Democratic candidate Amy Rippel-Elton said she wanted to run for office for nearly eight years. It wasn’t until she received a phone call from a Democrat in the Newark area asking her to run that she decided to pull the trigger.
Eight years ago she lobbied for changes to campaign finance laws wanting to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC. The landmark case prohibited the government from donations for political campaigns by corporations.
Rippel-Elton, a Newark native, is running against incumbent Republican 12th District Congressman Troy Balderson, a Zanesville resident. Balderson’s district has widened to north central Ohio.
“I start talking and ask ‘What’s your biggest issue? Not with the parties but with your life and how politics affect it?'” Rippel-Elton asked.
Healthcare, schools and the cost of gasoline comes up in Rippel-Elton’s conversations.
“And I’m right there with them,” the Democratic candidate said.
“They start to realize I’m down to earth,” she said. “I have common sense and I fight for them. They jump on it.”
Rippel-Elton said she’s able to build these conversations across the aisle by “realizing the humanity in all of us.”
“You have to reach out. We all want food in our stomachs, clothes on our backs, ability to bring in funds to our household. We want to raise our families, and we don’t want the government interfering in that.”
Despite some disagreements, Rippel-Elton gives Balderson kudos for voting for the CHIPS Act, which will give billions toward semi-conductor facilities across nationwide, including Licking County’s Intel site.
In the end, Rippel-Elton said her policies come down to “common sense–live and let live.”
“Meaning it ain’t any of my business what happens behind closed doors unless people are being harmed,” Rippel-Elton said. “I was devastated when Roe was overturned. Flip side being I went through a pregnancy that could have killed me. And didn’t decide to abort the pregnancy.”
Balderson said he believes Roe should be left to the states.
Instead, Rippel-Elton believes each person should be able to make their own decision.
“And I bring up the idea of the 10-year-old that had to go to Indiana for abortion care. The emotional damage that she was already going through, on top of being a mother that young by the time she’s 15 she has a kid in kindergarten,” Rippel-Elton said. “That’s outrageous. It’s like ‘I can’t be here to get you on the bus because I’m on the bus myself.’ It has to be an individual situation.”
Troy Balderson
Balderson is running for his third term in a newly formed district with new counties across northeast and central Ohio, including Knox County.
Despite the geographical diversity, one message reigns true from potential voters — the economy.
Rising costs in food, energy and gasoline are major topics of discussion. And whether if it’s a rural or suburban area, the topics remain the same, Balderson said.
“It’s a main issue for everybody,” the house representative said.
Another point of conversation is the Intel project in Licking County, and its potential impact on a growing central Ohio workforce.
Balderson says it’s important to listen to community leaders to see what they need in order to succeed. Some of the key points include updated infrastructure, housing, water and sewer lines to help those communities prepare for Intel.
Another element of the emerging Intel picture is making sure the workforce is ready and pathways are made for Ohio’s youth to go into the manufacturing workforce.
“Are there educators to educate our kids? Yes,” Balderson said. “Do we have to find them? Yes.”
Balderson spoke about the national political divide and what he’s seen on the campaign trail.
“We’re never going to agree with everything, the Republican congressman said. “I find more common ground when talking with folks. We can disagree on something without being disagreeable.
“I think the majority of the people I run into, 90% we all agree on the same thing.”
