come in the fall, until we get to the better months in the spring,” Craft said.

    The board has instituted a hiring freeze within its employee ranks, and already has a freeze on travel expenses for the Craft and his staff. In its July meeting, the board approved a further travel expenses freeze, this time on members of the board, and talked about reducing the number and time of meetings to accommodate those who come from farther distances.

    But Craft said the options for cuts are thinning out, with almost 1/3 of the operating budget required either by contract or by Ohio Revised Code mandate.

    “There’s $6.3 million of those things that we can’t just cut because we want to,” Craft said.

    Several members of the board pushed for discussions with legislators about getting more funding, especially for things required by lawmakers.

    “I have never seen a budget so bare-bones; asking (Craft) not to travel, not having administrative assistants, pretty soon we’re going to have to pay for our paper to have the copies on,” said board member Amy Fugate.

    Diana Fessler didn’t deny the usefulness of the background checks through RAPBACK, but said if expansions are required by the legislature, they should help out.

    “I agree with you that it’s a good thing, but it does seem like an area that there could be discussion about the General Assembly picking up the tab since the source of this effort is expensive, but necessary … but we could use some help,” she said.

    For Walter Davis, the problem behind it all is a lack of awareness that members of the financially-troubled board were elected to do the job.

    “I think we can’t lose sight of the fact that the majority of this body is constitutionally elected by the people of Ohio who have a right … to have a certain amount of independence from the legislature, their whims and wiles,” Davis said.

    This story has been changed to correct the status of Senate Bill 117.

    Susan Tebben
    SUSAN TEBBEN

    Susan Tebben is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience covering Ohio news, including courts and crime, Appalachian social issues, government, education, diversity and culture. She has worked for The Newark Advocate, The Glasgow (KY) Daily Times, The Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. She has also had work featured on National Public Radio.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

    MORE FROM AUTHOR