Morgan Harper
Education: High school: Columbus Academy, 2001; College: Tufts University, 2005; Post graduate, Princeton – Master’s degree, 2010; Other Institutions Attended: Stanford Law School, 2010
Employment: Current: Candidate, U.S. Senate; Previous: Director of policy & advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonprofit fighting to break up corporate monopolies, and where I testified before Congress on the unchecked power of Big Tech; served as a senior adviser to Richard Cordray at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Obama administration protecting consumers against predatory corporations; clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio; paralegal at the Federal Trade Commission.
Community involvement: Franklin County Democratic Party; co-founder/executive director, Columbus Stand Up!, grassroots organization of volunteers across central Ohio that distributed 30,000 masks at the beginning of the pandemic and transported nearly 500 people to vaccine appointments, August 2020-present; Ron Brown Scholar Program, advisory board member, 2017-present; Fair Housing Justice Center, board member, 2017-2019.
Why are you seeking elected office? I’m running because Ohio can’t afford to have another 20 years like the past 20 years. Wages are stagnating. Health care costs threaten many families’ bottom lines, and we continue to battle the opioid and fentanyl epidemics. Part of my platform is the Ohio Opportunity Guarantee — which includes policies that ensure that everyone in this state can live out their potential. The Opportunity Guarantee will create family-sustaining union jobs for people with high school degrees, including jobs in the renewable energy sector, electric car manufacturing, and other clean energy jobs, because Ohio must be a state of the future. The policies I’m putting forth will make sure that we can provide universal health care, address the opioid epidemic, provide mental health care, and end this pandemic. I will fight every day for the people of Ohio to get these things done, and my background taking on Big Banks and Big Tech and my personal story will connect with the voters we need to turn out.
Why should voters elect you? Because Ohio needs new leadership and a new path forward, not more of the same old politics. In my time at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as Richard Cordray’s senior adviser, we returned $12 billion to over 28 million consumers. Columbus Stand Up! was able to distribute over 30,000 masks, and drive thousands of Ohioans to the polls in the 2020 election, and to vaccine appointments across Central Ohio. It will take someone with innovative ideas and an uncompromised record to effectively fight on behalf of Ohioans. This is why I never have and never will accept money from corporate PACs. I’ll fight to term-limit Congress, and regardless of the outcome will only serve two terms. I will uphold our values and focus on what we need here in Ohio, not what will keep me in Washington longer.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities? The main policy platform I plan to focus on is my Ohio Opportunity Guarantee, mentioned above, which includes several key initiatives. Among those are 1. creating as many as 600,000 jobs over the next 10 years in the clean energy economy, 2. allowing financial freedom for working families by raising the minimum wage, passing the PRO Act, and refreshing antitrust laws to make the economy more competitive and 3. passing Medicare for All to ensure health care coverage and control costs.
What specific plans do you have to address those top priorities? You can find out more here: https://morganharper.org/jobs-plan/
Anything else you would like voters to know? 2022 presents the opportunity to move boldly into the future by building a campaign that will energize voters all over our state. I look forward to meeting with voters all across the state to make that happen. It’s our turn!
TJ Johnson
City: Columbus
Education: B.A. in political science pre-law, Ohio University; pursued M.A. in American public policy/Soviet Union politics/international relations
Employment: Tra’Bian Enterprises
Community involvement: Currently - Ward Committeewoman, Women for Economic & Leadership Development (WELD); Central Ohio African American Chamber of Commerce (COAACC); Senior African American Leaders in IT (SAALT); Columbus Zoo and Aquarium associate board member; New Salem Baptist Church; founder, Progress Hilliard; founder, Western Lakes Civic Association; Franklin County Democratic Party; lifetime member of the Franklin County Democratic Women’s Club.
Why are you seeking elected office? I am running for the United States Senate because Ohio needs a strong advocate for worker’s rights, women’s right to choose, who will stand up for America’s middle class, fight for our environment to protect our land, our water, our air. Not afraid to take on pharmaceutical companies and bring down premiums and lower prescription drugs. Fight to ensure economic equality, LGBTQ, work to eliminate voter suppression, address criminal justice reform, focus on public funded child care for parents so we can get people back to work with more money in their pockets.
