Politics

President Donald Trump returns to Southwest Ohio Friday for an evening rally in Warren County.

The event at the Warren County Fairgrounds is expected to draw large crowds.

The Warren County Sheriff's Office is urging rally-goers to anticipate traffic delays and plan accordingly.

Doors Friday will open at 4 p.m., three hours ahead of the rally’s scheduled 7 p.m. start.

As groups, associations, and individual polticians around Ohio line up against a statewide ballot issue to cut jail time for some drug offenders, one group remains steadfast in their support.

Dissatisfaction with current elected officials has led a number of newcomers to jump into the political arena this midterm election. One of the biggest challenges they face is raising enough money to run a competitive campaign.

Just ask long-time Democratic political consultant and author Jerry Austin.

Big money

The five statewide executive offices will all turn over this year because of term limits on their occupants. The person elected treasurer will oversee Ohio’s $21.5 billion portfolio of investments, and will manage the collection of billions in state revenues.

Richard Cordray and Mike DeWine tussled over healthcare, drug sentencing laws and support for local government in their third gubernatorial debate Monday night.

U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky have joined a growing list of lawmakers who have had their private information made public.  The information leaks come as both lawmakers report increasing bouts of threat and intimidation.

The Washington-D.C. newspaper Roll Call reports that McConnell’s home addresses in Washington and Kentucky were posted on his public Wikipedia page this week.  In an op-ed to CNN, Rand Paul’s wife Kelley wrote that someone posted the address of their Bowling Green home online, as well as the senator’s cell phone number. 

With about a month remaining before this year's election, talks of "blue waves" have been circulating national political coverage. Here in Ohio, most of the focus has been on the race for governor between Democrat Rich Cordray and Republican Mike DeWine. But many other state races will determine the makeup of the Ohio House and Senate, which is heavily Republican right now.

The Libertarian candidate for governor has weighed in on Ohio Issue 1, known as the Drug and Criminal Justice Policies Initiative. In a statement Monday, Travis Irvine called the ballot measure “imperfect,” but “a step in the right direction."

The Republican and Democratic candidates for governor met for their second face-to-face debate, this time taking questions from an audience and via social media at Marietta College.