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Thursday, December 23, 2010
Akron U report maps GOP wins in November; contrasts results with 2006
A new report from the University of Akron’s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics examines big Republican wins in Ohio in November and contrasts the results with the 2006 big wins by Democrats.
“Mapping the Republican Sweep: the 2010 Election Results in Ohio”, released Thursday, looks at voter turnouts across the state, using color-coded maps.
“The pendulum has swung, this time in favor of Ohio Republicans,” John Green, Bliss Institute director, said in a press release. “Low voter turnout across the board and a poorly performing state economy contributed significantly to the 2010 Ohio Republican sweep.”
The report compares the gubernatorial races of 2006 and 2010, demonstrating the stark difference between voter response to winning Republican candidates John Kasich this year and Kenneth Blackwell, the GOP loser in 2006.
“Understanding why Democrats did so well statewide in 2006, but did not fare so well in 2010 is important looking toward the 2012 elections,” Karl Kaltenthaler, Bliss Institute director of research projects, said in the release.
“The question before us now is: Will the pendulum swing back?”
The full report and maps, which were created using official election data from the Ohio Secretary of State, are available here.
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TweetStrickland signs human trafficking bill
In one of his final acts as governor, Democrat Ted Strickland on Thursday signed into law a measure that gives prosecutors tools to crack down on human sex trafficking and forced slave labor in Ohio.
The new law makes human trafficking a stand-alone, second-degree felony offense with stronger penalties for abduction and kidnapping if they involve involuntary servitude. It also creates an offense for falsifying or destroying government identification for the purpose of trafficking and it incorporates trafficking into the state’s conspiracy and wiretapping laws.
Ohio joins 44 other states that have already established such anti-trafficking measures. “Establishing human trafficking as a second-degree felony offense in Ohio is an important step in taking on this horrific human rights violation. As public servants, we have a serious responsibility to help victims of this crime and condemn the act of human trafficking,” Strickland said.
University of Dayton students and staff helped push through the bill through the General Assembly.
“I think everybody is still fired up. We’ve told everybody this is just a first step so keep that moral outrage stoked because we have more to push,” said Alex Kreidenweis, a UD graduate student and leader of the New Abolitionists Movement.
Kreidenweis said prosecution of traffickers is only part of the equation; Ohio still needs more rehabilitation programs for victims of trafficking.
The anti-human trafficking bill was among three signed by Strickland on Thursday. He also signed into law a bill allowing school districts to participate in Ohio Department of Transportation purchasing contracts and a bill that designates the last week of May as “Ohio Turfgrass Week.”
Those are the last three bills that Strickland signed as governor. His term ends Jan. 9.
The bills were signed in a private ceremony attended by Kreidenweis and University of Dayton faculty members Mark Ensalaco and Tony Talbott.
Strickland also invited state Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, who has championed the issue for years, to the bill signing but not state Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Chesterland, who co-sponsored the legislation. Grendell and Strickland have clashed this year over how Grendell’s committee conducted hearings on whether to confirm Strickland’s public safety director.
Grendell accused Strickland of playing “petty politics” over excluding him from the bill signing.
Strickland’s spokeswoman Allison Kolodziej fired back that: “It is sad but hardly surprising that Senator Tim Grendell would bring such vanity to bear on an issue as serious and horrifying as human trafficking. If he truly cares about this legislation, he should know it is not at all about him, but about protecting the most vulnerable members of our society.”
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