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'People are exhausted of living this way ' Why Ohio might elect its first Dem governor in decades · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: The last Democrat elected governor of Ohio was in 2006,
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  Speaker 1: two decades ago. For 27 of the past 35 years,
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  Speaker 1: Republicans have held the governor's mansion and both chambers of
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  Speaker 1: the statehouse. The Democrat in the race is Dr. Amy Acton,
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  Speaker 1: the state's former public health director, and she's known for
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  Speaker 1: having worked with Republican Governor Mike DeWine to help Ohio
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  Speaker 1: through the COVID pandemic. Her Republican opponent is Vivek Ramaswamy,
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  Speaker 1: who's known for a failed presidential bid in 2024, a
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  Speaker 1: short-lived time at Doge, and a mediocre cosplay of the
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  Speaker 1: rapper Eminem. He's also a biotech entrepreneur with a net
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  Speaker 1: worth which Forbes estimates at $ 2. 2 billion. A new CNN
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  Speaker 1: poll shows Acton up by eight points against Ramaswamy, which
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  Speaker 1: is still within the margin of error. I spoke to
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  Speaker 1: her earlier about what she's hearing from voters on her
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  Speaker 1: campaign stops. These are exciting times in this particular race.
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  Speaker 1: I've spoken to you and I've spoken to Sherrod Brown.
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  Speaker 1: There's all the things that people are worried about being
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  Speaker 1: wrong about America right now intersect in Ohio. Trade. Canada
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  Speaker 1: is your biggest trading partner. The war. Ohio has a
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  Speaker 1: disproportionate number of people in the U.S. military. The cost
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  Speaker 1: of living, the diesel, the fertilizer. It's all happening in
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  Speaker 1: here and out here. And I suppose you're hearing about
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  Speaker 1: all of it from your constituents.
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  Speaker 2: I absolutely am, Ali. I've been on the ground for
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  Speaker 2: two and a half years going everywhere in this state.
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  Speaker 2: I've gone places Dems haven't been in a while, and
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  Speaker 2: we've been listening deeply. And absolutely, 95% of what I
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  Speaker 2: hear about, no one disagrees on. It is the cost
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  Speaker 2: of everyday living, from child care to health care costs,
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  Speaker 2: trying to rent, let alone buy a house, property taxes
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  Speaker 2: going up, electric bills going up. People are longing for
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  Speaker 2: someone and for public servants who actually solve problems instead
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  Speaker 2: of making problems. And as you mentioned, my opponent has
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  Speaker 2: some of the most, you know, reckless plans possible for Ohio.
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  Speaker 1: Well, he seems to don't talk about it much, but
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  Speaker 1: he was in the beginning part of that whole Doge exercise. CNN,
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  Speaker 1: SRS poll of likely Ohio voters. This was sort of
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  Speaker 1: concentrated on the Senate, but I imagine it actually is
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  Speaker 1: the same thing for for you. Obviously, this issue of
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  Speaker 1: the state of U.S. democracy, how do you balance that conversation?
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  Speaker 1: Some people don't care. Some people are about the price
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  Speaker 1: of gas and the price of eggs, and I totally
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  Speaker 1: get it because that's their daily life. But more than
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  Speaker 1: a quarter of your voters here are actually worried about
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  Speaker 1: the state of democracy. Vivek Ramaswamy hasn't really been on
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  Speaker 1: the right side of this discussion.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you it is the cost of
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  Speaker 2: everyday living, but it is also something I've noticed going everywhere, Allie,
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  Speaker 2: that I don't think anyone can quite pull for. I've
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  Speaker 2: never been in a room in two and a half
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  Speaker 2: years where people don't tear up while I'm speaking. Often
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  Speaker 2: we joke that it's usually a big burly guy who
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  Speaker 2: goes first. People are exhausted of living this way. They're
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  Speaker 2: tired of being pitted against one another, the hate and
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  Speaker 2: the chaos and the vitriol. Look, I'm an Ohio girl
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  Speaker 2: through and through. I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. the
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  Speaker 2: stuff of Bruce Springsteen songs, and I experienced a lot
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  Speaker 2: of neglect and abuse. I know what it's like to
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  Speaker 2: feel this way. But what people are longing for, you know,
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  Speaker 2: are us to take this temperature down, to begin to
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  Speaker 2: actually solve problems instead of making them. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I keep saying in this race, I'm a scrappy kid
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  Speaker 2: from Youngstown, make no mistake. This is a fight we
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  Speaker 2: are in. But kindness shouldn't be mistaken for weakness. I
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  Speaker 2: think that is a big, big mistake. Kindness is in
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  Speaker 2: every religion and every society. It is about seeing the
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  Speaker 2: humanity in one another. And that is also on the
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  Speaker 2: ballot in Ohio. Remember, you know, as goes Ohio, so
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  Speaker 2: goes the nation. We were always a bellwether state. And
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  Speaker 2: I don't think you can save democracy on the coast alone.
