WE DID IT!

The votes have been cast and counted, and the NO side has won a decisive victory in Ohio! Issue 1, which would have made it all but impossible for citizens to put an amendment on our state constitution, has been defeated by a margin of 57%-43% statewide. National and even international media are taking notice of what we did in Ohio, and characterizing our victory as a win for reproductive choice. WE DID IT!

Frank LaRose and his cronies were banking on Warren County to provide them a huge YES margin, to make up for their losses in urban counties. But thanks to a combination of Issue 1’s unpopularity among Republicans and independents, and our get-out-the-vote efforts with Democrats, they only got a narrow margin of 4,000 votes here. Our efforts here in Warren County were crucial to Issue 1’s defeat. In a span of 90 days we knocked 7,500+ doors, wrote 19,000+ postcards, and distributed 700+ yard signs around the county.

Here are some more interesting numbers. In Warren County, over 72,000 votes were cast, which is a 41.9% turnout. This compares to just over 15,000 votes cast in Warren County in last August’s special primary. And results in Warren County over-performed our “normal” county partisan split by about 14%. That means we got out our base and we had help from Republicans and independents who understood the threat to our democracy. The final margin in Warren County was YES 52.8%, NO 47.2%. To put this in perspective, Mike DeWine won Warren County with 73% of the vote just last year. If we can harness even part of that huge common-sense groundswell, we can make serious inroads in Warren County this November.

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who made this possible:

• Our WCDP August 8 campaign leads Kelly Sakalas & Bethe Goldenfield
• Our regional team leads Suzy Aukerman, Jill Bowman, Rhonda Koenig, Nancy Oliver, and Renee Westermeyer
• Our VoteBuilder/data team Jane Doster, Sergiy Misyura, Sonia Milrod, and Ken Poleyeff
• Everyone who knocked doors, made phone calls, sent texts, or mailed postcards
• Everyone who staffed headquarters during the VOTE NO campaign
• Everyone who reached out to friends, family, or neighbors to get out the vote
• Everyone who voted — early, by mail, or on Election Day — to preserve our democracy and protect our constitution.

Now it’s on to November, when we’ll be enshrining our right to abortion, contraception, fertility care, and miscarriage care in our state constitution and putting them out of the reach of far-right Republicans for good. We’re going to take a break, enjoy a cup of our favorite beverage, sleep in on Saturday morning, and then it’s back to work as we start planning on how to get out the vote for reproductive rights and our local candidates in three months.