Democrat Alaina Shearer eyes unseating Rep. Troy Balderson, flipping Ohio congressional district blue

Ohio’s 12th Congressional District had been red well before state lawmakers drew new boundaries following the 2010 census, but Democrats are hoping to change that. 

Alaina Shearer, a digital marketing firm founder, is trying to unseat incumbent Rep. Troy Balderson, the Republican who won two elections in 2018 to maintain his party’s grip on a district formerly occupied by Republicans John Kasich and Pat Tiberi that stretches from suburban Columbus to rural areas in counties to the north and east. 

In 2018, Balderson, 58, narrowly defeated Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor in an August special election to finish the term of Tiberi, who had quit. The new GOP incumbent won again in November by a slightly wider margin. The initial race drew national attention – and money – during the summer doldrums before the midterm election. 

Shearer, 40, isn’t raising as much money as O’Connor did in 2018, but said she thinks she can win in one of Ohio’s most competitive races across 16 gerrymandered districts. 

In July, the Cook Political Report moved the seat from “Solidly Republican” to “Likely Republican,” which means the race isn’t highly competitive, but it’s worth watching. 

“At the core, this race is very different than it was in 2018 when Balderson ran against Danny O’Connor because we now have his voting record,” the Democrat from Delaware said. After running as a moderate in 2018, Shearer said Balderson “has really tied himself to the Trump administration.”

Balderson said he has tried to work across the aisle, joining with a Democrat on the vast majority of the legislation he's worked on. But he pointed out that, in the House, he is part of the minority party.

“When you’re in the minority, it’s hard to get things done," the former state lawmaker said.

Shearer is running as a self-described “purple candidate.” She blames partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C., in part on deeply gerrymandered congressional districts that nominate candidates from the fringes of both major parties. 

That has manifested itself in the debate over coronavirus relief, she said. After passing multiple relief packages, including allocating more than $2 trillion in the CARES Act, Congress has been unable to pass another wave of funding. 

“The federal response has been abysmal,” she said, adding that the federal government hasn’t had a “solid containment strategy” for the virus. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, “should be locked in a room until they come out with a deal,” Shearer said. 

That accord should include “supplemental income,” such as direct payments to Americans and more funding for those receiving unemployment, she said. 

Balderson agrees that Congress needs to do more, and he lamented during an interview last week that negotiations had been cut off on the next round of relief. Businesses need another infusion like the Paycheck Protection Program from an earlier package, he said, and the congressman favors sending additional direct stimulus payments to Americans.

But he said he doesn't support additional federal jobless supplements similar to the $600 a week Congress allocated as unemployment skyrocketed earlier this year. 

“There are jobs available. You can go up and down the street. I’ve met with manufacturing facilities. I met with businesses yesterday. They still need people back to work. They need employees," he said. “I think there’s an opportunity for people to go back to work.” 

While Shearer says the federal government has failed in responding to the pandemic, Balderson said he believes it has done all it can.

"Right now, the plan is there is no plan," Shearer said, noting that more testing is needed for teachers and other frontline workers as part of a "national containment strategy."

Balderson said he does not believe a nationwide mask mandate is appropriate and that that decision should instead be left to states and local governments to determine based on how the virus is progressing there.

The pandemic, though, has highlighted the need for more telehealth options, he said. This past spring he pushed legislation that would allow more health-care providers, such as physical therapists and others, to treat patients digitally. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services later adopted the proposed changes.

Asked whether he believed President Donald Trump had been truthful with the American people about the pandemic, Balderson ended an interview with The Dispatch, saying he would talk only about his campaign.

“You wanted to call and talk to me about my campaign. That’s what we’re going to talk about, my campaign. I represent the 12th Congressional District," he said.

On the social justice movement that sparked protests following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Shearer and Balderson agree that violent demonstrations are wrong.

Although Shearer said systemic racism exists and must be addressed in law enforcement and the criminal justice system, Balderson disagreed.

“I’ve met with pretty much most of the local law enforcement in the 12th district. They're good people," he said. “They want those bad actors out of their organizations just as much as we do.”

Balderson said officers need more training, and departments need to be more transparent. He has co-sponsored legislation on de-escalation training and reform hiring practices, among other chang

Shearer said police officers are asked to do too much, such as responding to problems brought on by drug addiction, and that other social services need to be boosted to take on some of that burden. 

“We need to make sure that we have a social safety net that works,” she said.

Balderson did not respond directly to Dispatch Voters Guide questions on climate change and gun rights. Shearer wants to make Ohio "a leader in renewable energy" to help combat climate change. She supports universal background checks that close so-called online and gun show loopholes, emergency risk protection orders "that allow family and friends to protect their loved ones," and increased insurance coverage of mental health services. 

The Democrat said Obamacare " should be restored and expanded, not thrown away." Balderson wants to "repeal and replace" the measure. Both want to mandate coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.

Elections watchers expect the rest of central Ohio’s races to be uncompetitive. Those are: 

3rd District 

Four-term U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat, will face a challenge from Republican Mark F. Richardson for the solidly blue seat inside Franklin County. 

Beatty easily won her first primary since she was elected to the seat in 2012, outspending her opponent 3 to 1. Beatty had more than $815,000 in her campaign account at the end of June, but Richardson has not filed any campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. 

Beatty, of Jefferson Township, has regularly touted her experience as key to re-election, working for eight years in Congress after time in the Ohio House and as a senior vice president at Ohio State University. Richardson, of Powell, is a U.S. Navy veteran who also has worked in corporate finance. 

They agree that health care is one of the biggest issues facing the district. Beatty favors preserving Obamacare and expanding access to affordable prescriptions. Richardson wants to plug holes in supply chains he says were exposed during the coronavirus pandemic, which made it harder to get the medical supplies needed to combat the virus, by manufacturing more of those goods in the U.S. and allow for new technology, such as telehealth. 

15th District

Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Columbus, has represented the district that includes parts of Franklin County and 11 other counties since 2011. Attorney Joel Newby, a Columbus Democrat, is challenging Stivers in what will be his first time on the general election ballot. 

Stivers, a political veteran, has a major fundraising advantage in the race. At the end of June, he had more than $1.7 million on hand compared with about $3,000 for the newcomer Newby.  

Newby sees the district’s biggest challenge as outdated and crumbling infrastructure that hinders economic progress. In The Dispatch Voters Guide, he wrote that “a 21st century economy requires 21st century infrastructure” and that roads and bridges need to be rebuilt, buildings renovated and broadband access expanded in the district. 

But Stivers said the top priority for the district is recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing to his votes on “every bipartisan package that has passed the House” to support that recovery. “We need to find our way to the new normal,” he wrote, including getting people back to work and children back in schools.  

4th District

One of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, is running to retain his seat in the duck-shaped 4th district against Democrat Shannon Freshour. 

Freshour, a former litigation paralegal from Marysville, would be the first Democrat ever to win the district if she can knock off Jordan, the Freedom Caucus co-founder who has been in Congress since 2006. 

Like other incumbents, Jordan has a major fundraising lead. He is sitting on more than $3 million in his campaign account compared with about $123,000 for Freshour.

Check out the Dispatch Voter Guide for more information about central Ohio candidates.