For the second time in about two weeks, Ohio Democrats saw their leaders compromise.
First, Democrats on the Ohio Redistricting Commission compromised with Republicans and approved a redistricting map that could increase the number of GOP members representing the state in Congress.
Their ardent supporters complained that those Democrats caved. They argued the Democrats got a better deal than they would have if they had voted no and allowed the supermajority Republican legislature to draw a map even more tilted to the GOP.
And they have a point. It could have been worse.
On Capitol Hill, on the other hand, a handful of Senate Democrats got very little for siding with Republicans to reopen the government. They had demanded that Republicans extend subsidies for Obamacare health insurance. They did not get that, not even close. They only got a promise to hold a vote in the Senate.
Ohio House Democrats howled. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty said the Senate vote betrays the fight for the subsidies and the people who depend on them.
Of course, Ohio Senators Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno claimed victory over the far-left Democrats who shut down the government.
Just think, we get to have this fight all over again in January when the current spending package runs out of money.
Then, as the government reopened, Democrats released a select few Jeffrey Epstein emails suggesting President Trump knew about Epstein’s sex trafficking. The White House denies it, calling the release part of a distraction campaign. It’s not wrong.
But it now looks like Congress will vote soon on whether to support releasing all of the Epstein files. That will put Ohio Republican congressmen in a tough spot: do they back the President and vote against the release, or do they vote with many of their constituents who want to see the files?
Certainly worth watching.
After the Democrats’ shutdown cave, or compromise, and the release of the Epstein emails, the election now seems like a distant memory. But it isn’t.
Democrats in Ohio are trying to capitalize on big wins in New York, New Jersey and Virginia. Ohio Republicans are trying to learn if there are any lessons.
Exit polls showed younger voters were enthusiastic. Voters of color came back to support Democratic candidates. And the polls indicate voters are not happy with the way the economy is going and blame President Trump.
Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy said his party needs to refocus.
To dissect the implications of the distant memory of Democrats’ success and look at how Ohioans voted on higher taxes for government services, we welcome our panel of experts: Statehouse reporters Laura Bischoff, of the USA Today Ohio Bureau, and Jo Ingles, of Ohio Public Radio, as well as Democrat Jo Mas and Republican Mike Miller.
Snollygoster of the week
As we all know, many Ohioans are really mad about property taxes. They keep going up because property values are rising quickly, especially in fast-growing areas like Union County, just north and west of Columbus.
Earlier this month, voters in the Jonathan Alder School District, which spans Union and Madison counties, decided on a school levy to raise property taxes for the district.
Well, the day before the election, voters in Union County started getting mail from the county treasurer informing them that their property taxes were going up. It was part of a reassessment process that happens every six years.
The process happens every six years and voters got word of big tax increases the day before they were being asked to raise them even more.
The levy lost by 12 votes.
School supporters howled. They argued the mailing was a deliberate attempt to kill the levy.
The Union County auditor told the Columbus Dispatch the figures in the letters were inaccurate, and sending them out was completely wrong and unnecessary.
Union County Treasurer Andrew Smarra said he was just doing his job, and the timing of the letters was purely coincidental.