After an election where polls showed Democrats would do well in Ohio but largely didn’t, the leader of Ohio’s Democratic Party is resigning. David Pepper says he’ll step down from his post at the end of this year.
David Pepper has been at the helm of the party for six years but he says it’s time for new leadership. He says whoever comes in should do grass roots organizing to increase voter turnout in cities, and to reconnect the party with small towns that have been left behind.
“The party and Democratic officials on the Democratic side need to go to places like Mansfield and Manchester and other smaller communities, most of whom have lost so much in the past 30 years and show the Democrats have a plan for them," Pepper says.
Pepper says the party has made inroads in claiming judicial seats statewide and helped to get more local leaders elected.
Though polls showed Democrats could win Ohio this year, President Trump won the state by eight points, just slightly less than he did in 2016. And Democrats lost a total of two seats in the Ohio House and one in the Senate, but another Senate race is going to a recount.
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