FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-- July 25, 2018

Constance Gadell-Newton, the Green Party candidate for Ohio Governor, will be on the ballot this fall in all Ohio voting precincts.

Although voters will go to the polls this November 6, 2018, and will see Ms. Gadell-Newton's name on the ballot, they may have a hard time getting information about Ms. Gadell-Newtonand her running mate Brett Joseph, candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, because of unequal treatment in the news media and in candidate's and voter forums leading up to the Fall 2018 election.

"I wa s not invited to speak at the Ohio Candidate Forum on Disability Issues, an event scheduled for July 26th in Columbus, that was billed as a forum for Ohio Governor Candidates to express their positions on disability-related issues. When I contacted the organization to request to participate, they stated I could not participate due to “time limitations.” Clearly this is a pretext, since I contacted them over a month in advance to request that I be able to participate. This is doing a disservices to voters and to Ohioans who live with disabilities, the constituencies that this forum is geared towards. The people deserve to hear from all of the candidates who will be on the ballot and the people should decide who has the best political positions in this race.

Incidentally, this practice will result in excluding and silencing the only female candidate for Ohio Governor in this race, and a role model for young women. For the hosts of this organization to silence an important political voice in this race is hurting the Ohio voters. This type of exclusion is fundamentally undemocratic and is an injury to voters who may want to hear from a female candidate.

As attorneys, both Brett Joseph and I are strong advocates for people with disabilities, and have devoted years of work to this important cause. We have a strong platform on Disability Rights and we want to bring our ideas into the political dialogue. The people of Ohio are ready for a change and they should be allowed to hear the range of political voices and choose who is the best candidate for Ohio."

The Ohio Candidate Forum on Disability Issues is presented by Ohio’s 12 Centers for Independent Living, The Ohio Statewide Independent Living Council, Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Disability Rights Ohio, League of Women Voters of Ohio, The University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Development Disabilities (UCCEDD), Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO).