With things like the child tax credit, the homestead exemption, how do you pay for that kind of thing? And if the legislature remains in Republican control, how do you sell lawmakers on policies they haven't really been interested in in the past? Yeah.

You know, first of all, budgets are a reflection of your values.

We have, by law, we have to have a balanced budget in Ohio.

The difference between me and my opponent is that I want to give tax breaks to folks that are working families.

He wants more tax breaks.

You know, getting rid of the income tax, something Governor Mike DeWine has said, we do not need to lower our income tax anymore.

It would actually, it's not what's keeping business from coming here.

Can you talk a little bit about the tone of the ads in this race and why you ultimately decided not to debate your opponent?

Uh, Vivek Ramaswamy hasn't really been on the right side of this discussion.

Well, I can tell you, it is the cost of everyday living, but it is also something I've noticed going everywhere, Ali, that I don't think anyone can quite poll for.

I've never been in a room in two and a half years where people don't tear up while I'm speaking.

Often, we joke that it's usually a big burly guy who goes first.

People are exhausted of living this way.

They're tired of being pitted against one another, the hate and the chaos and the vitriol.

Look, I am an Ohio girl through and through.

How are you reaching them? Because you cannot, y- you can't, you just can't win statewide elections in Ohio without having some crossover voters.

Vivek Ramaswamy hasn't really been on the right side of this discussion.

Well, I can tell you it is the cost of everyday living, but it is also something I've noticed going everywhere, Ali, that I don't think anyone can quite pull for.

I've never been in a room in two and a half years where people don't tear up while I'm speaking.

Often we joke that it's usually a big burly guy who goes first.

People are exhausted of living this way.

They're tired of being pitted against one another, the hate and the chaos and the vitriol.

Look, I am an Ohio girl through and through.

You can't you just can't win statewide elections in Ohio without having some crossover voters.

[laughs]

I think I may be busy.

Um, I, I will absolutely work with the vice president, uh, if I'm so fortunate as to be the governor of Ohio to fight for the people of Ohio.

You know, I'm running because people in my state are struggling, and I am laser focused on helping make life better for Ohioans.

Am I getting this right? What kind of a strategy is this?

You know, I, Jen, I've been on the ground for two and a half years going everywhere in Ohio, listening deeply.

Uh, we've seen record crowds of people at a never known party.

But people are longing for public servants again who actually solve problems instead of making them.

Why is this year different?

Um, uh, yeah, I would say maybe in the election, Ohio, if people remember, was always Tim Russert's favorite place to say, "As goes Ohio, so goes the nation." Uh, we voted for Obama twice.

We're the seventh-largest state.

I always think of us, we're like a little United States of Ohio, the demographic of the complete United States in one state.

Um, what we are is a very rigged state, and we have heavy gerrymandering, heavy pay to play, a very corrupt statehouse.

I joke that we are the complete lineup of HBO Max docuseries [laughs] on our corruption.

Uh, you can't make it up, and I know that because I had to stand up to someone who ended up in federal prison with $60 million bribe scheme.

So how are you gonna actually accomplish anything?

At a time when everything feels hard to pay for, do voters want a governor who says his success proves he can bring prosperity to others, or one who says she can solve struggles because she's been through them herself? Ma'am, that's that voice, because that individual knows the person who's got the cash is the one who's let them down.

That is so true.

Thank you, Michael.

I am honored to be here with you all.

Look, I am a doctor.

I'm not a politician, but I am a lifelong public servant.

And I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, had a pretty rough childhood, lived in a tent in the winter, children's services.

What's the message for Democrats there about how to come forward for public health in a way that's easily discernible?

Aside from the property tax issue, what would you do to help people be able to afford those everyday necessities? Well,

I can't say enough.

This is, people are working harder than they ever have.

There is no more breathing room left.

And so we are immediately proposing in our first budget a working class family tax cut for everyone.

Instead of tax breaks for people at a million plus or working on the capital gains tax, which would benefit my opponent and his billionaire friends, we are focused on everyday Ohioans getting immediate relief.

We'll do this through a child tax credit, one of the fastest and best ways proven to help with poverty and childhood poverty.

So what do you say to that?

How are you doing?

Thank you, Laura.

Thank you for having us.

And I am doing well, as is my team.

It was a bit harrowing for us.

We were in the middle of a typical stump speech at the fair where I grew up, actually, Canfield Fair in Youngstown, Ohio.

