Snollygoster

The Ohio Democratic Party has a new chair. Amy Acton is building a campaign to run for Ohio governor. And everyone is waiting for Sherrod Brown to announce his plans.

The third version of the state budget is out, and it proposes cutting taxes for any Ohioan making more than $100,000 a year. The State Senate would do that by flattening the state income tax.

Taxes have come to dominate the political debate in Washington, and they loom as a growing concern at the Ohio Statehouse.

Attorney General Dave Yost has dropped out of the campaign for governor. Yost said his steep climb to the nomination had become a vertical cliff. For now, Vivek Ramaswamy's path to the Republican nomination for governor looks clear.

A panel of experts breaks down President Trump's falling approval numbers in polls and the uncertainty over tariffs.

A new poll shows Trump has a 47% approval rating while 48% disapprove—a statistical tie—but that number is down 7 points from February. The poll's co-director, Bowling Green State University political science professor Robert Alexander, joins the show.

The Browns are looking to move to a new domed stadium in suburban Cleveland. And state lawmakers seem eager to help. The governor wants to tax sports betting companies and use the money to help the Browns and other teams. The Ohio House wants the state to borrow $600 million to just help the Browns. Kennesaw State University economics professor J.C. Bradbury joins the show.

Last week, former Sen. Sherrod Brown announced the formation of the Dignity of Work Institute. The goal, he says, is to help Democrats and Republicans better understand the lives of American workers. It also keeps him in the spotlight as he considers whether to run for office again.

If you're a politician who wants to get elected, promising tax cuts is a popular strategy. Republican candidates for governor are doing just that, floating the idea to eliminate Ohio's income tax.

The Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, could be coming to Ohio. We discuss what that might look like with a panel of political observers.

Gov. DeWine gave his State of the State address this week and said things are going pretty well. He called for mandatory basic skills lessons in school—things like basic finance and first aid—and wants to make students leave their phones at home. Ohio Public Radio Statehouse Bureau Chief Karen Kasler joins the show.

Vivek Ramaswamy officially launched his run for governor this week with several rallies. The wealthy entrepreneur, who burst on the scene in 2023 with his run for president, now wants to succeed Mike DeWine. Political strategist Terry Casey joins the show.

It's week two of the Jim Tressel era at the Ohio Statehouse and he has not set up a campaign website... yet. Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy has filed preliminary paperwork to run for governor. He'll face Attorney General Dave Yost, who announced his candidacy last month.

Mike DeWine did keep his Lt. Governor pick a secret until he and Jim Tressel walked before cameras on Monday morning. To the surprise of everyone, he announced the former OSU football coach and former Youngstown State University president was his nominee to be his right-hand office holder. Reporter David Skolnick of the Youngstown Vindicator joins the show.

Our roundtable discussion covers President Trump's immigration round-up, the move to end capital punishment in Ohio, and a proposal to change Ohio's fairly new voter-approved law legalizing recreational marijuana.

Advocacy groups believe Trump's rescinded federal funding freeze would have disrupted the Ohio budget process and jeopardized critical programs. Hannah Halbert, director of Policy Matters Ohio, joins the show.

After months of speculation, Gov Mike DeWine announced that Jon Husted was his pick to be the next U.S. Senator from Ohio. Of course, Husted is replacing short-timer J.D. Vance, who job-hopped into the Vice Presidency.

This DeWine appointment to the U.S. Senate has become a bit of a soap opera. Joining us to try to help us understand this is long-time Republican strategist Terry Casey.

Former Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton ended speculation and announced this week that she will indeed run for governor next year as a Democrat. Meanwhile, Gov. DeWine still has a big decision to make on who will fill JD Vance's seat in the U.S. Senate.

In the 248 years of America's existence, there have been tumultuous years and 2024 is going to be right up there. Joining the show to relive the memories is long-time Statehouse reporter Darrel Rowland.

The legislative session between Election Day and the end of the legislative term is always a busy one. Maybe lawmakers are just like the rest of us and they procrastinate. Former State Representative Gene Krebs joins the show.

Voters last month soundly rejected a measure that would have appointed an independent, non-political commission to draw legislative and congressional lines. An Ohio lawmaker says there is an alternate solution: expand the size of the legislature. Joining us to discuss this proposal is State Sen. Bill Blessing.

The House Republican caucus voted unanimously to nominate current Senate President Matt Huffman to be the next House Speaker. Joining us to discuss this shrewd move is Sarah Donaldson, Statehouse reporter for Ohio Public Radio.

President-elect Donald Trump continues to build his cabinet. Gov. Mike DeWine continues to take calls from almost every Republican officeholder in the state, saying he or she wants Vice President-elect JD Vance's soon-to-be vacant Senate seat. Republican Strategist Terry Casey, Democratic Strategist Dale Butland, WOSU's talk show and podcast host Anna Staver and USA Today Ohio Network Reporter Laura Bischoff break it down.

