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FitzGerald: Kasich bad for Mahoning Valley’s economic health
YOUNGSTOWN
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald spoke to supporters at a Mahoning County Democratic Party event Friday, criticizing the way Gov. John Kasich’s policies have affected residents of the Mahoning Valley.
“I don’t care whether they’re Democrat or Republican, I don’t care how far back you go — we have never had a governor of Ohio who has taken as much money out of the Mahoning Valley,” FitzGerald said.
FitzGerald criticized Kasich’s support for Ohio Senate Bill 5, support for charter schools, cuts to local government funds and tax policies.
“[Kasich] didn’t just cut money out of public education, he transferred it into for-profit charter schools that are some of the worst-performing schools in Ohio. That was wrong, and we’ve got to change it!” FitzGerald said, eliciting applause from the crowd.
After his speech, FitzGerald addressed questions about a recent Quinnipiac University poll that found that 65 percent of Ohio voters questioned did not know enough about him to form an opinion about him.
“I like where we’re at. We’re working very hard,” FitzGerald said, adding that he believes his campaign is on track.
FitzGerald also addressed questions about an incident from two years ago, which just recently surfaced in media reports, in which he was found by police at 4:30 a.m. with a woman in his car in a vacant parking lot.
He said he and the woman, a member of an Irish delegation, got separated from their group while driving back to a hotel and stopped to figure out directions.
FitzGerald said the digging up of this incident is merely a smear-campaign tactic by Kasich’s campaign team.
“This says ... John Kasich is very, very nervous about this election,” FitzGerald said. “We know exactly where this is coming from. It’s dirty politics. It’s sleazy politics.”