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  Speaker 2: You have to have the bellwethers back. But I stay
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  Speaker 2: laser focused on the needs of everyday Ohioans who are
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  Speaker 2: working harder than ever. They are not, like my opponent says,
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  Speaker 2: lazy and mediocre. I just came from a bakery where
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  Speaker 2: a woman is running a business, a small business, and
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  Speaker 2: having to work a second job. People on farms having
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  Speaker 2: to work a second job to get health insurance. People
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  Speaker 2: delivering roadside in Ohio, the seventh largest state, sitting behind
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  Speaker 2: you in your picture, some of the largest health institutions.
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  Speaker 2: And yet with these Medicaid changes coming, you know, we're
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  Speaker 2: having rural hospitals collapse, urban. My opponent went around auditioning
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  Speaker 2: for Doge, something he got kicked out of. By saying
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  Speaker 2: Medicaid and Medicare are mistakes, he wants to dismantle them.
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  Speaker 2: And recently he has said that Social Security needs work requirements. Well,
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  Speaker 2: I can tell you to seniors on fixed incomes who
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  Speaker 2: are trying to get by with property taxes rising and
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  Speaker 2: electric bills rising, You know, his policies are actually not
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  Speaker 2: just out of touch and out for himself, which he is.
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  Speaker 2: They're dangerous to my state.
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  Speaker 1: So the things, everything you're talking about here doesn't fit
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  Speaker 1: somewhere on the ideological spectrum as left or right, right?
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  Speaker 1: These are things that people just live with and suffer with.
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  Speaker 1: If your hospital is closing, your diesel prices are high,
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  Speaker 1: your fertilizer prices are high. You know, these are all
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  Speaker 1: things that just appeal to everybody. But in this country,
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  Speaker 1: the way we consume news, there are independents and some
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  Speaker 1: Republicans who you need to reach. How are you reaching them?
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  Speaker 1: Because you cannot... You just can't win statewide elections in
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  Speaker 1: Ohio without having some crossover voters.
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  Speaker 2: That's right. Well, Ali, I'm a physician, but I'm a
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  Speaker 2: physician who specializes in preventive medicine and public health. I've
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  Speaker 2: actually trained to run all of government when Bob Taft
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  Speaker 2: was governor of the state of Ohio. I've been at
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  Speaker 2: this a long time, and I've worked with people on
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  Speaker 2: both sides of the aisle to try to improve the
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  Speaker 2: lives of Ohioans. It is the social, environmental, and yes,
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  Speaker 2: economic determinants of what quality of life we will have
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  Speaker 2: and the success of a state. And I most recently
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  Speaker 2: worked with Governor Mike DeWine. I will work with anyone
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  Speaker 2: who actually wants to solve problems instead of make them.
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  Speaker 2: And I've been blessed because of the work I've done.
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  Speaker 2: I've earned the trust of Ohioans. You know, you can't
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  Speaker 2: buy trust. You earn it through the work you do
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  Speaker 2: day in and day out. And my constituency has never
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  Speaker 2: known party. We've always been up in double digits. With independence,
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  Speaker 2: we're seeing tons of Republicans cross over. This is something
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  Speaker 2: from Ohioans bonding to me during a really difficult time,
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  Speaker 2: the pandemic in Ohio. And so from day one, everywhere
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  Speaker 2: we've gone, small town and rural, we've seen everyone show
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  Speaker 2: up and people who've never been involved in politics. But
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  Speaker 2: what they do need are leaders who actually care about
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  Speaker 2: them and are willing to do the hard work of
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  Speaker 2: making life better.
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  Speaker 1: Or just click below.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks.