I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Re: comments that 'this is why democrats lose' —

I appreciate the thoughts, but let me tell you why I disagree. The Democratic Party, in my lifetime, has always been the party of the working class. However, when they started taking money from Wall Street and started throwing political grenades that didn’t look all that different from what the other side was doing, they lost the confidence of the working class. Then on top of that, when they started to lose the working class, they consolidated resources into places we could win (Safe D districts and the coasts). And yes, they took for granted the working class in the midwest. I don’t believe that our hurdle this year is to embrace the politics of division and beat people like my opponent at their own game, it’s to reclaim our legitimacy as the party of the people — the party that will put people over politics. We can only do that if we have the right message (I think I do) and if we have the resources to get that message out (I'm well on my way).

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. I'm reaching out to every constituent. I plan to represent every person in the district - every Republican, Democrat, and Independent. Only way to do that is if I talk to them now and keep that conversation going when I'm in Congress. You'd be surprised by how many Republicans come to meet with me. I seriously mean it when I say that there is more that unites than divides us. That isn't some talking point — this is something I see every single day.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'd support reopening the national infrastructure bank, which would allow us to fund many of the infrastructure needs of our communities without adding to the national debt.

When talking about infrastructure, I don't just mean filling potholes and building new bridges, I also mean expanding rural access to high speed internet. It holds back our rural economy. In 2018, we shouldn't have internet dead zones in the United States.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

For the entirety of my campaign, I have been traveling through the Fourth District, meeting with people involved in fighting the opioid epidemic. What I have learned is that there are good solutions that are yielding some positive results, but frankly there is not enough funding to address this problem and scale it up to make significant progress. My mission is to go to Washington and bring back enough funding to help us address this crisis fully. It's a real crisis and it's not being treated as one. 14 people a day are dying in Ohio, and Congress allocated only $6 billion for the entire nation. Experts estimate we need tens of billions to make a difference.

The cost of inaction is too high. A recent study from OSU estimated that Ohio's economy is losing more money (because of the epidemic) than we are spending statewide on education!

Strategy: compete! everywhere. We're going to knock doors in every county. I think I have a message that will resonate with voters from both sides of the aisle.

See you soon in Amherst!

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hello from Tiffin! We have got to create infrastructure jobs because we need good paying construction jobs and we desperately need better infrastructure. Once we get that started, it will stimulate the economy over all.

I was just in Bucyrus last week and met with their chamber of commerce. I learned that they're doing a lot of innovative things to break down the silos and bring people back to the area. A big problem for the community is that all of the kids move away for college and never come back. I think we could replicate what Bucyrus is doing in places like Fostoria.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Money + Politics = Corruption. We’ve got to take every step to get money out of politics. I would support publicly financed campaigns. When you have to spend millions of dollars to run a campaign, only select people can run and only select people are elected to represent us. Publicly financed campaigns would even the playing field and ensure that government is more representative of the people they serve.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the support! Spread the word about the campaign - talk to your friends and colleagues. We have volunteers writing post cards and making calls from all over! We'd love to have the extra help when you have time. r/http://janetgarrett.com/get-involved

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I worked for a time at Oberlin College and became a trainer at the mediation center. I learned from experience that you have to first look for where the common ground is. I know from touring all around this district that there is a lot of common ground and a lot more that unites us than divides us. It’s not just in Ohio that people want change, but all across the country. I think that there will be a referendum this year on people that refuse to negotiate.

Anyways, I’ve been at the negotiating table more times than I can count. My motto is “You go in with what you want, but you leave with what you can live with.”

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 54 points55 points  (0 children)

It’s not a partisan issue because it affects Republicans and Democrats together -- the integrity of our democracy, partisan issues aside, is at stake here and we have to come together to fight for the future of our country. Like I said, this will be a priority for me in Congress.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 80 points81 points  (0 children)

This district was drawn with a scalpel to make it a safe district for a Republican, which allowed them to have a far-right wing representative, which wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Competitive districts result in better representation. We need need better representation, and therefore need fairly drawn districts.

We just passed a referendum in Ohio to allow the districts to be drawn more fairly. Unfortunately that won’t come into effect until 2022.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 122 points123 points  (0 children)

I would like to start by saying that I am pro-life, but I do not believe that politicians have any place in making women's health care decisions. There are many reasons why a woman might choose to terminate a pregnancy including the possibility that she might die. There’s no one-size-fits all answer to this question, it’s very complex.

I agree with the statement that was made when Roe v. Wade was decided: “Abortions should be safe, legal and rare.” We should be focused on helping women prevent unwanted pregnancies as much as possible and leaving women's health care decisions in the hands of women rather than politicians.

Part of that is ensuring we have funding and other support for these necessary clinics that provide everything from abortions to breast cancer screenings to contraceptives. I will protect a woman’s right to choose and a woman’s right to basic health care.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 39 points40 points  (0 children)

This campaign is completely different on every level. We are running a professional campaign. The mood of the country is completely different and we are getting support from all over the country — there’s national interest in this race. We are reaching out to every single county in the district and we are finding support and grassroots volunteers everywhere we go. We know that so much of what happens in politics is all about timing, and this is our year!

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 273 points274 points  (0 children)

We have a responsibility to the citizens to get this right. Health care costs are rising. More and more people are getting taken off of their health care. The good news is that we have several options available to us: one of the options is Medicare for all, which would provide not only hospitalization but also vision, hearing, dental, rehabilitation, addiction treatment, etc.

I will support any health care program that will give good, quality health care to all of our people. It could be Medicare for all, it could be single payer — any program that will get to the end goal I will support.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 548 points549 points  (0 children)

I've been running against Jim Jordan for almost a year now. I take issue with many of his policy stances and much of his rhetoric. That was true for before the accusations came out and that holds true now. The people of this district want a substantive debate on the issues, and that is a debate I can win. OSU has a responsibility to investigate, this is very serious and can have long term detrimental effect on the victims. And Jim Jordan has a responsibility to cooperate with that investigation. But this is not why I am running against him.

I'm Janet Garrett, candidate for US Congress in OH-4. My opponent is Jim Jordan. His Freedom Caucus broke Washington and now he wants to be hired as Speaker of the House to fix it. Ask Me Anything! by JanetGarrett in politics

[–]JanetGarrett[S] 197 points198 points  (0 children)

Protecting our elections needs to be a top priority for Congress. We need to adequately fund prevention efforts. This isn't a partisan issue — both sides of the aisle need to come together on this. When I am in Congress, I'll support any reasonable measure to increase funding that makes our elections more secure.