And I was actually speaking to the topic of Ohioans longing for us to bring down the temperature.

So how do you plan to convince those voters that they should choose you?

... $700,000 on private jets in Ohio?

Well, you know, I am up against a self-funding billionaire who has spent, uh, that much on airplanes.

I've been driving around Ohio for two and a half years now in an old Jeep.

And by the way, Jeeps are made in Ohio, so it's a source of pride for us.

But he is not just out of touch, he's out for himself, and quite frankly, he's a danger to Ohio and the rest of this country.

He has spent now over $40 million in ads against me since March.

It hasn't moved the needle one bit.

... on your phone at the beginning of the video.

How are you processing that?

You know, I think the way you set this story up was exactly right.

Ohioans are exhausted of living this way.

Top of mind for folks, and we see record crowds of people, it doesn't know party, it's the cost of everyday living.

They're working harder than they ever have.

There is no breathing room, and they are longing for public servants again who actually solve problems instead of make them.

You know, this is a terrible, terrible story, and you know who's standing by him? Is my opponent, Mr.

But when you look at the, the taking away of the subsidies, that is what most people say why they ended up dropping their plans.

What can you do as governor in that area?

Well, thank you, Lawrence.

It's wonderful to be here.

And I can tell you, Ohioans are working harder than they ever have, and it just doesn't add up.

And the number one cost I'm hearing about above the groceries and the gas and the housing and the education costs and the energy bills is health care costs.

I'm a doctor.

I'm a mom.

Is that something that Ohio voters understand that that Republican candidate has absolutely no connection to their experience on affordability?

What do you see as the top issue in this campaign?

Yeah.

Well, you know, first of all, I'm a doctor.

Uh, I'm not a politician.

This is my first elected office.

But I'm a lifelong public servant, and I've been traveling the state of Ohio now for two and a half years.

Going places, quite frankly, Dems have not been in a while, listening deeply to the people of Ohio.

Uh, how, how does that inform, uh, your approach to public service and to the governorship?

W- what did that experience teach you about leading the state?

Oh.

Well, I have to tell you, you know, I'm a doctor.

I'm not a traditional politician, but I am a lifelong public servant, and I have been working, uh, for my entire career to try to make life better for Ohioans.

I was honored and privileged to work alongside Governor Mike DeWine during one of the hardest times in our state's history.

Uh, I was proud of Ohioans.

We flattened the curve.

What's the one thing you'd like to say to those voters, and what questions should they be asking your opponent?

How do you characterize what you did? How do you respond to that?

Well, I have to tell people it is an honor and a privilege to be a public servant and serve during a moment like that.

The heroes in the state knew no bounds.

It was an honor to serve with Governor Mike Dwan, who is a leader.

amongst Republican governors, and we actually reached across the aisle instantly to row together with our Democratic partners, Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear.

I was a representative for the whole Midwest to the White House.

And what we did in Ohio is, you know, we took swift and decisive action on a pandemic playbook George W. Bush made, recognizing after 9-11, it was the gravest security risk above all things to this country.

What what would you do and how have you decided that that's what makes sense and not his plan?

... what Republicans are doing?

You know, there is no one who has gone unscathed by this.

That is absolutely true.

You know, it begins with a massive attack on our public schools in Ohio.

You know, we think a lot about states being Democrat or Republican or independent.

We forget that Ohio was always a bellwether state.

You know, we went Obama twice.

... for your state representatives, your legislative, uh, your, your state legislatures, and your governor, things can go very wrong, including redistricting.

Yeah.

So I think our numbers, we already know that we've been tied or up ahead in every single poll.

We've been far ahead in independents, up to twenty-one points ahead, and we've always been seeing Republicans crossing over, both in our data and in the rooms we are in.

Another interesting thing is that we see people showing up that have never been political before.

Uh, a lot of first-timers, people that no one re-really recognizes in established circles.I think, um, I present a very different story than my opponent.

I definitely have a very unique Ohio story, and for those watching who aren't from Ohio, just background, we are the seventh to eighth largest state in population, uh, so a fairly big state, and we have the reputation of being, um, a bellwether.

Uh, "As goes Ohio, so goes the nation," was what I'd always hear on... by Tim Russert or others on Meet the Press, and that we were always that until very recently.

Okay.

