Republicans have controlled the governor’s mansion and both houses of the general assembly for all but four of the last 23 years. A generation of Ohioans have grown up in the shadow of conservatives clamoring for lower taxes, more deregulation and more handouts to big business, while their rural constituents struggle to make ends meet. Jobs were slashed, wages plummeted relative to costs, and good, dependable healthcare became ever more scarce.

Republicans have not been kind to rural Ohio. Wage stagnation, wealth inequality, and the opioid epidemic have occurred under Republican watch. Republicans have been cutting taxes and deregulating business for 30 years; then ponder why kids flee rural Ohio for the big city. Meanwhile, those kids just graduated college with 30, 40 thousand dollars, or more, of debt.

The Republican governor raided the treasuries of local governments, schools and other agencies to create a rainy day fund. Villages and schools across Ohio are now asking voters for more funds. The federal government was sued to eliminate pre-existing conditions from health care and voters were purged from the voter rolls.

Make freedom count, exercise your most important civic duty by voting.

Don Spurling

Wilmington