{"id":3018,"date":"2026-04-09T01:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T05:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/?post_type=article&#038;p=3018"},"modified":"2026-04-09T01:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T05:10:19","slug":"april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"April Fair Democracy Huddle &#8211; Links and Resources"},"template":"","class_list":["post-3018","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":"","article_type":153,"authors":"","related_issues":[91,62,420],"related_work":false,"location":38},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you to those of you were able to join April\u2019s Fair Democracy Huddle! The meeting focused on primary elections and featured a special guest State Senator Louis Blessing III. <b>The next Huddle is on Wednesday, May 13 at 6pm. <\/b>We\u2019ll focus on attacks on direct democracy and what we can do to fight back, <a href=\"https:\/\/commoncause-org.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/WN_rL776R2BTOCJwbO6HZ0FGA#\/registration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>RSVP here.<\/b><\/a><\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>Types of Primaries\u00a0<\/b>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/elections-and-campaigns\/state-primary-election-types\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State Primary Election Types<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Conference of State Legislatures, February 25, 2026<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uniteamerica.org\/articles\/unite-america-statement-on-california-governors-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unite America statement on California\u2019s current primary<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.betterchoicesohio.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Better Choices for Ohio<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uniteamericainstitute.org\/research\/research-brief-primary-voters-elect-most-of-congress-theyre-not-like-most-americans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research Brief: Primary Voters Elect Most of Congress. They're Not Like Most Americans.<\/span><\/i><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unite America Institute\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only two out of Ohio\u2019s 15 US House seats are considered genuinely competitive this year- or 13% (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/ratings\/house-race-ratings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cook Political, OH 9, OH 1)<\/span><\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nationally it\u2019s 8.7% of US House seats that are considered competitive- 38 seats (25 years ago it was 80 seats, 10 years before that it was 140)<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only 23% of Ohioans live in competitive Ohio State House districts (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/research-reports\/ohios-gerrymandered-state-house-districts-lack-electoral-competition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brennan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 2024)<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<b>Senator Blessing\u2019s proposals:\u00a0<\/b>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.ohio.gov\/legislation\/136\/sb382\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Bill 382<\/span><\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.ohio.gov\/legislation\/136\/sb395\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Bill 395<\/span><\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<b>Closed Primary proposal:\u00a0<\/b>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.ohio.gov\/legislation\/136\/hb320\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">House Bill 320<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sponsored by Beth Lear and Gary Click\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dispatch.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2026\/04\/07\/samuel-ronan-removed-from-republican-primary-against-mike-carey\/89498528007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carey's GOP primary challenger booted from race, SCOTUS appeal filed<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dispatch, April 7, 2026<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Major political parties\u2013<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> candidate for governor or nominees for presidential electors got at least 20% of the vote in the last state elections<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Minor political parties\u2013<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/codes.ohio.gov\/ohio-revised-code\/section-3517.01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">petition process<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1% of gubernatorial or presidential vote + 500 signatures in half the congressional districts) and then to retain status for 4 years, their candidate for governor or president must receive at least 3% of the vote\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Ballot_access_requirements_for_political_parties_in_Ohio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>The Ohio Libertarian Party has had to fight for access to the ballot<\/b><\/a><b> including signature challenges and burdensome signature requirements.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 In 2017, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/courthousenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/OHLibertarians.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ohio Supreme Court determined<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that the LPO didn\u2019t garner access to the ballot simply by getting more than 3% of the vote. On July 2, 2024, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statenews.org\/government-politics\/2024-07-05\/libertarian-party-of-ohio-files-for-minor-party-status-on-ballot-this-fall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Libertarian Party of Ohio filed 87K signatures<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">t<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o get on the November ballot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>April Fair Democracy Huddle - Links and Resources - Common Cause Ohio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"April Fair Democracy Huddle - Links and Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Ohio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-09T05:10:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/OH.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/\",\"name\":\"April Fair Democracy Huddle - Links and Resources - Common Cause Ohio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-09T05:03:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-09T05:10:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/april-fair-democracy-huddle-links-and-resources\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"April Fair Democracy Huddle &#8211; 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