1,298,301 A Letter from The Honorable Chris Redfern, Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party

Dear Fellow Ohio Democrats:
We did it! On June 29th, 1,298,301 Ohioans said ―Not so fast!‖ to John Kasich. That's how many signatures were delivered to the Secretary of State's office following a parade of about 7,000 people in Columbus.

Democrats, middle-class Ohioans, union mem-bers and more have been organizing in every corner of the state. Together we collected more than 5 times the number of signatures needed to give citizens veto power over Senate Bill 5 – the anti-middle class, anti-worker bill that John Kasich and extremist Republican lawmakers pushed through the legislature. But getting the signatures was just the first step in a tough campaign that starts today. Soon millions of special-interest dollars and out-of-state corporate funds will begin to flood Ohio’s airwaves with misleading ads about Senate Bill 5. We must pull out all the stops to fight back.
Will you help us keep Ohio from turning its back on police, firefighters and teachers?
Let’s be clear. Senate Bill 5 would not create a sin-gle new job in Ohio. Instead, it would lead to fewer police officers patrolling our neighborhoods, fewer firefighters responding to our emergency calls and fewer dollars for our children in the classroom. Will you help us today and tell John Kasich that he cannot punish Ohio’s middle class?

We are a nation, a state and a political party that stands up for the dignity of hard work and the honor of fair play. Please stand by us, and help in this fight!

Sincerely,
Chris Redfern, Chairman
The Ohio Democratic Party

BIG SUMMER TO INCLUDE STRICKLAND, REDFERN

On July 19th, the Bed-ford/Walton Hills De-mocratic Party will be hosting our first major fundraising event. This event, with special guests Governor Ted Strickland and Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Red-fern will take place at the Hall of Teamsters’ Local 436. The Hall is located at 6051 Carey Drive in Valley View, and the fundraiser will be from 6:00 - 9:00 PM.
―This is our first major fundraising event, and was actually suggested by Mayor [Dan] Pocek in 2009. We were fi-nally able to make it happen this year. All thanks go to Chairman Redfern for suggesting
that we do it this sum-mer,‖ said Democratic Leader Andrew Mizsak.
―Governor Ted Strick-land has been as en-gaged as any Ohioan in the effort to preserve the rights of Middle Class Ohioans, and his support of public em-ployees is wonderful,‖ continued Leader Mizsak.
Governor Strickland will be joined by Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Red-fern. Chairman Red-fern is the person who was most responsible for our Southeast Cuyahoga Democratic Center coming to life last year.
―Chairman Redfern, for as long as I have known him, has been a great supporter of grassroots politics and local activism. Whether it was when he was House Democ-ratic Leader, and he traveled to all 99 House Districts to re-cruit candidates and learn local issues, or his 88-county strategy which turned Ohio blue in 2006 and 2008, Chairman Redfern un-derstands and appreci-ates the work of local party units like ours. It will be great to have him with us,‖ stated Leader Mizsak.
This splendid event will not only show our ap-preciation for Governor Strickland and Chair-
man Redfern’s leader-ship, but is a great way to honor the 60 years of service the BWHDP has provided to our two communi-ties.