One year later, and the resistance to Trump and Trumpism is still going strong in Central Ohio.

Today, with nearly no notice, approximately two dozen protestors organized by local Indivisible groups convened on Senator Portman’s Columbus office to condemn his empty “thoughts and prayers” response to the latest tragic mass shooting and ask for real reform of our gun laws. Local news was there and produced this report.

Meanwhile in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District (which is currently vacant, thanks to Pat Tiberi’s departure to the lobbying world), activists are still going strong. Below is an excerpt from the Indivisible OH12 weekly newsletter, highlighting an upcoming candidates’ forum and other candidate news and District 12 events.

We’re not done yet. Are you?

It’s been a year, and the fight continues. OH12 is active and growing, and we’re glad you are with us! As of today we have 3971 members in our Facebook group, and 1264 folks have liked our public Facebook page. FYI, you can invite your friends to join the group by going to the “Members” tab and looking for the “Add Members” box.

OH12 Candidates’ Forum 2/26

We’re looking forward to our OH12 Candidates’ Forum coming up on 2/26. Here are the candidates who have indicated they will be attending:

Jackie Patton (D) John Russell (D) John Peters (D)

Doug Wilson (D) Ed Albertson (D) Danny O’Connor (D)

Zach Scott (D) Lawrence Cohen (R) Joe Manchik (Green party)

We have not yet heard back from any of the other Republican candidates.

All the candidates who attend will have filled out questionnaires stating their views on a number of issues important to this group. We will be posting these questionnaire answers very soon so that you all can take a look and learn a lot more about each candidate before the event! We will post a link in next week’s newsletter, but will also post to our Facebook page before then.

In addition, we have invited candidates for other offices who are members of OH12 to attend the meeting in order to meet and greet constituents and potential volunteers. We’re looking forward to meeting many of our fellow OH12 members who have stepped up to run office!

Help us spread the word about this event by RSVP’ing and then using the “Share” button to invite friends.

Upcoming Events

Here are some other upcoming OH12 events.

Tuesday, 2/20: Campaign 101 with MidOhio Indivisible, 6-8pm, Mansfield Richland County Public Library, 43 W 3rd St, Mansfield. Join us for Campaign 101 with Bill Wood and other grassroots volunteers. If you’ve never volunteered for a political campaign (or if it’s been awhile), come learn the basics of how campaigns operate. This will be a great orientation to volunteering for campaigns before the 2018 elections get into high gear! Thursday, 2/22: OH12 Protest Rally (and lunch), noon, corner N. High Street and North Broadway (across from Kroger). The Tiberi Thursday gang is getting together in Clintonville to show our concerns and our patriotism. Please join us! Bring your signs! Join us for lunch afterwards at Cornerstone Deli.

Monday, 2/26: OH12 Candidates’ Forum, 7pm, First UU Church, 93 Weisheimer Rd, Columbus. Come hear a broad spectrum of candidates running to replace Tiberi answer questions and say why they want the opportunity to represent us in Ohio’s 12th congressional district. More details above. Sunday, March 11: Slaying the Gerrymander: What’s Next? 2-4pm, Whetstone Library, 3909 North High Street, Columbus. “Come learn about Issue 1 of the May 2018 ballot and discuss how to advance congressional redistricting reform. There will be time for small groups to discuss outreach efforts.” Click HERE to RSVP.

Candidates’ Corner [OH12 invited candidates who are members of the group to submit items for inclusion in the newsletter. Everything submitted to us is included here!]

From Ed Albertson:

Wednesday, February 28 , Ed Albertson, candidate for for U.S. House of Representatives, 12th Congressional District, is holding a 7pm , Licking County Library, Special guests will include: Melinda Miller for Ohio Senate, 31st District; Jeremy Blake for Ohio House, 71st District; Tyler Shipley for Ohio House, 72nd District; Adam Rhodes for Licking County Commissioner. Attendees will choose the topics of discussion.From John Russell:

1. John had an excellent Indivisible 12 knows of students looking for internships, they should contact the campaign at . Ed Albertson, candidate for for U.S. House of Representatives, 12th Congressional District, is holding a Town Hall Meeting , Licking County Library, 101 W Main St, Newark will include: Melinda Miller for Ohio Senate, 31st District; Jeremy Blake for Ohio House, 71st District; Tyler Shipley for Ohio House, 72nd District; Adam Rhodes for Licking County Commissioner. Attendees will choose the topics of discussion.1. John had an excellent write-up in the Sunbury News about our last town hall at OWU. 50+ people came out, and we had some excellent discussions.2. John was featured in an article in the Kenyon Collegian! If anyone inknows of students looking for internships, they should contact the campaign at campaign@russellforohio.com 3. We had our Volunteer Kickoff in Clintonville this past Sunday. We were excited by the interest of folks in the campaign, and we’ll be out canvassing soon. If anyone has a desire to volunteer with the campaign, let us know by emailing us at campaign@russellforohio.com .

So impressive, District 12, keep it up!

Are Resistance groups doing interesting work in your community? Let us know! And stay tuned for the launch of our sister publication, Swing State Voices. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter at @swingstatevoice