- Economic justice activist Morgan Harper is mounting a progressive primary challenge to Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty in Ohio’s 3rd congressional district.
- This safely Democratic district encompasses almost all of the Columbus metro area in Central Ohio.
- Ohio will start reporting results from its almost all-mail primary at 7:30 p.m. ET. Follow along here for live results.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Results from the Ohio primary will start being released at 7:30 p.m. ET. Follow along here for live results.
Who are the candidates?
Consumer protection lawyer and economic justice activist Morgan Harper is mounting a nationally-watched primary challenge to four-term congresswoman Rep. Joyce Beatty in Ohio’s 3rd district, a safe Democratic seat which includes almost all of the Columbus metro area in Central Ohio.
Harper, who is running a grassroots campaign focused on ensuring economic security and better opportunities for marginalized communities, has argued that Beatty and other Democratic incumbents are too closely tied to big corporate interests, and haven’t done enough to help working people in the districts they represent.
“I’m not unique in running this type of primary challenge,” Harper told Elle magazine in February. “There’s hundreds of people running these types of races all over the country…more participation is better, from my perspective. And if you’re doing your job, you have nothing to worry about. But where I’m coming from is, we see unmet needs in our communities. I think that we just have to normalize this type of race.”
But as Politico reported on Tuesday, the powerful Congressional Black Caucus, of which Beatty is a member, is mounting an aggressive defense to protect Beatty and other incumbents from grassroots primary challengers.
“What is that all about? Is it attacking us?” Beatty told the outlet of Harper’s primary challenge. “Well, let me make the message strong and clear: When you attack a hard-working member of the Congressional Black Caucus, we fight back. We are the conscience of the caucus, and we represent people.”
So far, progressive challengers have had a mixed record in defeating Democratic House incumbents this year.
In Illinois’ solidly blue 3rd congressional district outside of Chicago, Marie Newman succeeded in her second attempt to beat Rep. Dan Lipinski, one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, on March 17.
But in Texas’ 28th district near the US-Mexico border, progressive insurgent Jessica Cisneros failed to dispatch Rep. Henry Cuellar, the only other anti-abortion House Democrat besides Lipinski, on Super Tuesday.
In addition to the powerful institutional backing of the CBC, Beatty has been endorsed by the local Democratic Party in Franklin County, the District 1199 chapter of powerful Service Employees International Union, and Planned Parenthood Action, the latter of which endorsed both Cisneros and Newman.
Harper’s campaign has been endorsed by Justice Democrats, which focuses on electing progressive primary challengers in safe Democratic seats, the Working Families Party, and the Sunrise Movement.
Beatty also has a significant financial advantage over Harper. According to the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, Beatty has over $969,000 in cash-on-hand compared to just $68,000 for Harper.
Follow along with the results of the Democratic presidential primary and other races in Ohio here.
Ohio held its election almost entirely by mail due to the coronavirus
Ohio was originally set to hold in-person voting for its presidential and congressional primaries on March 17, along with Arizona, Illinois, and Florida.
But as confirmed cases of the virus in the state sharply increased, Gov. Mike DeWine made a last-minute effort to delay the election until June. But after being blocked by a judge, he and health commissioner Dr. Amy Acton declared a public health emergency to shut down polling places the day before the election.
The Ohio legislature then moved to extend mail-in voting for the primaries through April 28 as well as offering very limited options in-person options on Tuesday for voters with disabilities who need additional assistance.
Notably, the legislature did not authorize the Secretary of State’s office to mail every voter an absentee ballot, or even an absentee request form. Instead, the office sent postcards to every voter outlining the procedures by which they can vote, requiring people to either print out a form from the website, or call a local election office to get a request form sent to them.
The circumstances surrounding the election have led to considerably low voter turnout. According to April 27 figures released by the Secretary of State’s office, 1.97 million, or 26%, of Ohio’s 7.7 million registered voters requested absentee ballots, with a little over 1.45 million voters returning their ballots by Monday.
In an interview with The Intercept, Harper denounced the complicated procedures required to even get a ballot request, in addition to requiring voters to pay for the postage on the request form, as a modern-day poll tax.
“It’s going to be a barrier for people always but particularly during a global health pandemic,” she said of the election. “We’re advising people to not really leave their homes.”
Her campaign also took the step of personally delivering ballot request forms to thousands of voters in the district.
—Morgan Harper (@mh4oh) April 25, 2020
While Biden is virtually assured to win the state’s presidential primary, election officials will still accept ballots received through May 8 as long as they are postmarked by April 27, meaning some closer races may not be decided until then.
