Melissa S. Razdrih
Tom Steyer is on the road.
The California hedge fund executive turned activist, with deep ties to Florida, is now campaigning for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election in Ohio.
Steyer will be in Columbus today, Saturday July 20. He’s scheduled to do a handful of events including a walking tour and roundtable.
In a news release, Steyer’s campaign said of the visits:
“Steyer will be discussing the need for the Five Rights, a modern-day contract with the American public that guarantees everyone a fair chance at success and a full voice in our democracy agenda, and to discuss his plan for progressive statewide change.”
Ohio, once considered a battleground swing state, is said by some to have “stopped swinging” and is considered by many an easy presidential win for Donald Trump, no matter who the Democrats serve up as a candidate.
However, Chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, David Pepper told Roll Call, “We’re more of a rigged state than we are a red state.”
In May, a group of federal judges agreed when they found legislatures were gerrymandering by creating a state congressional map that favored Republicans eight years ago, and ordered the map be redrawn.
While the decision will likely go to the Supreme Court, Steyer is not brushing off Ohio as a red state just yet.
A number of Democratic strategists have suggested candidates skip the state completely, but the Democratic party in Ohio thinks that is short-sighted, according to ThinkProgress:
“Anyone who thinks Trump is on a glide path to victory in Ohio is being misled by the GOP’s massive spin machine and is failing to understand how people and politics work in the state,” say party leaders in Ohio.
Other Democratic primary candidates who have visited Ohio since announcing their campaign include Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Beto O’Rourke and Pete Buttigieg.
