FEATURE
Wrapping Up Election Season
The 2018 midterm elections brought forth some of the States’ most progressive politicians and policies to date, but Ohio still fell short on equality voting. By Michael Toland Nationally, the 2018 midterms was filled with some of the most impressive victories yet for progressives. Congress is now poised in 2019 to have more women and minorities than any time in our history. The incoming Congress’ average age is set to drop by 10 years, with more than 25 incoming members at the age of 40 or younger. This is great news! We’re bringing fresh and diverse perspectives to the national stage, which shouldn’t be overlooked. Winning back a majority control of the House, Democrats are able to put checks and balances against the current administration. The victory is incredible. Tennessee elected its first woman to Senate, Marsha Blackburn. Arizona elected their first woman and openly bisexual Senator, Kystern Sinema. Connecticut is sending Jahana Hayes, its first black woman to Congress. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man to be elected governor, won his race in Colorado. America sent our first 20 | DECEMBER 2018
Native American women to Congress — Deb Haaland of New Mexico and Sharice Davids from Kansas, who is also the state’s first openly gay member of Congress. Massachusetts elected their first black woman to Congress, Ayanna Pressley. One could go on and on about the nations firsts. Even Michigan passed a slew of progressive ballot initiatives, expanding voting rights, legalizing recreational marijuana use and electing progressives across the state. So what happened in Ohio? November was brutal for Ohio Democrats and liberal voters. We lost Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State and so on. Democrats in Ohio were unable to pick up a single U.S. House seat (not for lack of trying), netted only four State Legislature Reps and lost a state Senate seat in Mahoning Valley. The Ohio legislature continues to preserve its Republican supermajorities by will of voters. The only bright spot was incumbent Sherrod Brown preserving his U.S. Senate seat, receiving almost 300,000 more votes than Richard
Cordray, the Democratic candidate for Ohio Governor. Ohio keeps moving further toward the right, electing politicians who consistently vote against the interests of Ohio citizens. According to the Ohio Voter Project, those who show up to the ballot box in Ohio skew toward older generations. Only about 2.1 million of Ohio’s approximately 7.9 millions registered voters are under the age of 35. By party, the state’s registered voter declaration skews heavily Republican, while the largest group of voters choose not to declare affiliation with either Democrats or Republicans. Ohio’s electorate tends to skew older due to younger individuals leaving the state for college or leaving after receiving degrees from in-state schools. This youth and brain drain continues to impact the state, and until we build the opportunities young people want to participate in, this trend will continue. Those who do stay are concentrated themselves to the “three C’s” — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — due to more opportunities present in these cities. TRUE Q MAGAZINE
