Ohio House Minority Leader Russo visits Marietta
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A state level representative stopped by a Washington County Democrats picnic Sunday evening to discuss the value of election turnout and Issue 1, a reproductive rights protections amendment.
Ohio House of Representatives Minority Leader Allison Russo said the organization was doing a good job in bringing out voters for local elections.
"There are a lot of places and communities across the state. I think you all have demonstrated, especially here in Marietta, that you've been able to hold on to the local city council in a majority, is phenomenal."
Russo said she believed personal conversations can change minds, but recognized the difficulty of weeding through misinformation.
"I recognize that it's hard, especially in this environment of misinformation that we have right now and fighting back against some really alarming different sets of facts or non-facts," she said.
Russo said one of the most valuable lessons she's learned as a politician is finding common ground with constituents.
"We share the same values. We may disagree on how to get to the outcome that we're trying to get to, but at the end of the day, we all care about the same things. It doesn't matter what your party affiliation is. We care about opportunities for our families and our children. We care about our neighborhoods and our communities. We care about freedom," she said.
Russo said Democrats don't always turn out to vote in non presidential elections.
"There are no off-year elections. Unfortunately as Democrats, sometimes we're not so good at showing up in the odd year elections or in the midterm elections. We only show up for presidential elections. We've got to stop doing that. There's too much at stake," she said.
Russo also addressed Issue 1, the Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative, which would add reproductive rights protection to Ohio's Constitution if passed. This initiative will be on the state ballot Nov. 7.
"Overwhelmingly, we know that Ohioans all across the political spectrum, this is not purely a Democrat or Republican issue, do not support the extreme abortion bans that we've seen out of this state legislature. They support the rights of individuals to make their own personal and private health care decisions. I believe we will see a record turnout, which in turn, I think will be helpful for our local elections," she said.
Russo said individuals should educate their neighbors about Issue 1.
"Now is the time to have those conversations with your neighbors and your family members and say, hey, do you know this is on the ballot? First of all, do you know this is on the ballot? Also make sure they are not confused, that we want you to vote yes instead of no," she said.
Russo said the deadline for registering to vote for November is October 10. Early voting starts October 11.