On November 6, Democrat incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown handily won re-election for a third term as U.S. Senator from Ohio.

Brown faced off against three-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci. Before becoming a member of the U.S. House, Renacci was the mayor of Wadsworth, Ohio.

Renacci originally was campaigning to be the next governor of Ohio. However, after being asked by the White House to run against Brown for the U.S. Senate, Renacci left the governor’s race and began his campaign for senate.

Brown won with 53.2% of the vote compared to Renacci’s 46.8% of the vote, according to the New York Times.

On January 9, Sen. Rob Portman introduced a bill to monitor federal agencies’ procurement practices in order to ensure products manufactured in the U.S. are given priority.

Senate Bill 2284, the BuyAmerican.gov Act of 2018, creates an online portal called BuyAmerican.gov, which would monitor all federal contracts and grants for any waivers of statutory or regulatory requirements to buy from U.S. sourced suppliers. The website would be maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration and list each requested waiver.

The bipartisan bill is currently cosponsored by fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Christopher Murphy, both of the Democratic Party. “Taxpayer dollars should support American-made products, and our federal agencies should lead the way in promoting U.S. jobs and products,” said Senator Brown, according to Portman’s press release.

Enjoy these photos from some of our recent events!

State and Federal Communications celebrated 4 staff anniversaries in February!

Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Sen. Sherrod Brown, will replace Michelle Mills on the November ballot in the race for Columbus City Council. Mills recently announced her resignation from council effective September 4, 2015.

Though no reason was given for her resignation, Mills was one of four members of council who attended the Big Ten Championship football game with lobbyist John Raphael. Raphael is part of a federal bribery investigation involving the city’s former red light camera vendor.

On Thursday, April 25, Kent State University’s Washington Program in National Issues (WPNI) celebrated its 40th year in existence. Current students and alumni of both the university and the program gathered at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to reminisce about their time living in Washington D.C. and their experiences in the program throughout the years. State and Federal Communications currently employs three proud alumni of WPNI, including President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz. Elizabeth, marketing manager Melissa Coultas and compliance assistant Jonathan Spontarelli were all in Washington D.C. to attend the anniversary celebration.

WPNI is a semester long academic, internship program that allows students the opportunity to witness the political process firsthand and engage in national and international policy discussions. Each year a group of juniors and seniors from Kent State University are selected to spend the spring semester living and working in Washington D.C. Per the website, the programs three primary objectives are:

1. Facilitate learning about the U.S. political system and its policy issues.
2. Develop an understanding of the interrelationship of public issues and structures of government.
3. Encourage individual initiative and provide for experiences in internship and research.

During the reception, participants from each of the four decades delivered remarks about their time in WPNI, their internship and briefings, and the ways the program has forever changed their lives. Pulitzer Prize winner, Connie Schultz, introduced by her husband U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, delivered a compelling keynote address about her experiences before, during and after the program. She spoke at length on the importance WPNI played in her own life and the opportunities it provided to a small-town girl from a working-class family from Ashtabula, Ohio.

State and Federal Communications would like to send a special thanks to the Kent State University National Capital Alumni Chapter and program Director Dr. Richard Robyn for organizing the celebration. We look forward to seeing you all 40 years from now.

The 2012 electoral map continues to take shape and with 40 days until the election, both campaigns are working hard in swing states to gain as much ground as possible. A slew of polls have come out over the past couple of days that have painted a decidedly grim picture for Governor Romney’s chances of winning in November.

A Quinnipiac/CBS News/New York Times poll of three swing states (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania) shows President Obama has crossed the 50 percent threshold in all three states. Obama leads Romney 53 percent to 44 percent in Florida, 53 percent to 43 percent  in Ohio, and 54 percent to 42 percent  in Pennsylvania. Similarly, a Washington Post poll shows the President breaking the 50 percent mark leading the race in Florida 51 percent to 47 percent and Ohio 52 percent to 44 percent. (The Washington Post and ABC News have also moved the state of Ohio from toss-up to leans Obama)

Much has been made over the past week about the larger sample size of democrats in a number of polls which could potentially affect results. (See: here, here, and here) A look at independents responses in these polls shows a much tighter race for the coveted votes of those not identifying with any particular base. Rasmussen, Gallup, Survey USA, and Pew polls all show Gov. Romney with either a slight advantage or tie with President Obama among independents.

While polling numbers are a gauge of where the race currently stands, only one number matters on election day; 270. With current polling showing Ohio in President Obama’s column, the Washington Post and ABC News project the President has 255 electoral votes either safely on his side, or leaning his way; while Gov. Romney has only 196. If the President were to win either Florida, or a combination of two or more of the remaining swing states, he would reach the necessary 270 electoral votes needed to win reelection. No republican has ever won the presidency without also winning the state of Ohio, and if Gov. Romney were to lose there, he would likely have to sweep all remaining swing states to have a chance.

Other notes from the trail:

• Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) is being accused by Justin Sternad for secretly running Sternad’s unsuccessful campaign during the democratic primary election for the seat currently held by Rivera. Among the accusations are claims that Rivera steered unreported money to Sternad to run against Joe Garcia who previously lost to Rivera in the general election.
• According to a new Washington Post poll, Senator Sherrod Brown (D) maintains a comfortable lead over State Treasurer Josh Mandel (R) for the Ohio Senate seat currently held by Brown. Brown leads among registered voters 51 percent to 39 percent and 53 percent to 41 percent among likely voters.
• Rep. Todd Akin will definitely appear on the ballot for the Missouri Senate seat after the passing of a September 25 deadline to withdraw from the race. Akin has struggled to raise money since his controversial remarks about “legitimate rape”; however, in recent days a number of conservatives have come to his aid including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and possibly South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown spoke at the Akron Roundtable January Luncheon. State and Federal Communications had the honor of sponsoring the event and we were excited to be in attendance as well!

Senator Brown’s presentation topic was: “Made in Ohio: Why the U.S. Needs a National Manufacturing Strategy”. A great proponent of American manufacturing, Brown spoke about the need for students to be encouraged to study hard in math and engineering. He believes young students would be inspired by having tours of manufacturing plants to find out how things are made.

Brown recognized the economic challenges facing Ohio and the nation. But he pointed out that out of all the states, Ohio is ranked third in the nation in manufacturing and has a long tradition of hard work and innovation. He believes we have every reason to be optimistic about regaining a strong manufacturing future.

We are thankful for the Akron Roundtable for their 35 years of bringing a world of ideas to our town. A big thanks as well goes to Elizabeth Bartz for giving us the opportunity to meet Senator Brown and to hear his presentation.

Photo by Nicolette Koozer.