With the
coming of September during a mid-term election cycle, also shepherd the
endorsements from special interest groups.
And current
State Representative John Rodgers is one of less than a handful of Ohio Democrats
to pass muster with the pro-Second Amendment group, the Buckeye Firearms
Association’s political action committee (BFA-PAC).
Rogers – the
honorable gentleman from Mentor-on-the-Lake – represents Ohio House District
60.
In fact,
Rogers is one of only five Democrat House candidates to receive the Buckeye
Firearms Association endorsement. The other four endorsed House “D” candidates
are Nick Barborak in Ohio House District 5, Heather Bischoff in Ohio District
20, Debbie Phillips in Ohio House District 94, and John Patterson in Ohio House
District 99.
Rogers,
Barborak, Bischoff, Phillips and Patterson are each ranked “A” by the Buckeye
Firearms Association’s PAC.
Only about
64 of the state’s 99 Ohio House district contests also see an endorsement from
the Buckeye Firearms Association’s PAC.
Also, the
Buckeye Firearms Association only endorsed one Democrat running for the Ohio
State Senate. That person would be Joe Schiavonia, who represents Ohio State
District 33 and received an A-minus rating.
Likewise,
the Buckeye Firearms Association did not endorse and Democrat running for any
statewide office, among them being governor, attorney general and Ohio State
Supreme Court.
The highest
rating awarded by the group is A-plus. No Democrat and only a handful of
Republicans earned that score. Among these so-awarded Republicans is incumbent
Ohio Secretary of State, John Hustad.
Ohio
Governor John Kasich (R) is the recipient of the PAC’s B-plus, by the way.
Lest anyone think being a Republican means an
automatic endorsement from the Buckeye Firearms Association’s PAC group, such a
thought is erroneous.
Failure to
respond to the firearms group’s survey meant an automatic endorsement rejection,
for one thing.
In the words
of the Buckeye Firearms Association as relates to its endorsement protocols and
processes, this is a portion of the group’s statement. It is significant to
note that Buckeye Firearms Association is a single issue entity; that being
pro-Second Amendment, commonly called “gun rights:”
“Nonpartisan
“Buckeye Firearms Association is
nonpartisan. We do list a candidates’ party affiliation next to their name. Our
only consideration is how a candidate measures up on Second Amendment related
issues. While we understand that many people have preferences and party
affiliation, we as an organization do not.
“Single issue
We are a ‘single issue’ PAC. We
understand that many people have other issues that are important to them. We
understand that. But just as it would not be right for a pro-life group to
endorse on the basis of gay rights issues, it is not appropriate for us to
consider anything but Second Amendment rights when issuing our grades and
endorsements. We recommend you find other groups that grade candidates on those
issues that are important to you. We pride ourselves on being exceptionally
accurate on our single issue.”
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
Jeff
is the retired News-Herald reporter who covered the earth sciences,
the area's three county park systems and the outdoors for the newspaper.
During his 30 years with The News-Herald Jeff was the recipient of more
than 100 state, regional and national journalism awards. He also is a
columnist and features writer for the Ohio Outdoor News, which is
published every other week and details the outdoors happenings in the
state.
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