Yes the HOUSE Still Matters
While many focus on state legislatures, the US Senate, or the White House, we can’t take the U.S. House of Representatives for granted.
Desiree Tims is running in the #OH10 against 9-term GOP Republican Mike Turner.
Many are focused on the Senate or the State Legislature races this cycle. They seem to take the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives for granted. Ohio is written off as “red” when reality is we are gerrymandered.
Personally I believe Desiree’s biggest obstacle is the status quo. Dayton is a small “c” conservative town, we accept something new when it’s 10 years old. That’s what makes us a great test market for new products.
Turner wins re-election not because he’s doing a great job or is well-liked. It’s because he has bullied business leaders, the media, elected officials, and nonprofits by refusing to support funding of their programs if they don’t do his bidding.
And it’s because voters go for the name they recognize rather than taking a chance on a new fresh leader that wants to improve their quality of life. Most don’t even pay attention. In an era when the approval rating of Congress is about 20% — nearly 95% of all incumbents are reelected.
Turner fears any encounter with a constituent because (typical of a bully) he can’t stand to be challenged. Perhaps because he can’t defend his actions, of lack thereof.
He can stand in front of a camera all day and say “today I’ve introduced legislation” but in nearly two decades only one, possibly two, of those efforts became law. It’s a PR stunt designed to make you think he’s actually earning his paycheck.
He wants you to believe that he brought us the Dragons, The Schuster and Riverscape when reality is he was a vocal opponent of each at the time.
The only reason he lives in the Schuster condos today is because his most recent ex-wife paid cash for it and he got it in the divorce. We don’t know what else he got after a 17-month marriage failed and he requested $1.5 million in the divorce because he had the case sealed.
He wants you to believe he added more cops to the streets of Dayton as Mayor, but the truth is Bill Clinton’s COP bill did that.
He wants you to believe he left the City in great financial strength when reality is he left it virtually bankrupt.
He wants you to believe that 10,000 jobs have been added at WPAFB since he was elected. — as if he had something to do with it. That’s true BUT that was 2002–2012 when WPAFB was in the OH07 and Dave Hobson or Steve Austria represented it.
He wants you to believe he’s a rainmaker at WPAFB when reality is he’s a self-admitted tour guide. He has no power so he gives tours to the Members of Congress that do. He’s mocked by Base personnel for finding his way into any ribbon cutting — even when he’s not invited.
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Mike Turner is a sham. He votes in his own best political interest. He doesn’t hold town hall meetings. He refuses to meet with constituents who don’t have a history of contributing to his campaign.
He lives very well off of his campaign committee treating donors or lobbyists to lavish dinners at expensive restaurants here and in DC.
Many are focused this election cycle on the Senate, the White House and the state legislature. They seem to think the House is safe right now. Personally, I don’t think that’s a safe assumption, there are a lot of moving parts, including who ends up being at the top of the Democratic ticket and how much enthusiasm he or she garners.
Some feel Turner is unbeatable because this is a gerrymandered district. They concede defeat instead of doing all they can to fight for a representative that wants to fight for them.
At R+4, the #OH10 is the LEAST gerrymandered district in Ohio. White, republican, suburban women are voting against the GOP in droves. Towns across the state that had been red for decades and that went for Trump by 20–30 points elected Democratic mayors, city council members and state reps in both ’18 and ‘19.
Many will whisper that they aren’t sure a black woman can beat him because of the district. I’d like to remind you that he lost his Mayor seat to a black woman.
I worked my butt off to trim the gap, getting closer than anyone ever has. That was in part because Sharen Neuhardt paved the way for me. We were within single digits, within the margin of error, until he released a hit ad against me.
Don’t let my hard work be in vain. Turner is vulnerable, especially after he displayed the tip of the iceberg of his misogyny, anger and entitlement issues during his questioning of Ambassador Yovanovitch in the Impeachment hearings.
Don’t surrender the 10th because you’ve given up hope on ever beating Turner. You deserve better. We all deserve better than a career politician who has been in office since the VHS was introduced. He’s about as useful as one today.
Desiree has the experience, the education and the work ethic to fight for us. Mike Turner couldn’t care less about us.
Let’s give him a pink slip this November and send him packing.
Please support Desiree any way you can with your time, talent and/or treasure. And do it now. Sooner than later.
2020 is going to be an epic battle for our democracy and we need strong leaders at EVERY level of government fighting for people not corporations.
We can continue to buy into Two-Faced Turner’s revisionist history, or we can move forward with fresh leadership devoted to the entire district.
And if you’re still with me, take a look at Desiree’s recap of Turner’s 2019 votes.
Theresa Gasper ran as the Democratic challenger to Mike Turner in the 2018 Election. Over the course of her campaign, Cooks PVI moved the needle from “Solid R” to “Likely R” to “Leans R”. She serves as an unofficial advisor to Ms. Tims in her effort to unseat him in 2020. The views in the piece are Ms. Gasper’s and not affiliated with the official campaign. www.timsforcongress.com
