Lincoln Day Dinner highlighted by Obhof’s call to action
Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, was a featured speaker at the annual Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner at Carlisle Village Inn on Monday, Feb. 11.
Members of the Holmes County Republican Party united Monday, Feb. 11 for the party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner celebration at Carlisle Village Inn in Walnut Creek.
In addition to honoring a number of area party members, state senators and representatives, there also were cautionary words that there is plenty of work to do for the party.
Holmes County Treasurer Leslee Mast welcomed the crowd, followed by the annual dinner. Following a brief time of introductions, the podium was opened to several key state and national Republican members including keynoter speaker Ohio State Supreme Court Judge Sharon Kennedy, who delved into Abraham Lincoln’s life before sharing the importance of all judges showing judicial restraint in their efforts to uphold the law.
Featured speaker Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, spoke about how his group is working hard to instill rights for unborn children. Gonidakis served in law before he became Ohio’s senior deputy attorney general under Mike Petro.
Gonidakis said in the past eight years under Gov. John Kasich, Ohio passed 21 pro-life laws, more than any other organization.
“The nation watches Ohio,” Gonidakis said. “We say at Ohio Right to Life we always elect men and women to be fiscally and socially conservative and identify ways to help people, both born and unborn. Under Gov. Kasich’s leadership we have gone from 16 abortion clinics in Ohio down to seven. Now seven is still too many, so we still have a lot of work to do.”
The party also honored several of their own members from Holmes County, singling out members who have been credited with doing outstanding work for their party and in their work to serve.
Holmes County Republican Party Vice President Joe Varga honored Holmes County Judge Andrew Hyde. Matt Johnson, party treasurer, honored Matt Schneider, who was absent and of whom Johnson said, “He is a true embodiment of the Republican ideals.”
Anita Hall, Holmes County recorder, then honored Al Landis for his service as an Ohio state representative from 2011-18, and he is now serving as a Tuscarawas County commissioner after reaching his term limit. “We appreciate very much the service you’ve given to us in Holmes County as a member of the State House of Representatives,” Hall said.
Party President Rob Hovis went over the state of the party, sharing information on the Republican Party’s standing in Ohio.
Currently in the national realm, Republicans hold 198 seats in the U.S. House while there are 235 Democrats holding seats. The U.S. Senate currently has 53 seats out of 100 while the Democrats currently reside in 45 seats with two Independents. Republicans currently assume 27 country governorships while Democrats maintain 23 seats in office.
In Ohio, Republicans outweigh Democrats 12 to four in the U.S. House of Representatives with the Republicans holding all six of the executive offices. The State Senate has 24 of the 33 seats belonging to Republicans including Representatives Jay Hottinger and Larry Obhof, both of whom were in attendance and spoke.
“It was great watching results come in on election night. And what’s not to love about Holmes County when you’re getting 80-85 percent of the precincts here?” Hottinger said. “That’s important because it makes up for the 12 percent that I get from Denison University and the 30 percent I get from Granville, Ohio.”
Obhof is the current majority whip, and his leadership team has been focusing on a number of new legislations that the party believes will benefit all people in Ohio.
“You are going to see us coming out of the gate strong, and we will hit the ground running,” Obhof said. “It is going to be conservative, and it is going to be transformative. We are going to recommend cutting the overall number of regulations across the state of Ohio by 30 percent of three years and institute the one in, two out rule President Trump implemented at the federal level.”
Obhof said that means for every new regulation a state senator proposes, they must also propose two repeals of old regulations that have outlived their usefulness. Obhof said by doing that, the state will limit the government’s ability to regulate the people of Ohio and stop government from putting additional burdens on its businesses.
He went on to state that a number of the new proposals are designed to protect and preserve Ohio’s waterways, Lake Erie in particular, and there will be major criminal justice reforms including the First Step Act, which also was introduced by President Trump.
“It’s time for the state to take the second step in that direction,” Obhof said of the First Step Act. “That will help in the future guard against terrible issues like Issue One that was on the ballot last year.”
Other proposals will be designed to protect the victims of human trafficking, legislation will be proposed to expend around $100 million more on construction of new school facilities, and increased penalties will be proposed for politicians who commit theft in office and other ethic-related offenses.
“From top to bottom we are going to move the state in a more conservative, more pro-growth direction that reflects the values of the people we represent,” Obhof said.
However, the bill that drew the most applause from those in attendance was the Heartbeat Bill, a proposal that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.
“We look forward to coming back next year to talk about how we have made good on all of our promises,” Obhof said.