Catherine Candisky

The Columbus Dispatch

Democrats are hopeful, with the upcoming Ohio primary, that the central Ohio district, which included Delaware, Licking and Morrow counties and parts of Franklin, Muskingum, Marion and Richland counties, is more competitive than previously thought.

Twice, a Democrat came close to beating Troy Balderson two years ago in the long GOP-held 12th Congressional District. This year, two Democratic newcomers are hoping voters are ready to flip it blue.

Jenny Bell, a nurse practitioner from Columbus’ Clintonville neighborhood, and Alaina Shearer, from Liberty Township in southern Delaware County and a founder of a marketing firm, will face off in the Democratic primary election March 17.

Both are making their first run for elected office.

Who are they, and who are they running against?

The nominee advances to the November general election to run against the winner of the Republican primary featuring Balderson and GOP challenger Tim Day, a commercial pilot from Granville who serves in the Ohio Air National Guard.

Balderson, from Zanesville, won the 12th District seat in an August 2018 special election by less than 1 point. Three months later in the general election, he won with 51% of the vote. His narrow victories over Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor have left Democrats hopeful that the central Ohio district, which included Delaware, Licking and Morrow counties and parts of Franklin, Muskingum, Marion and Richland counties, is more competitive than previously thought.

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Bell, 40, sees Congress as a progression in her work as a nurse and advocate for people in need.

“I feel that those who need an advocate like me has grown, and I have the will, the education and the courage to be an advocate in a much bigger way,” she said.

Bell, who grew up in Marion, operated her own design firm in Columbus before going to school to become a nurse. If elected to Congress, she said her focus will be on creating affordable health care, affordable housing and good-paying jobs.

Shearer, 40, comes to politics after building a digital marketing firm with nearly $2 million in revenue. The company is now run by her husband while she turns her attention to a national association for women in tech and digital professionals she founded in 2016. Together Digital has 20 chapters across the country and more than 2,000 members.

“Over 50% of our members within the first year of membership negotiated a raise or promotion ... nearly 90% of our members say they feel more confident after the first year of joining,” Shearer said.

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A native of Delaware, Ohio, Shearer says her experience as a small business owner, women’s advocate and former radio reporter will help her work across the aisle if elected and has shaped her priorities.

They include addressing health care costs, extending tax breaks and other government assistance provided from big corporations to small businesses, pushing for equal pay for women and minorities, advocating paid family leave and combating misinformation spread through social and other media.

Jenny Bell and Alaina Shearer on health care

Bell and Shearer differ on how to ensure all Americans have access to health care. Bell supports Medicare for All. Shearer wants to restore the Affordable Care Act and preserve both public and private coverage options.

“We have a lot of work to do on the Affordable Care Act, but we cannot afford to throw that away. We need immediate relief for people facing skyrocketing health care costs,” Shearer said.

“I feel very strongly that we need public and private options. If we proceed forward with a divisive health care strategy, which Medicare for All, for better or worse, is dividing us. ... We’ve got to start working in the middle.”

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Bell backs a single-payer system.

“The current system of private insurance, large health care systems and massive drug companies is dangerous, unethical and cruel,” she said. “These industries have been working together for decades to inflate costs (and) take in as much profit as possible.

“No Ohioan should worry about the cost of a co-pay, an insurance premium or the price of medication. Healthy people work and contribute to society. Healthy people save us all money by reducing emergency room visits, hospitalizations and the need for medication.”

Gun control and the Second Amendment

Both candidates say they support Second Amendment rights. But each, citing personal experience with gun violence, also back additional restrictions on firearms.

Shearer, whose husband holds a concealed carry permit, lost an uncle to gun violence in Chicago and believes additional controls could help.

“Because we have children who are dying, and families being affected by this ... we have to compromise on this,” she said.

Shearer favors universal background checks to close online sales and gun show loopholes, red flag laws that allow a court to order guns to be temporarily taken from people considered a danger to themselves and others, and expanding mental health services.

Gun violence also influences Bell’s position. A mental health patient at the clinic where she works threatened to come back with a gun.

“Later in the day, an active weapon alert went out over the loudspeaker. I locked the office door, shut off lights, set (the) phone to silent and started strategizing ways to fight back,” she said. “I was terrified.”

She also had a friend with mental health issues kill herself with a gun bought just days earlier.

“We need background checks, waiting periods, registrations and safety classes,” she said.

Bell also backs a ban on the sale of assault weapons.

ccandisky@dispatch.com

@ccandisky