Dems should back Russo for secretary of state

The Democratic primary for Ohio secretary of state is all about who can make tough calls when the politics of the moment demand them. While Democrats have a choice between two strong candidates, Cincinnati-area medical doctor Bryan Hambley and state Rep. Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, we believe Russo is more pragmatic and better prepared for the job. That said, either Democrat would make a fine secretary of state and mount a tough campaign in the fall against the winner of the Republican primary, which pits Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague against election activist Marcell Strbich. (We endorsed Sprague in the GOP contest). Libertarian Tom Pruss also is running to replace term-limited Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican who too often played politics while serving as Ohio's chief elections officer. For example, LaRose used his position on the Ohio Ballot Board to spin the language of ballot issues to increase the chances that the Republican position would prevail. LaRose's efforts at language manipulation haven't always worked, but they played an important role in the 2024 defeat of an anti-gerrymandering amendment to the Ohio Constitution that Republicans opposed. (Hambley was deeply involved in trying to pass that amendment.) Russo and Hambley told us they wouldn't twist ballot language for partisan ends. They also argued, correctly, that Ohio's redistricting process desperately needs to be reformed. Likewise, both told us they opposed the SAVE America Act. That bill is aimed at suppressing the vote, despite claims by Republicans, including President Donald Trump, that its purpose is to eliminate voter fraud. (Voter fraud is exceedingly rare.) As Russo aptly put it: "The threats to democracy are real and urgent." Which brings us to the hard choices Russo made during her nearly eight years in the General Assembly, including a stint as House minority leader. Hambley, 41, has criticized Russo, 49, for her 2023 vote to impose gerrymandered maps for state legislative districts. At the time, Russo was one of two Democrats on the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission. "I think it was a mistake to sign onto an unconstitutional gerrymander," Hambley told us in an endorsement interview. It's an idealistic take that we appreciate, but it also ignores the political reality of how redistricting works in Ohio. Because of their near lock on power in Columbus, Republicans dominated the redistricting process, leaving Democrats with few cards to play. GOP mapmakers drew state legislative maps that overly favored GOP candidates in defiance of an anti-gerrymandering amendment to the Ohio Constitution that voters overwhelmingly approved in 2015. (Voters approved a similar amendment for congressional redistricting in 2018.) The maps were so egregious that a 4-3 bipartisan majority of the Ohio Supreme Court repeatedly struck them down as unconstitutional. Unfortunately for voters, then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Republican who had joined with the court's three Democratic justices to strike down the maps, left office at the end of 2022. It quickly became clear that absent O'Connor's swing vote, the GOP-dominated court would approve whatever maps Republicans sent its way. "We did not have the guardrail of the Supreme Court," Russo told us in a separate endorsement interview. Instead of voting no and risking Republicans imposing state legislative maps that were even more gerrymandered, Russo said she voted for the maps on offer. Because the state legislative maps had Democratic support, they were locked in place through the 2030 election. Russo told us that not only kept Republicans from giving themselves even more seats, it paved the way for Democrats to have a chance to flip seats in future elections. One of those seats is now held by state Rep. Gayle Manning, R-Avon. On the other hand, when Ohio's congressional maps were redrawn after the 2020 census, they didn't have Democratic support, which led to a new round of redistricting last year. It did not go well for Democrats. Republicans now hold 10 of the Buckeye State's 15 congressional seats. The new maps that will be used this year favor GOP candidates in 12 districts. (Democrats backed the new congressional maps because Republicans had threatened an even more extreme gerrymander.) The same thing might have happened with the state legislature had Russo not had the foresight, political acumen and courage to play the long game in 2023. In a similar vein, Hambley has talked up his refusal to take money from corporate political action committees. Good for him, but, once again, his position ignores political reality. We, too, dislike the influence of money in politics, whether that takes the form of donations from corporate PACs or the machinations of dark-money groups. Unfortunately, the hard truth is that it takes money to win political races. Good politicians can accept donations without compromising their principles. Russo, we believe, has been able to do that, including when she engaged in fundraising efforts while serving as House minority leader. "My job was to raise money and win elections," she said. Russo has shown she can make hard choices when it counts. Democrats should be similarly pragmatic and back her for secretary of state.