Ohio’s sprawling 12th district was thrown together by the gerrymanderers in the state legislature from bits and pieces of various leftover areas— from the suburbs of Columbus, huge swathes of Appalachia and exurbs of Akron and Canton. They certainly didn’t care about creating a district with any common community interests, just one that would be reliably red. The district is represented in Washington by a dull backbencher, garden variety Republican Troy Balderson, who helped draw the district for himself when he was in the state Senate.
Today Blue America is proud to endorse a progressive Democrat, Jerrad Christian, challenging Balderson in this district the DCCC has long forgotten. It’s where Christian was born and grew up— so not one he’s forgetting. He’s working to rally working class Ohioans who have forgotten something else: the Democratic Party and why they and their parents and grandparents once loved the Democratic message. “Universal healthcare,” Christian told me yesterday, “means everyone gets a shot at the medical care they need, no matter their bank account. That could be huge for people in our area who are struggling to get by or who don’t have easy access to doctors and hospitals… I often look at who is lobbying for or against a specific issue, and when I see that the majority of lobbying against universal healthcare is from hugely profitable corporations, I take note of it.”
