Ohio Democrats say they have signed up nearly 600 Ohioans for their annual boot camp, a summer class where first-time candidates learn how to do everything from write and deliver a stump speech to fundraise. The number of signups, touted as a record high, was cited in a press release…
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Ohio Gov. John Kasich has threatened to veto pro-life legislation that overwhelmingly passed the State House last week with the goal of protecting almost all unborn babies in the state from being aborted. Last Thursday, the Ohio House voted 60 to 35 to pass House Bill 258, which bans doctors from aborting any…
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The numbers have been called “absolutely staggering” and “horrifically stunning,” and it all started in northeast Ohio. Lorain native Samuel Little, 78, was born in Georgia but grew up in northeast Ohio. He claims to have killed at least 90 people across 12 states, and he is set to appear…
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Ohio shoppers are expected to increase holiday spending by 3.2 percent more than last year, as consumer confidence continues to soar, according to a forecast by University of Cincinnati economists. Jobs, wages, housing prices and other key indicators are all on the uptick, forecasters said. They project retail spending to…
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Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH-11) announced Tuesday she is no longer considering a run for Speaker of the House, effectively eliminating the only resistance to Nancy Pelosi becoming the next Speaker. Fudge had previously criticized Pelosi, saying there were not enough black women in leadership positions in Congress, and hinted she…
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A Chinese businessman who had been living in the Boston area was sentenced to nearly six years in prison Monday for distributing opioids that were shipped from China to the United States and eventually made their way to Ohio. Bin Wang, 43, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 71 months…
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Police are calling it one of the largest weapons seizures in Ohio’s history, and it was carried out in the small town of New Philadelphia. Officers on Nov. 16 confiscated 76 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition from outside of an apartment building – all of them allegedly stolen…
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A former Cuyahoga County judge, Lance Mason, who was removed from the bench after he beat his wife four years ago, was arrested over the weekend in connection with her fatal stabbing. Mason, 51, a former high-ranking state lawmaker and a Democrat, had pleaded guilty to the previous assault but landed on his feet…
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Most of the deadly fentanyl being pumped into Ohio communities arrives from China via the U.S. Postal Service, a pathway that will soon be shut down thanks to a new federal law, says U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH). “The refrain I hear across Ohio about the opioid epidemic is clear: People…
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After striking out at the state level, LGBT activists are now working at the city level to pass “anti-discrimination” laws across the state. While the state’s largest cities – about 20 of them led by Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus – have over the last few years adopted so-called “anti-discrimination” ordinances…
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Ohio Gov. John Kasich made another trip to New Hampshire this week and is sounding more and more like a 2020 presidential candidate. He has not officially said one way or the other on whether he will run again, but after eyeballing the midterm election results Kasich says he sees an…
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Ohio lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a “stand your ground” bill that eliminates a requirement to retreat before using deadly force in life-or-death situations. But the issue didn’t come to a vote until after one Democratic member of the House refused to yield the floor, was gaveled down by the Speaker and…
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed a landmark bill Thursday that if signed into law would ban all abortions after the unborn baby’s heartbeat is detected. But if the legislature is unable to override an expected veto of the heartbeat bill by Gov. John Kasich, then there’s another bill waiting…
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Two Cuban nationals used skimmers to steal the identities of Ohioans and make fake credit cards, which they then used to purchase goods at Sam’s Club stores throughout northeastern Ohio, according to a federal indictment. Silvio Leon, 45, and Pablo Arrechavaleta, 41, both of Miami, Florida, were indicted this week…
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The Ohio State Senate is being asked to pass a resolution that would put Ohio on record in support of the nation of Israel and against those seeking to weaken it through the boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The so-called BDS movement is strong on college campuses across the United…
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Ohio is in “critical need” of reforming its outdated occupational licensing system, says a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute. Greg R. Lawson, an expert on the matter of professional licensing, issued a statement Thursday thanking State Sen. Rob McColley’s (R-Napoleon) for his work pushing a bill that Lawson says…
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The Ohio House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass a bill that would ban almost all abortions upon detection of a heartbeat in the unborn baby. But the bill did not pass by a big enough margin to make it veto-proof, and Gov. John Kasich has staunchly opposed it, arguing…
