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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio House Dem Leader Russo on plans, ‘There will be more time for this discussion at a later point'
Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.) Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo is continuing to stay quiet about any potential future political plans she might have in wake of her announcement last week to step down from her leadership at the end of the month. 'I want to get through this transition first, make sure that the new leadership team has all the support and they get into place,' the Democratic lawmaker from Upper Arlington said when asked if she is considering a run for statewide office. 'I'm going to take some time off. I'll be with my family during July, and there will be more time for this discussion at a later point.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX All four statewide executive offices of governor, attorney general, auditor, and secretary of state are up for open election in 2026, with all of the current Republican incumbents term-limited out of running for the same positions again. Former Ohio Health Department Director Dr. Amy Acton is currently the only Democratic candidate running for Ohio governor. Republican candidates include businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Morgan County school board president Heather Hill. Democrats are waiting to see if former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will run for Senate or Ohio governor, or nothing at all. Current Republican Ohio Auditor Keith Faber is running for attorney general in 2026; current Republican Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague is running for secretary of state in 2026; and current Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is running for auditor in 2026. Current Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost had been running for governor, but recently dropped out of the race after the Ohio Republican Party endorsed Ramaswamy. Bryan Hambley, a cancer doctor with University of Cincinnati Health, is the only announced Democratic candidate for Ohio Secretary of State. No other Democrats have yet announced their candidacy in 2026 for Ohio auditor, treasurer, or attorney general. The last time any Democratic candidates won any of Ohio's statewide executive offices was in 2006, when Ted Strickland was elected governor, Marc Dann was elected attorney general, Rich Cordray was elected treasurer, and Jennifer Brunner was elected secretary of state. They were all swept out of office in the 2010 cycle. The vote for a new Ohio House Minority Leader is expected to happen the last week of June, right before the lawmakers go on summer break, Russo said. 'I'm not making any endorsements,' she said. 'The decision about who will leave this caucus next is up to the entire caucus, not one individual member.' Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said he has no idea who is going to replace Russo. 'I said to members of our caucus, obviously, they're free to vote however they want, but we're just going to wait to see what comes out of the minority caucus and deal with that,' he said. Russo is term-limited and her term ends on Dec. 31, 2026. 'I'm looking forward to shifting my focus to policy work and being back on committees,' she said. 'I'm excited about the potential of the new leadership team and the energy that brings and to work alongside those folks.' Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Team: Acton setting gubernatorial fundraising records
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio's next gubernatorial election is 21 months away but the candidates are already reaching out to voters. Republican frontrunner Vivek Ramaswamy, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, has already begun airing advertising. The lone Democrat in the race so far, former Ohio Health Department Director Dr. Amy Acton, is shattering the first quarter fundraising record for Democrats. Her team said that by the time the first quarter ends next Monday, she will have $600,000 in her campaign coffers, beating the previous record for a Democrat: former Gov. Ted Strickland raised $472,000 in 2009. Acton's team said it is a grassroots effort with more than 10,000 donors from all 88 of Ohio's counties. The figures raised by the three Republicans in the race – Ramaswamy, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, and Morgan County's Heather Hill – have not yet been released. Campaign finance reports are due to the state by Monday; the state is expected to release them later in April. Acton, a first-time candidate, served as health director under Gov. Mike DeWine during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, Acton said, 'I'm incredibly grateful to so many in Ohio who are embracing our movement and hungry for change.' Ramaswamy, also promising change, hasn't released his financial information for the governor's race, but during his short 2024 presidential campaign, he raised more than $66 million. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Looking back: 5 years since the pandemic began
(WKBN) — It's been five years since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Ohio, and First News is looking back at the pandemic with a local county health official. According to the Ohio Health Department, the first positive case of COVID-19 was reported on March 9, 2020, but Laura Fauss with Columbiana County Health District says the state health department started meetings in January. 'Once we saw it leave China with how mobile our society is, it's not really that surprising, but because we had such limited knowledge on the virus, we really didn't know what was going to happen,' Fauss said. Health departments relied on proven ways to stop the spread of any diseases — washing hands, covering a cough with an elbow and maintaining distance from others. Just a week after the first case in Ohio, closures and stay-at-home orders started to roll out. Fauss says while it was surprising to many, it was always a possibility. 'We had done a preparedness drill similar to this related to the flu. So, that's something that's always on our minds — it's always a possibility whether it really occurs. We all went through this, we all know it felt like a movie. It didn't feel like reality. So, it really occurring is surprising,' Fauss said. The first case in Columbiana County was recorded March 20, 2020, and the first vaccine wasn't available until December 2020. Fauss said that was challenging but there were positives. 'Working in local public health in Columbiana County — one of the things I really want to get out to the community is their dedication and hard work. They did their part in stopping the spread of the disease and, in turn, saved lives,' Fauss said. Now, five years later, she says waste water monitoring in larger cities and telemedicine for rural areas are positives that came out of the pandemic, but the healthcare workforce took a big hit that is still present. 'In Ohio, I can speak specifically to the public health workforce all over the state that there's still staffing shortages,' Fauss. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
