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Some news in the race for governor.

Nearly a year off, and lawmakers look to a new revenue source with another expansion of gambling.

That's this weekend.

The state of Ohio.

Welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Kasler.

The race for governor next year is starting to come into focus with a big endorsement for a Republican candidate and a well-known Democrat saying he's considering a run.

Last week, the Ohio Republican Party's state central committee took a big and early step in endorsing tech billionaire and former presidential candidate the Vague Ramaswamy over Attorney General Dave Yost in the 2026 governor's race.

The closed door secret ballot vote at the meeting, which has been held a few months before the primary and not nearly a year before in previous years, further solidifies Romney's Swami's power in the contested but increasingly one man race.

But now we're going to be able to work together with the Republican Party of Ohio with a one team mentality focused on winning in November of 2026.

I hope not just winning by a small margin, but winning by such a decisive margin that we have the unity not only Toledo, Ohio, to the next level, but a governing mandate to move quickly with an agenda that's focused on, again, not left versus right, but up instead of down.

Ramaswamy said.

With the endorsement behind him, he plans to drop a significant out of the box policy announcement in the near term.

Yost, who got into the race before Ramaswamy but missed the meeting to attend the funeral of a retired Hamilton County sheriff's deputy killed while on a traffic detail, got three votes to Rama Swami's 60.

Lieutenant Governor Jim Tressel said the night before the meeting that he has not ruled out running for governor.

And there were reports governor Mike DeWine wanted the party to hold off on an endorsement.

For now, the secrecy of the discussion and the vote raised some concerns among reporters at the event.

But chairman Alex Trout of Phillips said the party has the right to conduct business this way.

this is a party decision.

And if to the extent that we're having a discussion pros and cons about our candidates, the public can make their judgment at the ballot box.

We're a political organization designed to win elections for Republicans.

So, you know, the voters can make their choice.

But we absolutely should not be giving advantage to Democrats by having our family disputes, in the public.

in a statement after the vote, Yost said he will consult with his allies about what comes next, but added, quote, the people of Ohio deserve a choice, not a premature coronation of an untested candidate.

And, quote, the committee also voted to endorse U.S.

Senator John Houston, who so far has no opponent as he will run for his first election to his Senate seat next year.

The Ohio Democratic Party has a big meeting coming up next month, where they will select a new chair to replace Liz Walters, who resigned May 6th.

No.

Endorsed events are planned, but there's only one Democratic candidate for governor so far.

Former Ohio Department of Health director Doctor Amy Acton.

But there may be another in that race by this summer.

I talked this week with former Congressman Tim Ryan, who last ran against now Vice President JD Vance for U.S. Senate in 2022. you.

So, are you running for governor?

The question everybody wants to I don't know yet.

Definitely thinking about it.

And I'm worried about the state.

Worried about the country.

You know, I used to live in the Mahoning Valley for a long time and moved down here, and I.

It's become apparent in the last couple years to me, there's there's two Ohios, you know, there's there's a the boom in central Ohio, which is phenomenal.

To a lesser extent in Cincinnati.

But the rest of the state in many ways is getting left behind.

And I think, you know, we've got to have initiatives that are pushing and Youngstown and Warren and Steubenville and Toledo and Lima like these areas that, you know, have been largely forgotten.

And it's it's high time that we really focus on them and get them up and running.

You know, every one of these towns has a beautiful courthouse, beautiful downtown.

You know, the the bones of it.

And a river like the river needs cleaned.

The the, opera house or the theater needs redone.

We got to stimulate activity into the downtown and housing and and and get some quality of life going in these communities.

Again for people you have likely seen who if you do run, who your competition would be in terms of a Baker, Ramaswamy, who's gotten the endorsement of the Ohio Republican Party and endorsements around the state.

He's been doing all sorts of Lincoln Day dinners and that sort of thing.

How would you beat the Baker Ramaswamy, who wants zero income tax and lower property taxes?

This message that he's sending, how do you how do you combat that?

Well, I mean, there would be a lot of ways and I haven't given a ton of thought yet.

I mean, that's that's, months and months ahead.

But I think the the reality is, you know, we need to get the Democratic Party back on an economic message and modernization message.

