To list the advantages Rep. Steve Stivers has in his re-election bid for Ohio's 15th congressional district, you might need to take a breath.
Stivers, a Republican, is a five-term incumbent seeking his sixth election to the House. He's held elected office since his appointment to the Ohio Senate in 2003. He has comfortably won each election since 2010 by at least 13% of the vote. His party holds a registration advantage in 10 of the district's 12 counties. He has out-fundraised his closest challenger this year by a margin of 43-to-1.
The one he doesn't have, according to Democratic nominee Joel Newby, is spending his early life within the current 15th congressional district lines — something Newby leans on heavily in his first-time campaign for Congress.
"I was raised in Pickaway County, educated in Athens County, I work in Franklin County," said Newby, a private practice lawyer in Columbus. "These are my people; I'm from them. They have given me all the opportunities I've ever asked for."
That difference is not intimidating to Stivers, who was born along the Ohio River outside Cincinnati and now resides in Upper Arlington.
"I have a background in the private sector at Bank One and The Ohio Company; I've been a military officer and in the military for 35 years. I'm currently a brigadier general in the Ohio National Guard," Stivers said. "I've been in Congress now for almost ten years, so I know how to get things done."
Stivers, who said he's worked on 21 bills signed into law, claims he's made a difference for veterans, child safety, fighting homelessness and taking care of those who need help and can't help themselves.
Newby, on the other hand, counts only five bills the incumbent has sponsored all the way from the draft desk to the President's desk.
"Some of those are just re-naming post offices," Newby claims. "He's not sponsoring those bills, he's not even sitting on a committee that could help out with our situations."
The third candidate in the race, Shane Hoffman, is running a write-in campaign with the American Solidarity Party and said he's voted for Stivers in the past.
"I am looking at new ideas," Hoffman said. "One of the problems with our current economic system is that it reduces people to a variable in an economic equation. It kind of takes their humanity out of it."
Hoffman said as his platform is to "re-moralize and re-localize" the economy, in order to "re-capitalize the middle class" by promoting businesses that spread wealth, rather than concentrating it within a corporate structure.
RURAL BROADBAND INTERNET
All three candidates place a high priority on rural broadband access. Newby, who was raised in Atlanta, Ohio inside Pickaway County, said his old neighborhood still has no internet.
"The big thing that needs to happen is a bill that's kind of like what we did with highway infrastructure — a big, federal fundraising bill where we're able to put lines in so we can have access to broadband," Newby said of his goal. "What is (Stivers') influence actually buying us? Nothing."
Newby was referring to Stivers' previous comments that things like rural broadband don't always require legislation.
"I just use my influence," Stivers said. "The Fairfield County engineer was willing to change the rules; it used to be that (internet) fiber had to be buried eight feet deep like an electric line, but there's no reason to bury fiber eight feet deep...the engineer agreed to bury fiber only three feet deep, and (a) company was able to get some broadband to folks in Amanda, Ohio that didn't have it before."
Stivers also said the FCC and USDA programs meant to administer rural broadband access are "broken." He endorses passing control of the utility to rural cooperatives, much like what occurred when such cooperatives brought electricity out into the country over the last century.
Hoffman points out that extending the "last mile" of broadband service to rural customers is not profitable, which either places a huge financial burden on the consumer or is a disincentive for the provider.
"There would be a lot more opportunity...if people could participate in the digital economy," Hoffman said, "Certain initiatives like Google Broadband could be expanded upon. These should be better partnerships where the government is helping move broadband out into the rural areas."
He believes the U.S. government could provide a "kick in the pants" to broadband providers and help encourage them to serve outlying customers.
COVID-19 RESPONSE
Stivers voted against the $3 trillion HEROES Act, which the Democrat-controlled House passed in springtime. At the time, he told the Associated Press that the bill should not have include extra elements like student loan forgiveness, and he wanted to let the previous CARES Act play out before committing to further spending.
Agreement on another boost for Americans during the pandemic has since eluded Democrats and Republicans, as both sides have variously ended negotiations at times.
"Speaker Pelosi has not been willing to really negotiate in good faith, and I was disappointed when the President pulled out of negotiations," Stivers said of the ongoing fight. "We shouldn't have to wait for an election to help people that are hurting."
Newby said Stivers should support another measure similar to the HEROES Act, which he would.
"Not only would it help with global infrastructure of getting a better vaccine, it would also help local and state governments help capitalize on their plan," Newby claimed. "I think it's quite the shame that Representative Stivers voted against the HEROES Act, because what he's really hurting is the police, the firefighters, the EMT's and the doctors."
Hoffman prefers a hands-off approach to handling the pandemic at the federal level.
"I think the states and the local governments should know fairly well what it is they need," Hoffman said. "The job of the federal government should be to help them (financially) meet the needs."
FIREARM CONTROL LAWS
The rural nature of the 15th district means its members are fiercely protective of their 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Hoffman said his party has no specific stance on gun control, but he feels it's worthwhile to expand background checks and close loopholes that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands.
Stivers and almost every Republican in the House voted against the Democrat-backed Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019, which would expand the time police have to complete their checks on gun buyers. The incumbent has previously said he favors fixing the system that exists, rather than expanding it.
"Our background check system...has no mental health information. It often times doesn't have federal crimes in it," Stivers said, pointing out that he urged the ATF to ban bump stocks for rifles. "I wasn't going to take a showboat vote on the background system and say we fixed it, when we didn't. That bill didn't do anything to get mental health information into the background check system."
Newby, who said he received his first gun as a gift at 8-years-old, pushes for more firearms education for new gun owners. He does support gun control legislation like the bill Stivers voted against, but said Democrats need to better communicate that such laws would not interfere with legal gun ownership.
"This is making sure that everybody can follow the same basic principles," Newby said. "Background checks, all that's helping out is, 'is this an appropriate person for me to give my gun to?' That's the principle I learned when I was little."
BIPARTISANSHIP AND CIVILITY
Stivers makes special mention that he is ranked the 11th-most bipartisan member of Congress by The Lugar Center, on a scale that places representatives like Tim Ryan and David Joyce near the top, while burying members like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jim Jordan at the bottom as the House's least-bipartisan members.
In addition, Stivers often touts the the Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus which he co-founded with neighboring Rep. Joyce Beatty, welcoming members of opposing parties to visit each other's districts and display a civil discourse both within and outside of Washington.
"I think it allows us to set an example. We now have 46 members that have signed up," Stivers said. "Our country is very divided right now, but I think it's important that we have elected leaders set an example that you can disagree, without being disagreeable."
Newby calls the caucus and the Lugar ratings, "all talk."
"He's not bipartisan enough, and it does matter. The issues that affect District 15 are not Republican and Democratic issues...it should be quite easy to get a bill done, but he doesn't," Newby said. "He's hyper-partisan. In 2018 he was the fundraising chair for Congressional Republicans. He cares more about the Republican Party than he does District 15."
Newby said his background as a Democrat who grew up in conservative, now heavily-Republican territory makes him naturally bipartisan.
"Sending me to Congress — somebody that grew up in Pickaway County, I have Republican connections. I get how to speak to Republicans and get what they want," he said.
Hoffman, who if elected would become a one-man party in the House, says he'd have no choice but to work with anyone who approached him.
"You evaluate the idea, and you look to see if you can support that...you've just got to dream sometimes. The most worthwhile things take the longest," Hoffman said. "You evaluate the idea on its merit, and work with the people aligned with that. You don't just turn an idea down because it comes from a Democrat or a Republican."