For suburban Democrats, slim pickings on the ballot

It's like the electoral version of "Where's Waldo?"

But in much of Greater Cincinnati, the question is: "Where are the Democrats?"

The answer: not running for political office.

There are 27 partisan countywide positions in Butler, Clermont and Warren counties. Of those 27, Democrats are only running for three of them. So voters looking for choices in crucial roles such as sheriff, prosecutor and county commissioner will largely be left without any.

In Clermont County, there are no Democratic candidates for any partisan countywide positions. There hasn't been a Democrat in elected office there since 1984.

In Warren County, there hasn't been an elected Democrat in such a role since 1976. In Butler County, it's been since 2000.

So while the approaching presidential election has been divisive and, at times, nasty, this is not a new phenomenon. And it means Republicans in each county have long been making decisions on everything from trash disposal to run their jail and spend taxpayer money without direct opposition.

Ask David Pepper, chairman of Ohio's Democratic Party, about the lack of suburban Democratic choices and he quickly changes the subject.

"There is a huge amount of opportunity in the presidential election. Those counties (Butler, Clermont and Warren) are among those where we think Trump might be losing Republican votes he might usually get," said Pepper. "If you don’t win those counties by an overwhelming number, you basically can't win Ohio."

"So I think in those counties, unlike the usual election, there is real opportunity to make inroads that have national consequence."

Since taking control of the party, Pepper has talked openly about the need to build a deeper bench of worthy candidates across Ohio. This led to the Main Street Initiative, launched in 2015, which offers training and fundraising support to mayoral candidates and others in local races.

But you wouldn't know it by looking at Butler County, where the Democratic candidate for sheriff, says most people won't run because "you're putting yourself up for the slaughter." In Warren County, the Democratic candidate for commissioner can't buy radio ads the day before the election because they cost $400.

"This is not something you solve overnight," Pepper said.

'He's black. It's tough'

Warren County Democratic Party Chairwoman Bethe Goldenfield likes Charles Sanders a lot. He's a charismatic campaigner with political experience as a mayor and congressional candidate. But he's more than just a Democratic candidate for county commissioner.

"He's black," said Goldenfield. "It's tough."

Sanders likes to tell the story like this. It's a question he often got after he became Waynesville's mayor.

"Did you get the black vote?" someone would ask.

"I sure did," he would say. "Me and my wife."

They were the only two black adults of voting age in the Warren County village of about 2,500.

But in 2000, Sanders accused Waynesville police of racial profiling. In a recall election, he was voted out of office. Nevertheless, he says it's exciting to be a Democrat in heavily Republican territory.

The other Democratic candidate in Warren County is Michael Kassalen, running for county recorder.

He lives in Texas.

Kassalen started a job with the Federal Emergency Management Agency about a year ago. In April, FEMA sent him to Texas to help rebuild communities after natural disasters.

"I haven’t really done much at all," Kassalen said, when asked about campaigning. "I have a website."

Dale Richter doesn't. And the large campaign sign in front of his family farm in Trenton is torn in more than one place.

Richter has run for Butler County sheriff every four years since 2004. This time, the retired Springboro police officer is not paying for radio ads or passing out campaign signs.

"There's a saturation point when you're a Democrat here. You can only get so many votes," said Richter. "It's not cost effective. At some point, you're throwing money away."

Richter calls it the "R" factor. And it frustrates him to no end. In 2012, he ran as an Independent. He lost then too.

"It's a one-party system in this county," Richter said.

To say Ray Warrick doesn't like Democrats would be an understatement. But the lack of Democratic opposition in the election still doesn't sit well with him.

That's because the former Warren County GOP chairman recognizes the problems a one-party system can cause. He's lived it. Warrick led an uprising of sorts when he and other frustrated tea party members took control of the Republican Party in 2014.

Earlier this year, Warrick chose not to run for party chairman again because he knew he didn't have enough support. So the plight of a Democrat in Warren County is also his, Warrick said, because without opposition county leaders don't have to listen to anyone.

"I think it is a huge problem," he said. "Our ability as citizens to have an impact on their thinking or actions is very low because there really are no alternatives."

'We don't talk politics much anymore'

Sharon Campbell has a stockpile of political signs at her home in Clearcreek Township.

She's lived here since 1992. In heavily Republican Warren County, she's learned her signs sometimes get stolen. Campbell and her husband, Ben, have put signs in their yard since Bill Clinton ran for president.

Not this year.

Not after someone took their Hillary Clinton campaign sign and drove circles through the front yard.

"We don't talk politics much anymore," said Ben Campbell.

Elsewhere in the county, someone shot an air rifle at the Democratic Party's headquarters in Lebanon, cracking one of the windows.

It's not funny, but Party Chairwoman Goldenfield cracks a smile anyway. It's a running joke for Democrats here.

Add it to the list, she says. (The list includes a truckload of manure dumped in front of headquarters.)

Of course, these things happen to Republicans too. In North Carolina, someone firebombed the Orange County GOP headquarters. Trump supporters in Greater Cincinnati have seen plenty of their signs go missing.  

The Campbells are quick to point out a Trump-supporting neighbor was the first person to help them clean their yard. They say they aren't embarrassed or ashamed to be a Democrat here, they just don't want to incite more problems by putting their signs back up.

'They were afraid'

Paul Gomia got into politics in 2011. Why? Senate Bill 5, which would have limited collective bargaining for public employees in Ohio.

Gomia, now a regional chairman for the Butler County Democratic Party, went door-to-door collecting signatures to place a referendum on the bill on the ballot.

He remembers walking up to a house wearing a Democrat shirt, donkey buttons and a hat filled with more than 100 campaign pins. Some people would greet him, lean outside and look past him in both directions.

They were checking to see if their neighbors were watching.

"People thought they were so outnumbered," said Gomia. "They were afraid to come out because they thought it would affect their relationship at work and with their neighbors."

This is the reality that can make it exhausting work for Democrats in these parts. But that's exactly why Goldenfield and others do it.

"I don’t feel like I'm banging my head against the wall," Goldenfield said. "I feel like we're doing a community service."

The last time a Democrat held elected office in a partisan county-wide position:

• Butler County: County prosecutor in 2000. 
• Clermont County: County commissioner in 1984.
• Warren County: County commissioner in 1976.