Clearly, he's going to have to deal with all the negative effects of Dodge and cutting veterans jobs.

And, you know, the farm, you know, the issues that farmers are facing.

And so he he'll he'll take on all of the negatives, I think of from the Trump policies that he supported.

And so that'll be a reframing, I think of the the argument here.

But again, if Democrats if we don't have a complete rebrand and a refocus on economic messages, whether you're white or black or brown or gay or straight or a man or woman or you're in manufacturing or retail, then we're not gonna be able to win.

Like you have to have the thrust of your message has to be economics and moving people forward.

I was I've heard you say and read what you've said about retooling and rebranding, and it's been, I think, universally acknowledged that the messaging for Democrats has been challenging at best.

And you certainly have the message of there's data that shows that, the country has performed better under Democratic leadership than Republican leadership.

And yet Republicans are still credited with being the experts on the economy, the caretakers that people want for the economy.

How do you retool that message and how do you broaden it to the point where it's inclusive?

But there are some people who are going to have some problems with some of that.

Yeah, I think, you know, part of it is like, we have to get back to what I think is more of like a Bill Clinton style, you know, kind of minus the NAFTA piece of that.

But just you've got to work with business.

There's you can't hate business.

And I think sometimes Democrats get mad at the Republicans.

And it makes it seem like we hate all business.

But someone's got to create the jobs.

Someone you can be both pro-business and pro-union, as I am.

And and so you've got to get back to that spot where, like, how do we dominate artificial intelligence?

How do we bring these re industrialized jobs here, chip manufacturing, high end batteries and all that stuff where Biden did some of that stuff, but he was never able to, like, articulate it.

And really get that message out.

We've really re industrialized the country or are re industrializing the country.

And but Democrats got zero credit for that.

And and so getting back to that message quality of life education skills I think one of the big issues really will be the voucher piece of just like universal dismantling of public education in Ohio.

And how do those rural communities react to, like they're not going to set up a Saint Ignatius or, you know, Mooney or Ursuline or John F Kennedy High School, Catholic high school in their communities.

And so they're going to they're going to lose a lot of funding.

How are they going to respond to that?

And what's the Democratic plan to try and not just fight that?

I think sometimes we get really stuck on fighting what we're against and being really clear for what we're against.

We got to start being the party of what we're for.

What does the future look like under a Democratic gubernatorial administration or president or Congress or whatever?

There's no real vision.

And to me, that would be a fun part of you know, I have a few ideas on what that would look like.

You have talked about rural voters before, and in fact, in 2022, when you ran against JD Vance, you really had a, strategy of going after rural voters and trying to speak to rural voters.

Because when you look at the map of Ohio, Democrats used to have a lot of support among rural voters.

What did you learn from that campaign that would allow you to potentially do better than you did against Vance in 2022?

Well, starts by showing up and having a plan.

And again, there's a lot of issues in our cities, too, and our urban areas.

Again, I think Democrats have largely taken the black vote for granted for a long time.

And we've not come up with creative, ideas.

We've not used our imagination on how we solve some of these old problems, both in the city, but in the rural areas as well.

In the rural areas, we don't even show up.

I mean, I think I did four points better than Hillary or two points better than Biden.

I can't remember the numbers, but we did significantly better than the Democrat has in Ohio and, in the near term.

And that's because we went there.

I mean, I was in Lima four times.

I was in Portsmouth 3 or 4 times.

I mean, I went to all these small little towns and basically said, we, you know, we're going to be here for you.

You feel it paid off for you that I mean, I think so.

I mean, we got 400,000, voters who voted for Mike DeWine and Tim Ryan.

Significant crossover in a time when you don't get a lot of crossover.

And I think it's because they showed up and they know I care.

And I'm from Niles, like I'm from the Mahoning Valley.

Like, they know that.

I know what it's like to be forgotten.

But I think if you run for a statewide office like governor, you have more concrete policy proposals that you could actually bring to those communities.

And again, how do we build the downtowns?

How do we clean the river?

How do we get the schools going in those areas?

I mean, they've just been devastated with the, the, the opiate problem and then the fentanyl problem and the industrial ization, like our communities have been through a lot.

