Candidate Spotlight with Frank LaRose- Candidate for State Auditor

Transparency, efficiency, accountability - That is what Frank LaRose intends to bring to the State Auditor's office. "Those are the standards I’ve upheld as Ohio’s 51st Secretary of State, and together we’ve made Ohio a national leader in election administration and economic development. Now I have a plan to put those same priorities to work as our next Auditor of State. I’ll help state and local government offices across Ohio more openly and efficiently manage our tax dollars and hold them accountable when they don’t." Frank will continue to fight fraud of government programs, following the good work of current Auditor of State Keith Faber. Click to listen to the interview. 

News in Focus Candidate Spotlight with Robert Sprague - Candidate for Secretary of State

Robert Sprague is running for Secretary of State. Robert explains his positions on election security. A supporter of Issue 3, the Constitutional Amendment that requires photo ID to vote, Robert explains that the Constitution Amendment is needed so that future GA's cannot change the law without changing the Constitution. Issue 3 is polling favorably among all voters. Gubernatorial Democrat candidate Amy Acton has endorsed Issue 3, while Democrat candidate for Secretary of State, Allison Russo, has opposed Issue 3 and has voted against it three times in the Ohio General Assembly. Robert explains that election integrity, keeping noncitizens and illegals from voting, takes constant vigilance. He intends to make further upgrades to the Secretary of State office, further securing Ohio's elections. 

Candidate Spotlight with Keith Faber- Candidate for Ohio Attorney General

Keith Faber as our current State Auditor has waged war against waste, fraud, and abuse. When the Medicaid fraud story broke, Keith's office was already working on that and provided substantive evidence to federal investigators. Keith is now running for State Attorney General and he wants to serve the people of Ohio by defending the Constitution, combating the drug epidemic, fighting for consumer protection, and stopping human trafficking and support the survivors of human traffickers. Click and listen to this detailed interview today with Attorney General candidate Keith Faber as he talks to us on the road as he travels across the state meeting with voters. To learn more about his campaign, log onto www.keithfaber.org.  Keith Faber will also be speaking at the Ohio Christian Alliance Constitution Day Freedom Banquet Election Rally on September 17th in Columbus. To learn more, visit www.ohioca.org. 

Congressman Mike Carey of Ohio's 15th District on the Campaign Trail Talking to the Voters

On this week's News in Focus, we talk with Ohio Congressman Mike Carey of Ohio's 15th District. We discuss affordability, tackling inflation, and working on home buying for a younger generation, the progress that has been made with the Reconciliation Bill and the Big Beautiful Bill tax cuts, and the new housing bill.  President Trump and the Republicans are moving the country forward. It is taking time to get out from underneath the Biden inflation years, moving the country and the economy forward. There is still much to do, but if Republicans lose in November, and the Democrat Socialists take control, it will result in more spending, sending the economy over the cliff. This is no time for conservatives to sit it out. Get in the game and vote this November, keeping the country and the President's agenda moving forward. 

The excessive government spending from 2020 – 2024 through the Biden era and the COVID response has caused the U.S. dollar to lose 20% of its value from 2020 – 2025.  The COVID era government payments to businesses and individuals, over 4 trillion dollars in government spending, caused the federal deficit to skyrocket, at the same time devaluing the dollar in your pocket in a dramatic fashion. Everything was costing more while your dollar was valued less. Do the math.  $5,000 in 2020 would take $6,450.98 today, reflecting a cumulative price increase of 29.02 percent and an average annual inflation rate of 4.34 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When younger Americans are complaining that they can’t buy an affordable car or save for a downpayment for a home, they are stating reality. These are working young adults in their 20’s and 30’s, and for them the American Dream is slipping away. One young conservative pointed out to me who had a lapel pin with the active debt clock on it that read 39 trillion dollars, that it was 34 trillion when President Trump took his oath of office on January 20, 2025. He said, “This is a bipartisan problem.” He is right. These are complex problems and we didn’t get here overnight. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed the 40 trillion dollar federal debt and discussed the Administration's plans to reduce the federal deficit with tarriffs, economic growth, and going after waste, fraud, and abuse.  Tune in to learn more!

Candidate Spotlight with Gubernatorial Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy

Gubernatorial Republican Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s Statement on Data Centers

Today I am announcing my policy pledge to Ohioans on data centers. If a data center is built in your community, then (i) you will no longer have to pay for your home’s electricity, (ii) you will pay lower property taxes, and (iii) the data center will be required to abide by all air and water quality standards without exception, and we will take the necessary steps to protect Ohio’s fertile farmland. If any one of these three conditions is not met, the data center won’t be built. Period. I will work with Ohio’s state legislature to codify these commitments into law immediately after I assume office.   To ensure urgency, I will further issue an executive order on my first day in office to immediately halt the approval of any new data center project announcements in Ohio, until the above-mentioned data center legislation takes effect. These policy objectives are consistent with the principles I have articulated over the first 18 months of my campaign, and today I am making a legislative commitment to codify them into state law. 

 Vivek also spoke of the threat that the Democratic Socialists present to our Constitutional form of government. Tune in and tell a friend.  

The Data Center Debate - The need for more transparency and local control

Kim Georgeton, digital commerce and salesforce consulting expert, has researched the data center mania - why they are here in Ohio in the Midwest and why they are popping all over the state. Kim has been researching the concerns of residents of local communities concerning water usage, power grid usage, and why there seems to be a disregard for local citizens when it comes to the placement and construction of the new data centers. Kim wrote a letter to the EPA with the concerns from local residents, urged others to do the same, and as a result, the Ohio EPA has made an announcement that they will not be granting a blanket permit to all data centers to discharge waste coolant water from their facilities, but that each data center will be reviewed on a case by case basis. 

Tune in to learn more about this important issue. 

Improving Education by Banning Cell Phone Use During School Hours- Discussion with Jane Timken

S.B. 158, legislation introduced by State Senator Timken was signed into law this past year. The new school year will see the implementation of a ban on cell phone use during school hours. The bill allows for use for emergencies and health issues, but bans the every day use of the cell phone in the classroom. Senator Timken explains how this will improve student attention in the classroom and improve educational scores, as students will be focused more on the academics without the distractions of social media during the school day. One district in Texas that banned cell phone use last year reported that students checked out over 200,000 books district-wide at local libraries. Students returned to reading books. There was also improvement in interpersonal discussion with their peers and family members as a result of the restricted use of cell phones. Tune in and tell a friend. 

Reading Tutoring with Students - LifeRead Volunteers Get the Job Done

On this program, we discuss the LifeRead Volunteer Reading Tutoring Initiative - What the program has accomplished since its launch in August of 2024, the emphasis on reading tutoring with phonics, and tackling Ohio's literacy challenge one student at a time. If you would like to be a LifeRead volunteer reading tutor, you can sign up at www.liferead.org LifeRead volunteers have been invited back to the schools to continue our important work with the students this school year. If your school would like to have LifeRead Volunteer Reading Tutors, please contact us at www.liferead.org 

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. - Thomas Jefferson

Candidate Spotlight with Shawn Stevens- House District 61

Shawn Stevens is a resident of Delaware County. He is a member of Genoa Baptist Church. He attended Miami University in Ohio where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and later earned an MBA from Ohio State University. Shawn spent ten years on the Delaware County Board of Elections and is a past president of the Ohio Association of Election Officials. 

Today on the program, we discussed the problem of Medicaid and government fraud. We discussed data centers, the national debt, and affordability issues. To learn more about Shawn's campaign, visit www.stevensforohio.com 

Tune in and tell a friend.