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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) confirmed Monday he is considering a run for the White House in 2020, and was already making national headlines again just two days later. On Wednesday, while speaking on stage at a National Action Network event, Brown questioned the integrity of Georgia’s election process as legal maneuvering plays…
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Jena Powell grew up on a family farm in rural Darke County, Ohio, bouncing around in the back of her father’s pickup truck with her six brothers and sisters as her mom hauled grain in from the fields. In the late summer, she would show sheep at the Great Darke…
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The free-market oriented Americans for Prosperity has released its legislative priority list for Ohio’s 132nd General Assembly lame-duck session. AFP’s Ohio chapter is advocating the passage of House Bills 189 and 342, while opposing House Bills 211, 525, 571, and Senate Bill 128. AFP-Ohio supports legislation that breaks down barriers to…
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A pro-family organization has issued an action alert to pro-life Ohioans informing them that the Ohio State House of Representatives has scheduled a floor vote Thursday on a bill that would ban abortions after the point at which an unborn baby develops a detectable heartbeat. House Bill 258, also known as…
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Conservative author, lawyer, and journalist Ben Shapiro testified Tuesday at the Ohio State House in favor of a bill that would require public universities to provide an equal platform to voices across the political spectrum. HB 758, also called the FORUM Act –standing for “forming open and robust university minds”…
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Ohio’s lame-duck session appears primed for a battle over gun legislation with several bills vying for attention on both sides of the gun-rights issue. One bill that has the backing of lame-duck Gov. John Kasich is the so-called Red Flag Bill, or SB 278, which would allow law enforcement or…
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State House Speaker Ryan Smith says Ohio’s Constitution is under attack. Special-interest groups have been asking voters to amend the state’s constitution as a way of bypassing the legislature on certain issues, he said in a radio interview with Jo Ingles of the Statehouse News Bureau. Smith said Ohio’s founding fathers did not…
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Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) says he is considering running for president in 2020, but even if he doesn’t run, he believes he has found a winning strategy for any Democrat seeking the nomination two years down the road. Brown told The Columbus Dispatch Monday that he is not close to…
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Ohio lawmakers have prioritized a list of bills they’d like to see hurried through the legislature in the lame-duck session that ends in December, and one of the most likely to pass is a ban on child marriage. With a list that includes abortion, gun laws and criminal-sentencing reform, one…
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One of the biggest stories of the 2018 election was the success of women on the ballot. Voters sent a record number of women, at least 100 as of Thursday, to Congress while Michigan and Kansas both elected their first female governors, Democrats Gretchen Whitmer and Laura Kelly, respectively. Ohio…
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Voters didn’t just reject Issue 1 in Tuesday’s election, they crushed it, with 63 percent voting against the ballot measure that sought to convert most drug-possession charges from felonies to misdemeanors, and remove the option of jail time from a judge’s list of sentencing options. But, according to a report in…
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Ohio Democrats had an overall dismal performance in Tuesday’s elections, losing the governorship and all of the down-ticket statewide races including secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and auditor. They also lost every congressional seat they had targeted to flip from red to blue. But they did score some significant…
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Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro will testify before the Ohio State House next week in support of a bill that would promote diversity of opinion and open debate on college campuses in the state. Shapiro, an attorney and best-selling author, is scheduled to testify at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13, in support of…
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In his first run for public office, former Ohio State University and Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez carried the ball across the goal line. Gonzalez, a football star at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, won a seat in Congress Tuesday night and will represent Ohio’s 16th Congressional District…
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Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken credited President Trump’s visit with helping push Mike DeWine over the top in a hard-fought gubernatorial race Tuesday but the party’s vaunted “ground game” sure didn’t hurt. An army of volunteers and paid staff worked as hard in 2018 as they did in 2016 when Trump…
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A professor at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth has sued his employer claiming that he is being forced to use feminine pronouns for a biologically male student who identifies as a transgender female. Although the professor offered to compromise by using the student’s first or last name, neither the student…
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Americans for Prosperity (AFP) of Ohio issued a statement Wednesday congratulating its newly elected and re-elected members of the Ohio State Senate and Ohio House of Representatives. The organization applauded its activists for their “tireless efforts to support policy champions seeking to represent Ohioans in Columbus.” AFP State Director Micah…
