Licking County today officially opened a state Democratic Party campaign office on Church St., one of 40 now spread across the state as part of the party's drive to continue its winning ways at the polls this November.
Speaking at the opening, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said he expects this number of coordinated campaign hubs to double by election day. That would be approaching the scale of the ground game put together by the state party in 2008 which was critical in sweeping Barack Obama into the White House.
ODP is the largest state Democratic Party organization in the country, with total staffing expected to reach 250 by this fall, said Redfern. Three state party workers are already based in Newark helping to coordinate local, state and federal campaign activities.
Addressing an overflow crowd of volunteers at the local Democratic office, Redfern said despite press reports of gloomy Democratic prospects this November, he expects a combination of better candidates and a much superior on-the-ground organization will serve the party well just as it did in 2006 and 2008.
Redfern acknowledged that the Ohio economy is in bad shape, as shown by the 17 per cent jobless rate in his home county of Ottawa. But it's the Democratic ticket, headed by Governor Ted Strickland, that is pulling us out of the ditch, he said.
By comparison, it's the Republican team, John Kasich for governor and Rob Portman for Senate, who were among the architects of this recession, Redfern charged. Kasich was a former managing partner at the Lehman Brothers brokerage house whose bankruptcy was instrumental in the Wall Street collapse. Portman, as former President George Bush's former U.S. trade representative, is blamed by Democrats for trade agreements which resulted in the outsourcing of millions of U.S. jobs to other countries.
But the chairman also signaled that the party this year will also be focusing on returning Congressman Zack Space (18th District) and Mary Jo Kilroy (15th District) to Washington and replacing 12th District Republican Pat Tiberi with the Democratic challenger, Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks.
It was unconscionable, Redfern said, for Tiberi -- or any Ohio congressman for that matter -- to have opposed the Obama administration's rescue of General Motors given how much the auto industry - both in terms of assembly plants and parts suppliers - means to the Ohio economy.
Redfern also strongly urged Ohio voters to re-elect State Rep. Dan Dodd, who was present at the rally.
While the statewide and federal races get most of the attention, it's the state legislative contests which will decide which party controls the mapping of new congressional districts following the 2010 census.
"That's why we say the 2010 election is really about who controls Ohio for the next 10 years," the chairman said.
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