This fall, Ohio presents the Democratic Party with one of its best opportunities in the nation to pick up a Senate seat that is currently held by a Republican. Senator George Voinovich is retiring at the end of this term, and earlier this week I won the Democratic primary election to serve as the nominee for our party this fall.
I'd like to congratulate Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for running a hard-fought, substantive campaign in the primary. She's a tough competitor, a good Democrat, and a tireless advocate for the state of Ohio who I hope will continue to serve us in the future.
But now our attention switches to the general election fight ahead, and the choice between my opponent and me couldn't be clearer.
The Republican nominee, former Congressman Rob Portman, was one of the chief architects of the Bush administration policies that led to our current economic downturn. As George W. Bush's U.S. Trade Czar, he shepherded CAFTA through the House and supported trade policies that shipped tens of thousand of Ohio jobs overseas.
And it didn't stop there -- in his next stop as Bush's budget director, he pledged to cut the deficit in half. Instead, he nearly doubled it.
Portman has repeatedly shown that he'll be a loyal foot soldier for the party of no. He has pledged to vote for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, supported the Republicans' recent filibuster of Wall Street reform, and was a strong proponent of privatizing Social Security when he was in the Bush Administration.
Recent polls have shown our campaign with a small lead in the general election, but Portman is sitting on a massive war chest so we know it's going to be a tough fight to the finish.
Instead of a Washington insider like Portman, I believe that Ohioans deserve someone who has been on the ground in every corner of our state fighting to save and create Ohio jobs. And I’m proud to say that fight has been my life’s work.
In my previous position as the Director of the Center for Families in Children in Cleveland, I saw firsthand what happens to our communities when too many of our people are left behind. But I also saw the dignity and purpose that every person is capable of when they have a job to support their family, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing your child is safe.
That's why there is nothing that makes me angrier than having all of our hard work undermined by federal policies that work against our families.
I’ve learned that our state can do all the right things, but if the federal government is giving tax breaks to companies to ship jobs overseas, and bailing out Wall Street while small businesses struggle, then workers and families get left behind.
This is the message I plan to take to Rob Portman this fall. I hope you'll become a part of our campaign by signing up for email updates, following our campaign on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook, and contributing to help us get our message out.
I'll be answering questions in the comments below over the next hour, so please let me know what's on your mind!