This election year is the weirdest and potentially most consequential of our lives. As much as it is an exhausting rhetoric, it is important to vote for those who will best represent you, up and down the ballot. I believe this is the slate of candidates offered by the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party stands with election integrity, maintaining voting rights and accepting the results of our safe and fair elections. They stand for empathy and care for all. They saved the economy from collapse after the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, successfully facilitated a soft landing of the economy and prevented inflation from exponentially rising with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (2022). As a student, I choose the party that wants to see us succeed. I choose the party fighting against attacks on public education. I choose the party that is open to student debt relief and a living wage. All of the following candidates will do better by us than their counterparts on the other side of the aisle.
Rev. Vanessa Cummings for State Representative District 47
Rev. Vanessa Cummings is a pastor in Hamilton, a former vice-mayor, city councilwoman and a longtime resident of Oxford. She currently serves as the pastor of Payne Chapel AME Church, vice president of the Oxford NAACP and is on the Butler County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board. Cummings is well experienced and exemplary of the quality of the 47th Ohio house district. She supports a living wage and believes healthcare is a right and not a privilege. She wants to fund public schools and take politics out of public education. Cummings is committed to hearing from and working with every constituent, no matter affiliation.
The 47th house district includes Oxford City, Oxford Twp., Reily Twp., Hanover Twp., Hamilton City, Fairfield Twp. and St. Clair Twp. You can find more information on Rev. Cummings’ website.
Tom Cooke for State Senate District 4
Tom Cooke has been a military man his entire life. He enlisted right out of high school, used the GI Bill to receive an education at St. John’s University in New York and received a direct Regular Army commission as a second lieutenant in Military Intelligence. In 2021, Cooke moved to Oxford and became a member of the local Kiwanis and the American Legion. Cooke wants to put a check on Ohio’s Republican-led corrupt state legislature, strengthen unions, support our local businesses and much more.
Cooke’s opponent is Sen. George Lang, who recently called for civil war if Republicans don’t win in November: A scary assertion that is the antithesis of the great American experiment of representative democracy with non-violent transitions of power. The 4th Senate district encompasses the entirety of Butler County, except for Milford Twp., Wayne Twp. and Trenton City. Tom Cooke wants to bring civility, not civil war.
Chantel Raghu & Tamara Small for Butler County Commissioner
Chantel Raghu is the current vice-mayor of Oxford and a veterinarian at Oxford Veterinary Hospital. In her interactions with the Butler County Commissioners, she found that they could do a lot more to help the residents of Butler County: She seeks to bring a listening ear to the commission and invest back into the county communities that need it.
Dr. Tamara Small hails from Westchester Twp, is a family nurse practitioner and is the Founder/CEO of The Institute for Employee Safety. As commissioner, she will invest in economic and workforce development, prioritize public safety and expand access to mental health and addiction recovery services.
Both Raghu and Small will be amazing public servants if elected, and they will use county resources to make sure the lives of every county resident are safer and more prosperous. To learn more, check out Raghu's& Small’s websites.
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Vanessa Enoch for U.S. Congress 8th District
Dr. Vanessa Enoch is a small business owner from Westchester Twp. She is a business owner and has also been a college professor, department chair and dean of students across her 18 years of professional higher education experience. She has an impressive track record and has all the experience we could ask of a congresswoman.
Enoch has run for office several times and has a large portfolio of stances on the issues facing the United States today. Highlights include her support for a woman’s right to choose, supporting public education, closing the wealth gap, ending gerrymandering and much more. Visit her website for more information on her campaign.
When you get to the ballot box
Each of these candidates has the best interests of students and their districts at heart and would make phenomenal elected representatives. When you go to the ballot box on or before Nov. 5, do your research and vote for every office up and down the ballot; they often have more impact on your daily life than those at the top of the ticket!
If you would like to meet these candidates or hear them speak, the Miami University College Democrats have them in for events during weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in Harrison 204. Register to vote!
Patrick Houlihan is a senior political science student. He is president of the College Democrats of Ohio and the Miami University College Democrats.
At The Student, we are committed to engaging with our audience and listening to feedback. This includes publishing a diverse array of guest editorials. For more information on guidelines and processes, email Sam Norton, The Student's opinion editor at nortonsm@miamioh.edu.
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