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: