Ohioans, you have an outsized job to do to save the Senate

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

Imagine, if you would, Harris and Walz winning the election. Then, Vice President Walz is presiding officer in the U.S. Senate and has the sole power to break tie votes in the Senate.

This makes several Senate races critical, since the Senate currently has 49 Republican, 48 Democrat and three "Independent" senators. The three Independents caucus with the Democrats.  

There are several critical Senate seats up for reelection, including Sherrod Brown (D) in Ohio. Brown is currently trailing Bernie Moreno. It is your job to put even more distance between these two.

You used to be able to count on us in Georgia to deliver one or two Republican senators. We failed at that with the elections of Sens. Warnock and Ossoff. How did this happen?  

Well, Georgia is just not as red as it used to be. This has changed since I moved here 30 years ago. Gwinnett County, where I live, is a large suburban county and used to be reliably red. No more.
  
The population of Georgia is currently about 10,900,000. Greater Atlanta is currently 6 million. Atlanta is becoming more like a big coastal city every day.  

Rural Georgia can vote nearly solid Republican – and not beat Atlanta.

Our own neighborhood is a good example. Three doors up from us on our street is a Harris Walz sign. Good people. She is a retired school teacher and a Jew.
  
How they can vote for the Harris-Walz ticket is beyond me. Across the street from them, the same thing – Jewish couple with three kids in school. 

Antisemitism drips from the Democrats, or at least that is my perception. 

But back to Sharrod Brown. You are not just voting for a senator to represent Ohio, you may be voting for the last backstop available to keep the country from becoming one party.  

If the Senate balance does not change, Chuck Schumer will hold on to the majority leadership position. Schumer and Walz – now there is a combination.  

This column is short and sweet, but packs a powerful message. 

You know what to do. Go do it.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.