Donald Trump rolled to a swing state sweep. Bernie Moreno rode President Trump's coattails to Washington. Republicans swept all three contested seats on the Ohio Supreme Court. How did Democrats get it so wrong? David Stebenne, professor of Political History at Ohio State University joins the show.

If the polls are to be believed, the candidates for President are tied nationally, and in the seven swing states. Joining the show this week is Anna Staver, host of WOSU's "All Sides with Anna Staver."

Just a dozen days remain, and the candidates for president are done with microtargeting by trying to appeal to narrow groups of voters. They are making their final pitches. Retired Ohio State University political science professor Paul Beck joins the show.

A New York Times/Siena College poll last week showed Harris's support among Black voters was less than Joe Biden received in 2020. Joining the show to discuss this and other issues is Sam Gresham, a long-time political observer and activist who works with Common Cause Ohio.

National polling firms and out-of-state universities don't survey Ohio voters as much as they did in the first 15 years of this century. But there are polls out there.

There were some sharp critiques, but a whole lot of passive aggressiveness and a fair amount of substance. Overall, the vice-presidential candidates spent most of their time targeting their opponents' running mates. WOSU's Anna Staver, host of the talk show and podcast All Sides with Anna Staver, joins the show.

Experts predict ad spending in Ohio will top $400 million. Nearly a half billion dollars will be spent to get you to vote for a U.S. Senator, decide a constitutional amendment, a member of Congress or a rapid bus line tax. Longtime political strategist Bob Clegg joins the show.

Another week of bomb threats has disturbed Springfield, Ohio. This all follows Sen. JD Vance's and former President Donald Trump's lies that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were stealing residents' pets and eating them. Longtime political reporter Darrel Rowland joins the show.

Evangelical protestants are the fastest growing religious tradition in Ohio. In part 4 of WOSU's State of Religions series, we look at the demographic shifts in Ohio's religious communities.

It's hard to fault lawmakers for letting religious beliefs guide decisions, but where is the line between following morals and degrading the separation of church and state? In part 3 of WOSU's State of Religion series, we hear from lawmakers about how their faith affects their work.

All this week, WOSU is examining the intersection of religion and politics in Ohio. In Part 2 of WOSU's State of Religion series, we're examining how faith-aimed lobbying efforts shape policy in Ohio.

Ohio's diverse religious history from early settlers to the present day has shaped the state's cultural fabric. In this four-part series, the WOSU News team explores religion in Ohio with reports examining how faith influences politics and policy in the state.

Mentions of crowd sizes and eating pets were just two moments from what was an incredible piece of political theater during the first and possibly only debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. We discuss the debate with Nate French, associate teaching professor at Wake Forest University and an expert in political communication.

Usually, Labor Day marks the start of the home stretch of a presidential campaign, but this campaign only began six weeks ago. Ohio State political science professor Wendy Smooth joins the show to discuss the upcoming election.

This week, we're doing something a little different. We'll be listening to WOSU's most recent Politics and a Pint event where three political reporters and host Mike Thompson sat in front of a large crowd at a local brewpub and talked about this chaotic political season.

Ohioans will vote in November on a plan to change the way the state draws its legislative districts. Some don't like the plan and think Iowa has a system worth replicating. WOSU reporter George Shillcock joins the show to discuss the Iowa way.

Midwesterners have cornered the market on vice presidential candidates for the 2024 election. This week Vice President Kamala Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz's selection follows former President Donald Trump naming Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance as his running mate. Joining us to discuss the issue is another proud midwesterner and political expert, Ohio State University political scientist Paul Beck.

To get a handle on how this is playing out in Ohio, we talked to four veteran political observers: progressive activist Morgan Harper, Republican strategist Terry Casey, Ohio Public Radio reporter Jo Ingles and Cleveland.com reporter Andrew Tobias.

There is a new likely Democratic nominee for President of the United States. Former Ohio Democratic Chair David Pepper—a man who has been through candidate nomination processes, recruiting candidates and guiding them to Election Day—joins the show to discuss this tumultuous pivot for Democrats.

Former President Donald Trump ended all speculation and named Ohio's junior U.S. Senator, JD Vance, as his running mate this week at the Republican National Convention. To understand why Trump may have made this pick, longtime Vance adviser Jai Chabria joins the show.

Voters will not get the chance to increase Ohio's minimum wage in this year's election. Supporters of an effort to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour have come up short in their attempt to get the proposed amendment on the ballot. Joining us to discuss the campaign is the president of One Fair Wage, Saru Jayaraman.

With the 2024 election just around the corner, the former president continues to warn of a rigged election months before ballots are cast. Fair election advocates are mobilizing to counter the false narrative. Democratic former Congressman Zack Space of the bi-partisan Democracy Defense Project joins the show.