DEAR EDITOR:

In your Jan. 9 edition you ran a story about Dave Thomas filing for reelection in the 65th House district which was hardly news. Fast forward to Feb. 3, and you chose to ignore something that was actually news, the filing of Lorna Westlake, a Democrat, to oppose Thomas in the 65th which according to the Tribune is a district that heavily favors Republicans. You might be asking who is this plucky opponent?

Well, let me introduce myself. My first career was in the U.S. Postal Service rising to a postmaster position. However, in mid-life I experienced a call to Christian ministry, graduated from Ashland Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity and became the assistant pastor at Willoughby United Methodist Church from 2003 through 2010. I continued my call as a deacon when I returned to my home county, Ashtabula County, by becoming the director / treasurer of the Manna Food Pantry and working with the Salvation Army.

You might be thinking, “Oh no, not somebody else from Ashtabula County!” Yes, Thomas and I live no more than 4 miles apart, but you have the Republican Party to thank for that, not for us living 4 miles apart, but gerrymandering our two counties, slicing and dicing them in a crazy quilt pattern.

Now I’m going to get serious. I will not vote for any budget that withdraws automatic Medicaid coverage for all eligible children 0-3 while giving $600 million windfalls to billionaires. Nor will I vote to automatically terminate the Medicaid expansion relied on by 770,000 Ohioans if federal support drops one dollar below 90%, as my opponent has done. Unlike my opponent who seems to have an animus toward public education, I will be a champion of public education and oppose any attempt to raise the bar for passage of levies to 60%. Such an action by the state Legislature will not only devastate public schools in Ashtabula and Trumbull County, but also local governments, social services, and senior programs.

When it comes time to oppose the data center industry and its enormous use of energy which will drive your utility rates up, you need a Democrat in your corner, not a Republican. The Republican Party will choose as their leader a tech billionaire named Ramaswamy and the rest of the party, including my opponent, will follow his program to a tee of more tax credits and more tax cuts of which more than 40% will go to the top 1%.

So, come November, I Lorna Westlake would urge you and be honored to have your vote. Join with me to make Ohio a better place for everybody, not just for the moneyed.

LORNA WESTLAKE

Austinburg