2006: Ohio

It's too early to know whether or not a proposed anti-gay adoption amendment will be on the 2006 ballot in Ohio, but folks are already speculating on what it could mean for this state. Eleanor Clift writes:

As Ohio goes, so goes the nation. An election for governor that could turn on a constitutional amendment banning gay adoption is shaping up as a replay of the 2004 presidential election, when evangelical Christians drawn to the polls by a gay-marriage ban accounted for 25 percent of the Buckeye vote.

Continue reading the article here

Ohio is Central in 2006

from the Gay People's Chronicle

Columbus--Ohio’s 2006 election will be a national organizing priority for gay Democrats, according to a plan outlined August 10 in Columbus.

National Stonewall Democrats executive director Eric Stern announced the plan at the Stonewall Democrats of Central Ohio’s annual wine tasting and silent auction fundraiser at Axis nightclub.

The event raised over $3,500, all of which will be used to get out the vote for LGBT-affirming Democrats during next year’s election for all state executive officers, many legislators and a U.S. Senate seat.

Stern, a Wadsworth, Ohio native and Marietta College alumnus, said the national group will spend $50,000 in Ohio on a field operation, which will include paid staff to organize volunteers to do targeted voter identification.

Stern said the 2004 election focused the group’s attention on the electoral importance of Ohio.

“We’re going to work to blue Ohio,” said Stern, “and have a presence after November [2006]. For us, Ohio is now a logical investment for permanent growth. And when the election is over, we will stay in Ohio to develop new [Stonewall Democrats] chapters in smaller cities like Akron and Dayton.”

OHIO!

DC for Dean is heading for Ohio to help ACT and they need your help. Can you take a few days and head to Ohio? You don't need me to tell you this is going to be one of the most interesting places to be november 2nd, and one of the most important. If you can, Get on the Bus! Here's a message from Steve Bouchard, ACT Ohio Director

You may have heard the famous phrase “So Goes Ohio, So Goes the Nation.” Well, it’s true; no Republican candidate has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio. Its 20 electoral votes are in hot contention for the 2004 election. So, America Coming Together (ACT) and the America Votes Coalition have been on the ground for over 18 months in Ohio registering and mobilizing progressive and persuadable voters. With only 13 days left, ACT needs to recruit thousands of volunteers to travel to this important battleground state. So if your state is already Blue, don’t sit the excitement of this election cycle out! ACT needs your help to make Ohio Blue this fall.

Why Ohio???

In 2000, Bush won Ohio by 165,000 votes—3.5 percent. The Gore campaign pulled out of Ohio early—ceding the state to Bush, since they were polling 10 points behind. However, an amazing grassroots effort closed that gap and Bush only won by 3.5 percent. ACT has registered 300,000 new voters in Ohio in the past 18 months—out registering Republican Groups by 10 to 1. These new registrants will be turned out on Election Day to vote. In Cleveland, we need thousands of volunteers to effectively reach all of our targeted voters.

Coming from the DC metro area?

Well, two DC organizations are partnering—DC for Democracy and Run Against Bush—to make this trip as easy as possible for YOU! Click Here to learn more and sign up for your trip to Cleveland today! Your trip is only a click away.

www.dcfordemocracy.org

How else can you help?

Grassroots empowers other people, and you can empower your friends and neighbors by encouraging them to travel to Ohio. You have networks of friends and colleagues who also care about the outcome of the upcoming elections, so please share this email with them and ask them to come with you to Ohio. By person-to-person, neighbor-to-neighbor, and friend-to-friend
contact you will have the power to change this nation for the better.

This will be the most important Election Day of our life time. Ask yourself, do you want 8 more weeks of Bush after Nov. 2nd or 4 more years. Don’t wake up on Nov. 3rd wishing that you would have done more!