Obergefell's mission best serves interest of people

It would be a wise decision for voters to elect Jim Obergefell to the Ohio House 89th District for a whole number of reasons, the first being his understanding of what a lawmaker's responsibility is to voters. Jim Obergefell, a candidate in the Ohio House District 89 race, visits the Register for a segment of 'Between the Lines' on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. Register photo/ERIN CALDWELL It's a role Obergefell's opponent never quite grasped in the nearly three years since he was appointed. D.J. Swearingen, who represents a politically mixed district, chose the far right side of the road, seemingly sympathizing with pandemic deniers, election deniers and other edges of a vastly changed Republican Party. He's even argued his district isn't gerrymandered. Ah, but it clearly is, as is every statehouse and congressional district in Ohio, because Republicans refused to follow the spirit and intent of the state constitutional amendments that outlaw it that Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved in 2015 and 2018. They are lawmakers who refused to be subject to the rule of law. Candidates with unfair electoral advantages due to gerrymandering tend to not worry about consequences. Swearingen is so confident of his built-in advantage, during this election campaign he hiked rent $500 a month (70%) for residents who live in a Sandusky building he recently bought. Thanks to gerrymandering it's no big deal for him to raise rents for people on fixed incomes. Swearingen went along with gerrymandering and is benefiting from it. For that alone, voters should seriously consider whether they should vote for him. There are other reasons, too, to reconsider whether this man is a good fit for the 89th District. A lawmaker's mission is to develop, ponder and consider legislation that serves the interest of the people. That's what Obergefell will tell you, and he's right about that. Swearingen, according to Obergefell, has been battling made-up demons in manufactured culture wars. He's right about that, also. A lawmaker's job is to work toward better regulation and laws that are fair, correct, in service to the public or somehow otherwise supporting to the common good. The legislation Swearingen supports, however, doesn't resemble that. His legislative record is based on carefully crafted talking points and focus-group-tested chants designed to demonize the opposition. Playing up fiery culture wars is not what a politician should be doing; a lawmaker should be someone who looks at this work in a serious, sober and committed way. Swearingen has been an outspoken advocate for the so-called "Divisive Concepts Act," also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which is poorly written, poorly conceived, backwards and will be unenforcible if it is enacted. It really is that ignorant. But he supports it, gleefully. He and his like-minded colleagues cannot sit back and allow "teachers to radically indoctrinate children," Swearingen said earlier this year. He's never provided any evidence, however, that this is happening anywhere in his district or anywhere in the state. He's ignored repeated requests for specific information about this concern. Obergefell will tell you that's because Swearingen is making it up. The "radical indoctrination" charge Swearingen has hurled is a talking point he was provided, a cheap shot, in every sense, an irresponsible insult to hardworking teachers here, in his home district, and across the state and nation. The names they use for these politically motivated proposals are slick, like the recently introduced "Parents Bill of Rights," which more aptly should be called the "Anti-LGBTQ Act." It seems there are a lot of misleading cheap shots these days. They say "Stand Your Ground." I say "Chase and Kill." They say "Divisive Concepts." I say "Don't Say Gay and Book Burning." The fear Swearingen and others stoke about "Critical Race Theory" being taught in our schools is also a made-up concern. It's called American history and it should be taught in schools, not hidden from view. "We should be focusing on how we support public education, how we support teachers — the experts — instead of doing all these things that are just noise," Obergefell said. Obergefell is a national hero for marriage and family equality. He's from this area and he understands what the true calling of a lawmaker is, what it means to be a leader. He's promised to fight the corrosiveness of partisan warfare and to stand against the insanity of it, a stand against threats to our democracy. He's promised to find common ground for the common good. Obergefell's campaign is focused on legislative initiatives to protect public education, to create job opportunities with a living wage for Ohioans, to protect the health of Lake Erie and its impact on the local economy, and commonsense legislation to combat gun violence. These are all right reasons to support electing him state representative from the 89th House District. "I'm not doing this for my ego, I'm not doing this for my pocketbook and I'm not doing this to gain or hold onto power," Obergefell said recently. "I'm doing this solely because I believe in public service and I believe in fighting for everyone." * The new gerrymandered 89th District, following a controversial redistricting process, is comprised of portions of Erie, Ottawa and Huron counties. Previously, the district contained the entireties of Erie County and Ottawa County only.