With 13 weeks to Election Day, Ohio special is big focus today Source: Cox Media Group

As voters go to the polls on this Tuesday for Congressional primaries in four states, the main story line tonight will be a special election for a U.S. House seat in the state of Ohio, as Republicans struggle to hold on to a seat which has been easily in the GOP column for years, as a defeat will be seen as a clear rebuke of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party writ large in a key mid-term election year. "He's really tough.

Candidates make final push in tight Ohio US House race

In this April 24, 2012, file photo, Ohio state Sen. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville, asks a question about permit fees for owning exotic animals during an Ohio Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee hearing in Columbus, Ohio. Balderson and Danny O'Connor, a Democrat serving as recorder of Franklin County, Ohio, are running in a special congressional election on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018, to determine who will fill out the final months of the term of former U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Republican who retired in January 2018, before both candidates face off again for the retired lawmaker's seat in the Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, general election.

Capitol Insider: ‘Voter shaming’ hits special election for Ohio congressional seat

Shortly before the 2016 New Hampshire primary, a group backing John Kasich for president mailed controversial campaign fliers to Granite State voters bearing the ominous message "What if your friends, your neighbors, and your community knew whether you voted?" While the Kasich team's role in the "voter shaming" effort was not revealed until well after the primary, the mailers caused an immediate stir in New Hampshire and raised claims of voter intimidation and privacy violations. Last week, many voters in Ohio's 12th Congressional District received similar mailers from the Republican National Committee on behalf of state Sen. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville, ahead of next week's special election.

Ohio’s drug overdose crisis goes from bad to worse

That's up 24 percent over the 3,310 drug deaths the previous year, according to a report released Thursday by the federal government, and slightly higher than the 4,149 reported by The Dispatch last spring based on data compiled from county coroners. Despite increased government spending, Ohio's rate of drug-overdose deaths, 39.1 per 100,000 people, trailed only West Virginia's 52 per 100,000 population.

Competitive Ohio House race in Franklin County pits attorney, retired teacher

After months of presidential campaign fights over failing to release tax returns or deleting 33,000 emails, voters in the 23rd Ohio House District might find it refreshing to hear their legislative choices talk of access and transparency. When a potential voter answers the door, Democrat Lee Schreiner talks about his experience in education, and concludes with a message not typically heard from someone running for office.