Fr- from what you've seen and the conversations you've had with people, what is the reaction to the impact of Trump's ongoing war? How is it impacting people? How are you seeing it as an issue, um, in this race?

Well, I'll tell you, you know, what I'm mostly hearing from Ohioans is cost of everyday life.

Um, it is absolutely...

People are doing everything right.

They're working harder than they have ever worked, but there is no more breathing room.

You know, it's the cost of housing and rent, 50% of most Ohioans' income.

It is healthcare costs in a big way.

Uh, how, how are you k- approaching this campaign with all of that in mind?

What do you ascribe this Ohio sort of turning away from MAGAism or Trumpism? What, what's driving this obvious phenomena?

I could tell you, James, being on the ground listening to people, that's what I'm trained to do, and I've gone everywhere.

Quite frankly, I go places Dems don't go.

And, and we're seeing people show up.

It doesn't know party.

They're exhausted.

They're exhausted by the hate and the chaos and the vitriol.

And the related issue may be data centers and the booming AI, uh, prospects.

So, so, so, so tell us, though, first about your pick, and then let, let's talk a- and then, then, then, David, I'll bring you in.

You know, this is one of the biggest decisions you make, is who is gonna be, uh, your sidekick? Who's gonna be in the saddle with you? And I couldn't have been more thrilled that David Pepper is my, my lieutenant governor.

He is a lifelong public servant who has been fighting tirelessly against corruption in our very broken state house.

People in my state are struggling.

There are special interests and bad actors who have been taking our state backwards on nearly every measure.

And David has been a voice his entire career, both, you know, in his early career in city council as a councilman in his city of Cincinnati, of which he is so proud, to work he did as a Democratic Party chair, to the books and the things he has been writing on what is broken.

And I am just so grateful to have someone who cares about Ohioans the way I do, um, who has the same passion I have for change.

You know? So, so, uh, well, w- what, what, what, what do you make of all of that, doctor?

So, so, so, so tell us though, first, about your pick and then let, let's talk ab- And then, t-then David I'll bring you in.

You know, this is one of the biggest decisions you make is who is going to be, uh, your sidekick, who's going to be in the saddle with you? And I couldn't have been more thrilled that David Pepper is my, my lieutenant governor.

He is a lifelong public servant who has been fighting tirelessly against corruption in our very broken statehouse.

People in my state are struggling.

There are special interests and bad actors who have been taking our state backwards on nearly every measure.

And David has been a voice his entire career both, you know, in his early career in city council as a councilman in his city of Cincinnati, of which he is so proud, to work he did as a Democratic Party chair, to the books and the things he has been writing on what is broken.

And I am just so grateful to have someone who cares about Ohioans the way I do, um, who has the same passion I have for change.

[laughs] So, so, uh, what, wh- wha- what, what, what do you make of all of that, doctor?

Why you keep saying that? It's not good." Talk to us about that.

Well, you know, I'm, I'm running against a guy, um, Vivek Ramaswamy, who literally has said that people are struggling in Ohio because, you know, they're lazy, they're mediocre, they're not working hard enough, and I can absolutely tell you that that is not the Ohioans I know or see.

Um, I think he's completely out of touch.

He has spent the last year, um, actually going for some of the opponents of, uh, of people I was for, the two women who just won Amazing Races.

Um, he's hardly ever in Ohio.

He's flying around in his private jet while we are literally driving around in an old Jeep.

Um, and, and, and listening deeply.

[laughs]

Why do you keep saying that? It's not good." Talk to us about that.

Well, you know, I'm, I'm running against a guy, um, Vivek Ramaswamy, who literally has said that people are struggling in Ohio because, you know, they're lazy, they're mediocre, they're not working hard enough, and I can absolutely tell you that that is not the Ohioans I know or see.

Um, I think he's completely out of touch.

He has spent the last year, um, actually going for some of the opponents of, uh, of people I was for, the two women who just won Amazing Races.

Um, he's hardly ever in Ohio.

He's flying around in his private jet while we are literally driving around in an old Jeep.

Um, and, and, and listening deeply.

[laughs]

I know, they're

weaponizing it.

But let's look at something more important.

And this is important because this is actually a labor story.

I did a docuseries called The Invisible Shield that goes from the Black Plague on to now.

When my grandfather came to this country, he ended up working in the steel mills in Youngstown.

Where did he come from? He came from Austria, Czechoslovakia border, okay, old country.

many criteria out there for me.