Ohio holds congressional, presidential primary after postponing voting because of coronavirus
The primary was postponed last month and changed to an almost entirely vote-by-mail process amid the pandemic.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio is holding primaries Tuesday, contests that were postponed last month and changed to an almost entirely vote-by-mail process amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Originally scheduled for March 17, the Ohio primary was abruptly delayed amid the coronavirus outbreak, with Republican Gov. Mike DeWine recommending that in-person voting be rescheduled to June 2. But after a chaotic series of events, the Ohio General Assembly eventually passed a bill setting April 28 as the date for the vote-by-mail primary. Ohio remains under a stay-at-home order.
The main contest to watch is in the state's 3rd Congressional District, where four-term Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty faces a primary challenge from Morgan Harper, a former senior adviser at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Harper, 36, has been endorsed by Justice Democrats, the left-wing campaign corps that helped elect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and that saw Harper as a star and Beatty as the sort of too-comfortable incumbent who could be vulnerable.
It's the latest in a series of races that pit established Democrats against younger supporters of a Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all.
"The critique of many people, including my opponent, is that some of these ideas are pipe dreams," Harper said in an interview. "Really? We just greenlit billions of dollars to corporations. Why don't we get to see some of that investment in our people?"
Whichever candidate wins the Democratic primary is heavily favored to win the general election: The 3rd district, which includes most of Columbus and the suburbs, overwhelmingly backed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016, with Clinton taking 67% to Trump's 29%.
"We endorsed Morgan because of her career of service, the excitement she inspired in the grassroots activist community, and because she rejected corporate donations that harm the Democratic Party," said Justice Democrats spokesman Waleed Shahid. "Like AOC has said, for one of us to get in, one hundred have to try."
Shahid's group, founded in 2017, endorsed a wide array of candidates in the 2018 midterm elections. In this cycle, it got more judicious, putting resources behind a handful of candidates in safely blue districts. In Texas, JD-backed Jessica Cisneros nearly ousted Rep. Henry Cuellar, while two weeks later activist Marie Newman unseated antiabortion Illinois Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, both Harper and Beatty were forced to cancel traditional campaigning and focus on getting voters to return absentee ballots. On Sunday, Beatty hosted gospel singers and colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus to argue that voters needed her experience.
"It would be a big loss for your district if she was not there," Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, the chairman of the CBC, said on the live stream. "When you start talking about Congress, where seniority and effectiveness really matter, she is the one."
Beatty had not faced a primary since winning the party's nomination eight years ago, and has spent more than $2 million on this race, more than her last three races combined. Harper has raised more than $750,000 for her campaign.
Ohio voters will also be voting in the Democratic presidential primary. Former vice president Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., dropped out earlier this month, but Sanders is still working to amass delegates to increase his influence over the party platform at the Democratic National Convention this summer.