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President Donald Trump mentioned Ohio twice during a marathon post-election press conference at the White House Wednesday and praised Republicans for their victories in the state. The final question during the more than two-hour session was about suburban women “rejecting” his message in Tuesday’s election, but Trump responded by touting…
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While Republicans failed to hold control of the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday night, nobody can say that Ohio Republicans didn’t do their part. Republican Congressmen Steve Chabot, Troy Balderson, Dave Joyce and Mike Turner were all targeted for defeat by big-spending Democratic PACs and individuals. They failed to knock…
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Issue 1 went down in flames Tuesday as Ohio voters overwhelmingly decided they didn’t want to change their state constitution in a way that binds the hands of judges in drug possession cases. With more than 90 percent of the precincts reporting, voters were crushing the ballot measure by a…
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Democrat Sherrod Brown will remain Ohio’s senior U.S. senator. Brown coasted to reelection to a third term over his Republican opponent, Jim Renacci, Tuesday night. The polls closed at 7:30 p.m. and by 8:13 all the major networks called the race for Brown. With nearly 2.2 million votes cast, Brown had tallied…
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Republican Mike DeWine cruised to victory over Democrat Richard Cordray Tuesday and Republicans swept every statewide office on the Ohio ballot, including secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor and treasurer. All of the congressional races thought to be up for grabs, or at least competitive, also went to Republicans…
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A new poll by the Ohio TEA Party affiliate We the People Convention, found Republican Jim Renacci has pulled ahead of incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in the race for U.S. Senate. Renacci mentioned the poll, which shows him up 52.4 to 47.6 percent, during Monday’s rally hosted by President…
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Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) wants Ohio voters to know that regardless of what his colleague in the U.S. Senate says, it’s not just the rich who are benefiting from President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Stumping Sunday for fellow Republican Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH-16), who is seeking to replace…
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The Republican National Committee sent out a final message to Ohio voters Monday entitled “Sherrod Brown: Wrong for Ohio” that will run on digital platforms throughout the Buckeye State. Voters are urged in the ad to retire Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Tuesday from the U.S. Senate. The one-minute ad is part of the Republican…
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Electricity, excitement, and perhaps a little anxiety filled the air on Election Day Eve along with thousands of people at the IX Center in Cleveland as President Trump held the first of three final campaign rallies for Republicans running in Tuesday’s crucial midterm elections. At stake is control of the…
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Ohio Democrats are pulling out all the stops as the clock ticks down to the final hours before Election Day. On Sunday they brought in Ohio native and Grammy award-winning musician John Legend for a “March to the Polls” rally in Cincinnati on behalf of Aftab Pureval, who is running…
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A confrontation between neighbors in the small city of Hudson, Ohio, is creating a buzz on social media and may reflect the current state of American politics. At the heart of the controversy lies the question of who will represent Ohio’s 37th District at the State House in Columbus. The seat is…
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Former Vice President Joe Biden came to Ohio Saturday to campaign for Ohio Democrats just three days before what he said is the “biggest off-year election you’ll ever vote in.” Without ever mentioning President Trump by name, the former vice president accused him of running an immoral government based on…
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A new poll shows that with just days left before the midterm election, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is struggling to convince Ohioans to send him back to the U.S. Senate for a third term. Brown polled 46 percent to Republican challenger Jim Renacci’s 37 percent, according to Gravis Marketing, while a whopping…
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Ohio Republicans are celebrating an October jobs report that could not have come at a better time for the GOP’s state and federal candidates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, just four days before the midterms, that U.S. businesses created 250,000 new jobs last month, which is 50,000 to 60,000…
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With so much attention on Ohio’s race for governor, and about half a dozen seats for the U.S. Senate and House up for grabs, there is one office that might easily be overlooked by voters. As The Ohio Star has previously reported, both candidates for this crucial office are 39-year-old…
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After a six-hour hearing Thursday on the campaign spending of Democrat congressional candidate Aftab Pureval, the Ohio Elections Commission dismissed all but the most minor infraction, and slapped him with a $100 fine. The most serious allegation, that he used $16,400 donated to his local clerk-of-courts campaign to buy polling…
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