Jim Obergefell is best known for being the title name on the landmark Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges. The Supreme Court ended up ruling by a vote of 5 – 4 that banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and that all fifty states, Washington DC, and even the insular areas (like Guam and the US Virgin Islands) were required to perform same-sex marriage, thus legalizing it nationally.
Now, Obergefell has headed back to his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio, and is running as a Democrat for the State Legislature to represent Ohio’s 89th District. Sandusky is a lakeside town that’s best known as a tourist destination. The city has one of the world’s most famous amusement parks, Cedar Point, as well as nationally known indoor waterparks like Castaway Bay and Kalahari.
However, despite being a magnet for visitors from around the world, Sandusky is extremely conservative and Republicans dominated the city’s votes in 2020. This makes it somewhat peculiar that someone famous for civil rights would run in such a bigoted and anti-progressive region of the state.
But Obergefell seems to know this. Rather than running on a platform of progressive civil rights policies, he’s running on a platform that the people of conservative Ohio care more about – jobs and the economy. CBS Columbus quoted Obergefell, who spoke at a recent press gathering, where he stated, “We need to invest in our Great Lake, protect our Great Lake, and make the nation envious that Ohio has smartly invested in one of the greatest freshwater assets in the world.”
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NBC News also quoted Obergefell, saying, “This district deserves a representative who works to make things better for everyone. I watched the good paying jobs my father and brothers worked at GM and Scott Paper vanish when those factories closed. I watched my family struggle in the aftermath. I remember eating the so-called government cheese. I was just a kid.”
It’s an interesting strategy coming from someone who is known as a civil rights hero, but it’s also a smart one. As the voting results in Sandusky show (Trump took almost 63% of the vote in 2020), progressive measures aren’t something that the residents of the region care about. He could be intelligently positioning himself to be a more approachable Democrat.
But equality is still on his agenda. The same CBS article quoted him as saying, “We should all be able to participate fully in society and the economy, living in strong communities with great public schools, access to quality healthcare, and with well-paying jobs that allow us to stay in the community we love, with the family we care about.”
The midterm elections are this November and it’s important for America to vote for conscientious and caring politicians. For more information, visit Jim’s official campaign website.
