THE SPECTRUM: Grading Ohio on its COVID-19 response; previewing races for state, Congressional seats
COLUMBUS (WCMH) – This week on The Spectrum:
* Good and bad COVID-19 news for Ohio: During a week when college football fans are celebrating a return of the Big Ten and Ohio State University football.
Six months into the coronavirus pandemic, Ohio is taking stock of its successes and failures.
A state health department task force reported this week that Ohio is making steady progress in mitigation of the virus overall and protecting people in long-term care. The state has 59 cases per 100,000 residents, much lower than the national average of 74 per 100,000.
Gov. Mike DeWine joined The Spectrum to discuss both the state’s successes and failures as well as a look at what the fall could mean for the state’s fight against the coronavirus.
* The 15th Congressional District winds though 12 Ohio counties and is considered a Republican stronghold.
But Democrat Joel Newby wants to turn it from red to blue this November.
Newby discusses why he decided to challenge a Republican veteran, Rep. Steve Stivers.
* Ohio’s 19th House district was another of the Columbus suburbs that flipped from red to blue in 2018.
Last week, we spoke with the incumbent. This week, The Spectrum sits down with her opponent, Meredith Freedhoff, who is looking to flip the Westerville-area seat back to Republican.
Freedhoff said she’s never run for office before, so we asked her, “Why now?”
* This week on the all-star roundtable, former Democratic state senator Lou Gentile and Republican strategist Matt Dole talk about Trump coming to Ohio and what it means for the campaign.