In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown discuss why influential political consultant Karl Rove is working to help conservative justices retain their seats on the Ohio Supreme Court.
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In this week's episode:
Getting To The Polls
As of this week, 1.1 million Ohioans have either sent in absentee ballots or have cast votes in person as a part of early voting. That's 119% more than did at this point in 2016. About 2.7 million Ohioans have requested absentee ballots, which is about a third of the eight million registered voters in Ohio.
Most of those are from unaffiliated voters who have not voted in a primary, but Democrats hold a big lead over Republicans when it comes to early voting.
There have been some hiccups along the way however. An absentee ballot maker claims it was overwhelmed by the demand. Now nine counties have parted ways with Midwest Direct over delays and are printing and distributing their own ballots. The company says it is now caught up.
Karl Rove To The Rescue
After flying under the radar for months, the races for two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court are starting to get attention.
The man who helped get George W. Bush in the White House, Karl Rove, is helping raise money for Republican incumbent justice Judtih French. French and fellow Republican Sharon Kennedy face challenges from Democrats Jennifer Brunner and John O'Donnell.
In a recent email to potential donors, Rove stated that re-electing French will help the GOP redraw legislative districts next year.
Snollygoster Of The Week: Joe Biden
For weeks now, Joe Biden has been asked whether he will try to expand the U.S. Supreme Court and pack it with liberal justices. Biden refused to answer the question, but now tells 60 Minutes, in an interview that airs Sunday, he wants to form a commission to study ways to make federal court less partisan, less political.
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