Talented newcomers and small dollar fundraisers

I’m back from my whirlwind tour of NW Ohio, a tour that included lots of politics and some delicious Lebanese food at Byblos in Toledo.

There’s some decent polling for Democrats in Ohio right now. I attended events for Amy Acton, Bryan Hambley and Judge Duhart (Ohio Court of Appeals.

Amy Acton is a physician who is running for Ohio governor. Honestly, she’s turning out to be a good candidate, especially for a neophyte. There’s something very appealing about her and she has a great story - she grew up poor, to the extent of spending some time in foster care,and is now a physician (and the former Ohio Department of Health chair).

Here she is talking about the sky-high electric bills in Ohio. Electricity went up because we’re all paying for the AI data center usage. If lightning strikes in Ohio and we somehow get past the huge mobs of Trumpists and corrupt GOP pols in this state and Acton manages an upset win she’ll be a fine governor and make us all proud.

We have another physician and political neophyte running in Ohio, Bryan Hambley (for Sec of State), and I am really impressed with him. I saw him at an event 6 months ago and he wasn’t NEARLY as good as he was this week, so he’s not just good - he gets better. His event was (surprisingly) well attended, given that it was in one of the deepest red counties in the state - 42 RSVP’ed and 61 showed up. He’s very earnest and science nerd-y one on one but speaking to a group he’s eloquent. He uses a combination of story telling and exhortations about the possibility of a positive future that just works really well for him.

At the Hambley event I saw a woman with whom I have done volunteer work for the Democratic Party. I knew she had left the local group but was still active in Lefty politics and I think she’s wonderful, so I was happy to see her. She had received permission from the county Democrats to set up a table to recruit for her current project - the CCNO “Neighbors” ICE Detainee Support Effort. CCNO is Corrections Center of NW Ohio, a jail that covers 9 NW Ohio counties. CCNO has contracted with ICE to devote 81 beds to ICE detainees. CCNO, while a public entity so therefore nonprofit, is taking in a lot of money doing this.

The idea is people who are withing driving distance of the jail would initiate a relationship with a detainee. The detainees are from all over the country, away from their families, with no idea if they’re ever even getting a hearing. The volunteer on the outside would support the incarcerated by keeping the detainee apprised with news of their families and case status.

This is the flyer:

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TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

Kay, can you do a post or send an email with photos of each page separately? I am able to download your photo of the Immigration Justice League doc to attach to emails to pols & others, but more legible, separate page photos would really help people (me!) read it.

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

I can't make out the web address

Kay W.1 year ago

I’ll scan it and post it in a bit. I’m in the middle of making bran muffins - I used some walnut flour I had and they look…weird.

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

Thank you. I love bran muffins no matter what they look like! I bet that nutty flour will be delish!

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

I'll also be referring back to your post on changing corporations laws as inspiration in my letters - GEO Group should be legislated out of existence.

Scott H1 year ago

How does the ability to raise money play into candidacies like Acton and Hambley?

I know, it's damn near a rhetorical question. How supported by the actual Party are they? Or is this a scenario of "Our state's so damn red, we'll take anybody who wants to sacrifice then next 18 months of their life to tilt at this electoral windmill?"

Kay W.1 year ago

Oh, it’s a hurdle. But they do these small dollar events that can be lucrative - but it’s an absolute grind. Hambley is tapping his friends from college (Notre Dame) and they drive him around Ohio so he can nap in the car. But Ramaswamy will swamp them with fundraising and television ads. Candidates like this hope for an opening - a collapse of the GOP candidate or the collapse of the Trump “brand” - a lucky cycle. I love a long shot - they’re scrappy! 🙂

Kay W.1 year ago

I actually think Ramaswamy is “moderating” ( for a far Rightist) because he’s looking at Ohio polling. Acton shouldn’t be w/in 3 of him and she is. But we need a big anti GOP push to overcome both the R lean and the R corruption. Ohio is corrupt as shit now.

Scott H1 year ago

Don't disagree with any of that.

But that description is somewhat damning of how we go about getting candidates much less funding them, not a criticism of them but of the system.

I don't think money is the be-all and end-all of candidacies but not being able to even get to some basic level needed to effectively campaign, reach people and literally show off good candidates, is always a killer.

We're gonna see that here next year with Hick. His only announced opponent in the primary, Karen Breslin, is fine enough but has no money and it's debatable how effective her strategy of constant small events all over, will work. She has no choice because she can't raise gobs of cash the way Hick can.

Sepideh M1 year ago

Hickenlooper has $6,000,000. Breslin has $60,000.

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

And go go go Ohio! 😍

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

I would love to adopt a detainee here in our PA gulag! How do citizens get in though if elected officials cannot? Obvs I haven't yet read her flyer.

Love. This. Post!

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

I'll be writing to Governor Shapiro (and others - our activism group needs to know) to forward the genius ideas for adoption. Hopefully, people will step up.

Thank you for sharing this!

Kay W.1 year ago

In my experience, inmates in the criminal system are treated better in jail if authorities know there are people on the outside “watching” We’re hoping that works for Trump/Kavanaugh detainees too.

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

When Delco finally went blue, they dumped the GEO Group private prison contract. I'd like to see that happen statewide. I know the Feds won't do anything like that, so it's up to us.

https://whyy.org/articles/delco-takes-back-management-of-george-w-hill-correctional-facility/

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

"The monumental move sparked a 180-day transition period where the county made significant changes to the vendors involved with the prison’s food, medical, maintenance, and commissary services. The county hired Laura Williams, who has a background in substance abuse treatment and programs, to be the new warden.

“We no longer have a multinational corporation with a profit motive to keep our jail as full as possible and to maximize on repeat customers. And in their place, we now have a management team and a workforce that’s laser focused on reducing recidivism,” Madden said."

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

PA has the second largest number of detained people in the nation in solitary confinement 😡

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/pa-ice-detention-centers-have-among-the-highest-number-of-immigrants-in-solitary-report/ar-AA1OS2Ci

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

"The report comes amid increased scrutiny on the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest detention center in the Northeast. The remote Clearfield County facility is run by the private prison giant GEO Group, and has a capacity of nearly 1,900 prisoners.

Most of the individuals arrested by ICE across the mid-atlantic from New York to Maryland spend time in the Phillipsburg facility."

This is within driving distance for me.

TBone Dinosaur1 year ago

More ammo for my letters to PA pols & activists.

Talented newcomers and small dollar fundraisers

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