Conservatives are also working hard in Ohio to save SB 5, the anti-union legislation that they argue will help control state and local government budgets. FreedomWorks is one of the groups in the state pushing back against repeal efforts by running a campaign focusing on getting out Republican voters across the state in the face of some bad polling numbers and a strongly organized repeal effort.
In an interview with TPM, Director of Campaigns Brandon Steinhauser said that FreedomWorks itself was hoping to make 250,000 calls to supporters from Sunday though today, hitting GOP voters who they have identified as in favor of keeping SB 5 and ensuring they get those people out to the polls. Other national conservative groups like Americans for Prosperity are participating in voter contact efforts, in addition to Building A Better Ohio, the state organization dedicated to stopping repeal.
“I’m bad at predictions, so I won’t make any,” Steinhauser said. “But I’m certainly proud of our efforts.”
Steinhauser said many of the voters FreedomWorks are targeting are located in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus, along with some of the more rural areas. Conservatives are targeting places like Miami County, a district outside of Dayton as a way to boost support for keeping the new law.
He also said that FreedomWorks and other conservative groups are being vastly outspent in the state by the repeal forces. But union officials strongly dispute that notion, and say that while they have been transparent in disclosing their spending to the Ohio Secretary of State, their opposition has not.
“We wish that the conservative movement was committed to disclosure. But we have no cause to trust any of these groups,” said Jeff Hauser, a spokesman with the national office of the AFL-CIO.