And it's time for us to acknowledge that and then pull everybody together for a plan forward.

It doesn't matter if it's a Republican or Democratic plan A who cares doesn't really matter.

Solve the problem.

I know you said you're still deciding that you, I've read that you will likely decide the summer, but do you have any concrete plans that you want to share?

Something that would be a keystone of the campaign?

No, I'm still working on no, I don't I mean, you know, we just started thinking about this, you know, just watching things unfold and things not getting better and, you know, kind of watching the, just the instability that's happening here.

And I think it could get a lot worse.

I mean, you know, I know people can be very critical of of governor DeWine.

But he's tempered a very extreme legislature.

And so if you remove Mike DeWine and you put in the Ramaswamy, it's a whole new ball game of of how I think radicalized the state would become.

And I just don't think that's Ohio.

I just Ohio's always been I mean, when I got the Congress I was serving with obviously Boehner, and Mike Oxley and these guys were conservative guys, you know, but they were pretty normal guys.

You know, they were kind of they weren't they were economically conservative.

And on the social issues, they were conservative, but they weren't they weren't radicalized and they were good people.

And I got along with them and I played basketball with them, and they were just great people.

Mike actually never pass the ball just for, for just to keep the record straight here.

But we've got to get back to some down the road down the middle, Midwestern kind of problem solving there is, opening at leadership at the Ohio Democratic Party.

Now, do you think do you have a, a candidate in that race that you'd like to see move forward?

I know both, like I'm both, I've known Billy for a long time.

The list tomorrow.

Tomorrow's pretty aggressive.

I kind of think we need to be more in a fight or lane here of, like, really letting people know we're going to.

We're going to advocate and fight for them.

But the executive committee has to decide like it.

And Sherrod Brown has been backing Kathleen Clyde.

Yeah.

I put you at odds with Sherrod Brown.

I mean, I just I'm not I'm trying to stay out of it because I don't think it's our place.

Like, I don't think people want like Tim Ryan or whoever, like weighing in on this.

Because those people have been on the front lines.

They've watched the demise of the Democratic Party.

They hear it every day at the coffee shop, barber beauty salon on what we're doing wrong.

They should be the ones who say, okay, of these candidates, here's, here's who's going to help us move out of this spot that we're stuck in.

And finally, you're a Browns fan.

I need to ask you about the, the proposal.

In the House budget that would move the stadium to Brook Park and give $600 million in state backed bonds.

The Browns say that development is going to raise $1.3 billion, more than the billion dollars the state needs to pay back those bonds.

What are your thoughts?

I think it's outrageous, I really do.

I've been a Browns fan my whole life.

I've got post-traumatic stress to prove it.

All Browns, they're at their therapy sessions.

I just think it's outrageous.

You're going to give a billionaire money to move the stadium off the lake, out of the city, into Brook Park, and and that someone to me who doesn't understand the culture of Cleveland, Northeast Ohio or Cleveland Browns fans, that stadium needs to be on the lake.

You want to build it there?

Fine.

You want the state and the locals to help you.

Okay, maybe it needs to be in the city of Cleveland like that.

That town does not deserve to lose that stadium.

And it's I think it's outrageous, that that you would ask for $600 million, to, to make this of taxpayer money, bonds or whatever to do it when that money could be in our schools, that money could be rebuilding those theaters and those small towns that we talked about, or opera houses or whatever, like this.

There's just another opportunity there.

And I think it's a shame, because even if you want to build a dome on the lake, fine.

Keep it open during the football games.

Right?

I'll concede you that because I get the idea of what you want to do, but you don't move it out of the city of Cleveland off the lake.

That's like when we went up to the Browns Steelers game.

I took, our son Brady and our daughter Bella.

That was unfortunately a Steelers fan, but it snowed.

Remember that?

Remember that?

It was it was it was amazing.

It was like, this is quintessential Cleveland football.

And me and Brady are throwing a football after the game in the snow.

And he's dive.

And mom wasn't there.

So he's diving in the snow.

But that's Cleveland.

Why would you put a dome.

Why would you move it out of the city.

Why would you move it off the lake?

I think it's just absolutely outrageous.