Why should voters elect you? Over 20 years as a ward committee woman and community activist; extensive experience fighting for Ohioans through the Office of Budget and Management – Balance our State Budge; Governor’s Office LGBT issues – draft protection language against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation/gender identity in Ohio; Ohio Attorney General’s Office – Consumer Protection Division, protected Ohio consumers against illegal business practices across our state; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency – protected our environment and the ensured that Ohioans have clean air, land and water; as business owner – Information Technology Solutions Company, understand the unique challenges small businesses face. I am qualified to lead Ohio in to the future!
If elected, what will be your top three priorities? Unify Ohio, economy, criminal justice
What specific plans do you have to address those top priorities? Re-Imagine Our Future is a blueprint for economic sustainability, growth and prosperity. We work together to bring about solutions for change, reform systems so they operate fairly and equitably to ensure dignity and humanity for everyone, and build upon the past to create a better present and future for Ohio.
Anything else you would like voters to know? I am new leadership with a fresh perspective and a vision for our future.
Tim Ryan
Education: Bowling Green State University, B.A. in political science; University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law (formerly the Franklin Pierce Law Center), J.D.
Employment: U.S House of Representatives, Ohio-13
Community involvement: U.S House of Representatives, Ohio-17; Ohio Senate; President, Trumbull County Young Democrats; Chairman, Earning by Learning
Why are you seeking elected office? I am running for Senate to cut Ohio workers in on the deal. From the Mahoning Valley to the Miami Valley, I’ve seen what happens when our politics and economy aren’t working for working people and I know there’s nothing more patriotic than investing in our team, bringing good-paying jobs to Ohio, and making sure our workers can compete with countries around the world and win. I’ve worked across the aisle to support working families in Ohio, combat the opioid crisis, and deliver for our military community. I’ve also worked hand-in-hand with businesses to revitalize American manufacturing and bring good-paying jobs and opportunities home to Ohio. In the Senate, I’ll keep fighting to raise wages, make it easier to unionize, make health care more affordable, protect Ohioans’ retirement security, invest in education, rebuild our public infrastructure, and revitalize manufacturing so we can make things in Ohio again — and make sure we’re cutting workers in on the deal every step of the way.
Why should voters elect you? I’m proud of my record of fighting for Ohio workers, and as senator for all of Ohio, I’ll keep fighting for working people in every corner of our state. I’ve stood alongside manufacturing workers who were getting a raw deal in Troy and Kettering; heard from health care workers, teachers and others who have turned their lives upside down over the last two years to keep us safe and give our kids the support they need; and I’ve worked alongside Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman to bring billions of dollars back to Ohio to rebuild our state using American-made materials, so we’re positioned to take on China and dominate the industries of the future.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities? We need to rebuild the middle class, rebuild Ohio and beat China. That starts with a tax cut to put money in the pockets of working families, which is why we should make the Child Tax Credit permanent and suspend the federal gas tax, saving Ohioans money at the pump. It means investing in job training and education, bringing back shop class, and supporting apprenticeship programs that let you earn while you learn, as well as rebuilding our roads and bridges and expanding high-speed internet. I worked with Sens. Portman and Brown to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and create hundreds of thousands of jobs to rebuild our state with U.S.-made materials. We must level the playing field for our workers and businesses and get tough on China and others that break the rules to undercut our workers. We need to make things here again, crack down on companies that ship jobs overseas and reward ones that invest here, and ensure our trade and industrial policy put workers first.
What specific plans do you have to address those top priorities? As a member of Congress, I’m proud to have cosponsored and supported legislation like the PRO Act that would make it easier for workers to form and join a union, and the COMPETES Act, which would help us take on China, invest in our workforce and support companies like Intel as they look to make Ohio a leader in high-tech manufacturing, along with proposals to pass a permanent working-class tax cut, invest in education, bring down health care costs, help Ohioans get child care, and protect the promise of a dignified retirement for our workers. But at every turn, these bills have died in the Senate or they’re just barely on life support. In the Senate, I’ll vote to end the filibuster so that we can finally pass urgent legislation that tips the balance of power back to working people in this country.
Anything else you would like voters to know? No response