Oberlin teacher Janet Garrett was appalled when Ohio’s latest congressional redistricting plan shifted her progressive community into the district represented by Ohio’s most conservative member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Jim Jordan of Champaign County, instead of the Democratic district held by Toledo’s Marcy Kaptur.
Garrett, 61, was also appalled when she learned that no Democrats filed paperwork to run against Jordan in this year’s election by last month’s deadline. So Garrett, a past president of the local teachers’ union and a self-described lifelong activist, mounted a write-in campaign to become Jordan’s Democratic opponent in November.
According to Lorain County’s board of elections, Garrett will get her wish if just 50 people in the sprawling district write in her name during the May 6 primary election.
Although Ohio’s GOP-controlled state legislature fashioned the district to be safe for Republican incumbents, Garrett sees a campaign against Jordan as a chance to question stances of his that she dislikes, like his votes to overturn Obamacare and to support “big money interests,” as Garrett puts it.
Jordan describes himself as “one of Ohio’s leading fiscal and social conservatives,” and says he believes that “low taxes, limited government spending and more money in the hands of families and business owners are the best way to keep America’s economy strong.”
“If there is no one running against him, there will be no dialogue,” said Garrett. “He will get a free pass. He should not have a free pass. He is a terrible, terrible representative.”
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