The Haslam say they're moving it because of the business opportunities in Brook Park, that it would create so much money for the state and for the region.

Do it on the lake.

Do it in Cleveland.

I know May I've talked to Mayor Bib about it.

He'll work with you.

The county executive.

Really?

He'll work with you.

Don't work with you.

Put it on the lake.

Do you think you can make money?

Like I said, we don't have to hate business.

People make money.

But don't people, like, do something like this, or you're pulling the stadium out of the city of Cleveland off the lake.

It's crazy.

One issue Ryan will likely wrestle with is that he's been lobbying for some industries that might pose ideological conflicts for Democrats, such as cryptocurrency and natural gas.

Ryan said on this show in January that natural gas has displaced coal in Ohio and employs unionized workers, and that crypto has been helpful for small businesses, especially those in minority communities.

Last week, Senator Bill Damore was on this show to talk about his candidacy for Ohio Democratic Party chair.

As I mentioned, former U.S.

Senator Sherrod Brown also talked about as a possible statewide candidate, has backed former state Representative Kathleen Clyde.

Clyde said in a statement that she hopes to be chair, quote, to build a stronger, more inclusive and more energized movement that will put us in position to win in 2026 and beyond.

As a state representative, county commissioner and voting rights advocate.

I've spent my career championing working class families, and as a proven fundraiser, I pledge to do the work necessary to help candidates all across the state.

I'm ready to lead with integrity, strategy, and a deep commitment to the values that define our party.

And quote.

We're hoping to talk with her on an upcoming show.

Lawmakers are considering the largest expansion of gambling in Ohio in many years, going from just sports betting to also include playing poker or casino games for money online, as well as playing lottery games and betting on horse races on phones or laptops.

The sponsor of a Senate bill introduced this week and a House bill that's still in the works.

The goal is more revenue for the state.

online gambling is already here in Ohio.

It's not legalized, but it is a, estimated hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal gambling happening right now on this, on your cellphone, on your computers.

So what we're really looking to do is just, you know, legalize it.

Just like sports betting.

The bill from Senator Nathan Manning would set a 36% tax rate on operators and $50 million in licensing fees, with the money going into a gambling revenue fund.

The bill does not specify what the money would be used for, but that could come up in the budget process.

what we're hoping to do is to have him throw an idea and a concept out there, see where we might end up and then have a conversation about what we want to do with it after that, with the Senate budget based off that revenue coming in.

Well, we would have to if we were to pass something like that.

My understanding is I've I've not received a firm estimate.

I think a lot of that it depends on the details and how we structure whatnot.

But in other states that have done this, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue that comes in.

Senate Minority Leader Nikki Antonio has said at least some of that revenue needs to go to mental health programs, because more gambling opportunities will likely mean more people addicted to gambling.

I, I, did note that the president said, you know, we'd like to see the budget address this.

Sure.

Because all we keep hearing, the framing of this budget is that it's a tight budget.

It's been framed that way by the majority party.

I think the only reason is the budget is because they decided it was a tight budget on certain issues.

And so obviously issues for funding the schools and child care at all those things that we want, that we would like to see that I think the people everyday Ohioans want to see, certainly we could benefit from paying for them if there were suddenly some additional funds as a place to start.

House Speaker Matt Huffman said last week he thinks the state has turned a corner when it comes to gambling as a potential revenue stream.

But this week, Huffman raised more concern about gambling addiction as he suggested a possible future for the new revenue.

now how the money is going to be spent.

You know, I don't think necessarily we need to designate that part of there's one philosophy that says you can raise money other than by ordinary taxes.

Of course, we have fees and things like that that pay for specific programs.

But the gambling, at the moment, I think it ought to go into the General Revenue Fund.

Maybe we can do that to reduce, income tax or some other tax in the future.

But I at the moment, that's where I think it's still I see some other proposal.

That's where I think Conservative groups, including the center for Christian Virtue have come out and strong opposition to expanding gambling through AI, gaming and AI lottery.

The Moyer Judicial Center, which houses Ohio's Supreme Court, is one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the state.

It's named for former Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who championed its renovation before he died in office in 2010.

