These days, there are two kinds of special elections: the kind that Republicans barely win—and the kind that they lose. This summer, we can add one more to that second column.
On Aug. 7, progressives have another chance to flip a key GOP-held House seat from red to blue in Ohio’s vacant 12th Congressional District, and Daily Kos is pleased to endorse Democrat Danny O’Connor in this special election.
O’Connor has deep roots in Ohio and has served as Franklin County Recorder since 2016, where he swiftly instituted reforms to make the office more responsive to veterans (for whom his office provides ID cards) and the homeless, by implementing a plan to store birth certificates so that they can more easily apply for housing. And he practiced the progressive values he believes in by instituting the Recorder’s Office’s first paid family leave program.
His opponent, on the other hand, is an arch-conservative. Republican state Sen. Troy Balderson opposed expanding Medicaid in Ohio, even though it was backed by his own Republican governor and his GOP colleagues in the legislature. But of course, that’s not enough: He also supports repealing the Affordable Care Act altogether. And naturally, he’s voted to defund Planned Parenthood and has pledged to “build Trump’s wall.”
This district, located in the Columbus suburbs, is a challenging pickup for Democrats, but in the current electoral climate, it’s by no means out of reach. To put it in context, Trump carried this district by a 53-42 margin in 2016, similar to Mitt Romney’s 54-44 margin four years earlier. But in the last two congressional special elections, the Democrats in those races improved on their party’s 2016 presidential performance by 16 points (in Arizona’s 8th) and 20 points (in Pennsylvania’s 18th).
It would take a considerably smaller swing of about 10 to 11 points in Ohio’s 12th to snatch this seat from the GOP, and we know that’s doable. What’s more, if O’Connor can pull this off, that would shrink the number of seats Democrats need to take back the House this November from 23 to 22. With Republicans prepared to fight as dirty as possible to keep their majority, every single seat counts, and we know they’ll stop at nothing to hold on to this one, too. That’s why O’Connor needs the progressive grassroots to do everything we can.
Donate $3 to help Danny O’Connor flip Ohio’s 12th District from red to blue today!