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Ohio Tag

Federal authorities arrested and charged an Ohio man for planning an ISIS-inspired attack on a synagogue. The man allegedly told undercover agents that the attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue inspired him to the same thing. The Department of Justice stated:
Damon M. Joseph, 21, of Holland, Ohio, was charged today in federal court with one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, for allegedly planning an attack on a synagogue in the Toledo, Ohio area. Joseph was arrested Friday evening after he took possession of two semi-automatic rifles.

This past Wednesday the Ohio House voted by a 64 to 26 margin to pass HB 228, which seeks to bring Ohio self-defense law into the modern era. It is believed by advocates of this legal advance that the Senate version of the bill will pass that chamber easily, and with sufficient votes to overcome a promised veto by Ohio Governor John Kasich (R). Although the bill makes several changes to Ohio self-defense and gun law, the changes of most interest in the context of self-defense involve changes to the burden of persuasion on a legal claim of self-defense and the adoption of a “hard” stand-your-ground provision.

I wonder if the Democrats will react the same way they did when Christine Blasey Ford accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. It looks like the Democrats have the same situation on their hands because Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH), the man running against incumbent Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, said that "multiple women" have told him that Brown allegedly sexually assaulted them in the late 1980s.

Republican Troy Balderson has a 50.2% lead in Ohio's 12th District special election over Democrat Danny O'Connor, who has 49.3% of the vote, to take over for Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi. The Republicans have held this seat for decades, but the Democrats saw an opportunity to give life to their supposed "blue wave" and poured an insane amount of money and attention into flipping this seat. Despite the vote count, both sides have claimed victory on this one. Yes, even the Democrats. They got so close, but does it matter? Should the Republicans be worried that it took a slim margin to win a historically Republican seat?

It's kind of weird this story is coming out now when Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan's name has become prominent in talks of who should be the next Speaker of the House. Jordan worked as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1987 to 1995. Now former wrestlers during that time claim Jordan ignored sexual abuse allegations against the team's physician Dr. Richard Strauss.

It looks like the GOP escaped another potential Roy Moore fiasco in West Virginia after the convict and former coal CEO Don Blankeship lost the GOP Senate primary. With Blankenship's loss and wins in other states, the GOP may be poised to gain a few seats in the Senate.

On Friday, Kemberlee wrote about the bizarre braggadocio exhibited by sitting Ohio Supreme Court justice and candidate for governor Bill O'Neill. His attempt to make light of and sweep back under the carpet the serious allegations of sexual assault, rape, and assorted sexual improprieties unleashed in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal fell flat, leaving most people on both sides of the aisle outraged and incredulous.

Last Sunday, Ohio Governor and former Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said that he does not have plans to run against President Donald Trump in 2020 and is "rooting for him to get it together." Less than a week later, reports have emerged that Kasich may team up with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper in 2020 as independents with Kasich taking the top spot.

Anthem Inc, a prominent national health insurance company, has decided to leave Ohio's health insurance exchange citing a volatile market. It's another example of Obamacare's collapse, especially since Anthem became "a major player in the individual insurance market created by the federal health care law." From The New York Times:
Ohio state insurance officials said they were reviewing their options but put the blame squarely on the federal health care law. “For the past few years we have seen a weakening in the federal insurance marketplace as a number of companies have withdrawn from the exchange,” the state agency said in a statement. “We have always argued the private insurance market is the most severely impacted by the federal law and that is where Congressional action is needed to restore stability.”

The 2018 midterms are going to be followed like nothing we've seen before, drawing more mainstream media coverage than did even the 2010 midterms.  Although they have lost two special elections (Kansas and Montana) and failed to avoid a runoff in Georgia, Democrats and their media allies really really want the 2018 midterms to be a referendum on President Trump. While we focus often on the fact that Democrats are divided between the Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren wing and the slightly less radical Cory Booker wing, Republicans, too, are divided.  The 2018 Ohio Senate race for incumbent Sherrod Brown (D)'s seat provides a snapshot of this friction. Conservative, conservative-leaning, and Trump-supporting Republicans are already endorsing Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel in what they hope will be a successful rematch between Brown and Mandel.  Mandel lost to Brown in 2012 and last year announced he was running again in 2018.