A few months later, Justice Maureen O'Connor was elected chief Justice, having previously served as a Summit County judge and county prosecutor and lieutenant governor.

O'Connor retired in 2022 as the longest serving statewide elected woman in Ohio history, but visitors to the court may not immediately see her portrait, as it's now in the basement.

That's frustrated the League of Women Voters of Ohio.

At the end of the day.

Only 6% of public art, represents real, live women on our Ohio State House grounds.

There's none right now other than an angelic figure.

So not a real live woman.

There are none in that grand concourse, which is the main hallway where most visitors go at the Ohio Supreme Court.

There's 20 portraits, no women.

And so for us, this is about making sure that women are represented.

We want to preserve the memory of women changemakers.

One of the things we know is that in young girls, they start to have a confidence gap.

And we think that confidence gap really ends up fueling, in part, a leadership gap in elected office and in courtrooms and private sector leadership roles.

And so it's incredibly important that boys and girls see women leaders in public art, because if you can't see it, it's hard to imagine being it.

The Supreme Court has said that there's going to be a women in law exhibit.

This will be a part of.

And when you do go into the Supreme Court basement, there's a whole visitor center there, and it's well laid out.

But this particular area where the Chief Justice's portrait is, is, is undeveloped, so to speak.

Isn't that the best place for it, or would you rather see something else done?

So I think we need both.

Again, we have leadership gaps.

We have lots of women who go to law school, but many who may not think that they can be a lawyer or can be a judge.

And so our suggestion is to put her original portrait back where it was in that grand concourse where more members of the public will see it, but also to have a Women in Law exhibit.

We need both.

Are you concerned at all with the emphasis on deprogramming that something like this might not go forward because of questions about whether it's appropriate or not?

Well, look, I commend the justices of the court for committing to honor women in law and having that educational exhibit.

I think we need to, again, though, go further.

A lot of folks only go in that main concourse.

And the chief justice was actually right under our relief of Harding, which we thought was really cool, because that is the first presidential election where women had suffrage across the country to vote.

So obviously Harding was from Ohio and very cool to then see, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court who's a woman.

This is not the first time that a portrait has been moved.

We had, speaker Joanne Davidson's portrait was moved by then House Speaker Larry Householder.

Both of these situations suggested there was political reasoning behind those moves.

So how do you how do you see that?

Right.

So I think it was unceremonious to to move the Chief Justice's portrait to the bottom floor before the exhibit was open.

And again, they can put a replica of that, but have this in the main hallway.

Similarly, you're right, there was a long tiff between householder and, Joanne Davidson, who was the first elected woman for the Ohio House.

They he took down her artwork from the Ohio Chamber.

And then when Speaker Cup came in in 2020, he put it back up.

There is a ladies gallery here in the state House that there is a room that has been set aside to honor women who served in state government.

But I think you were saying here that there are other things that can be done that you'd like to see, other things that can be done for the 51% of the population, who is female?

That's right.

And we also are bringing in an author in a couple weeks on May 17th in Aurora.

We have our gala, and her name is Allison Tiara.

She's from Indiana, actually, but now, lives in Australia.

She's releasing a book in a couple days called uncredited.

And it looks at 600 women across the globe in every field, who have basically gone unnoticed, though we're changemakers in their own right.

the Ohio Supreme Court says the women in the law exhibit will eventually honor several pioneering women who shaped Ohio's justice system, and O'Connor's portrait can now be seen by over 11,000 people who check out the visitor center in the basement each year.

And that's it for this week for my colleagues at the Statehouse News Bureau of Ohio Public Media.

Thanks for watching.

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Support for the Statehouse News Bureau comes from Medical Mutual, dedicated to the health and well-being of Ohioans, offering health insurance plans, as well as dental, vision and wellness programs to help people achieve their goals and remain healthy.

More at Med mutual.com.

The law offices of Porter, right, Morris and Arthur LLP.

Porter Wright is dedicated to bringing inspired legal outcomes to the Ohio business community.

More at porterwright.com.

Porter Wright inspired Every day in Ohio Education Association, representing 120,000 educators who are united in their mission to create the excellent public schools.

Every child deserves more at OHEA.org.