Eric Terford for Ohio House 2nd District

A machinist by trade, Eric Terford is running for Ohio House District 2, championing lower taxes, government accountability, and individual liberty.

Eric pledges to reduce the tax burden on families and businesses, fostering economic growth. Terford advocates for increased transparency in government operations, ensuring officials are held accountable for their actions.

He also emphasizes the importance of protecting personal freedoms, opposing regulations that infringe on individual rights. Terford’s platform aims to create a more efficient, responsible government that respects the autonomy of its citizens, striving for policies that enhance prosperity and safeguard liberties for all Ohioans.

Franklin County Republicans in death spiral, abandoned local and county elections

Over the past 10 years it has become obvious that the Republican Party has abandoned the dense urban centers of most Ohio cities and suburbs.

Retreating to the safety of their easy wins at the state level, and the occasional local family dynasty, the red team has abdicated all interest and effort in even token attempts to run candidates in Franklin County. (Of course, the red team is still happy to take your money! It just won’t find it’s way into helping any candidate or issue in your neighborhood.)

After spending the same decade working tirelessly to eliminate any possible competition in the form of alternative political parties, (through lawfare, intimidation and fraud), this has left voters in our area with a large and growing slate of unopposed elections, where blue team candidates file paperwork and walk into elected office without winning an election.

This has left the Franklin County red team with a dwindling, defeatist and disenfranchised volunteer and voter base, thoroughly convinced in their permanent loss of representation at the local level. This is also leading to a loss of county and local political influence.

In contrast, the Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio has spent the last 10 years working to recruit and train candidates, fundraise and support issues, and generally work to support orphaned candidates and voters, (helping independents, and even blue and red team candidates when it made sense).

We did that work while fighting off constant attacks on our political credibility while only benefiting from ballot access half the time, and pushing through odious and burdensome petitioning requirements the other half. 

How did Franklin County get to this point, with a dominating and lazy blue team, and an equally lazy, but vanishingly relevant red team?

Franklin County is an economic hub, home to Columbus, numerous smaller cities, boasting a diverse economy in finance, education, healthcare, and tech. Its central location, strong infrastructure, and vibrant workforce drive growth, attracting talent and investment, making it vital to Ohio’s prosperity.

With all this going for it, you’d think a major political party would be fighting for every precinct tooth and nail.

You would be wrong, and it wouldn’t be just the last ten years that that impression would be incorrect. 

In the distant past, when smoke filled rooms were legal, and the common way to manage politics, the red and blue teams in Franklin County struck a deal, a détente, if you will, to stay out of each other’s way. At the state level the red and blue teams took cyclical turns running the state-wide offices of governor, secretary of state and rarely commanded more than slim margins in the state house or senate.

This made such an agreement more palatable for both sides, and elected roles in Franklin County were divided up based on who most often won, leading to many unopposed elections for both teams, and candidates with very little real support when some did go “rouge”. Elected roles like Mayor of Columbus, Columbus City Council, County Commissioners and urban State Representatives were firmly blue team, while County Prosecutor, County Engineer, County Treasurer and more rural State Senators were firmly red team.

Over time the district lines shifted, but the agreement was held for the most part and political power in central Ohio leaned blue or red without much real variance.

Then something unexpected happened.

A Green Party member filed to run for County Prosecutor, a race the county blue team had largely ignored, and rarely fielded a candidate to oppose. This candidate was brash and full of energy, a real firebrand and was talking about real reform and actual political action.

Of course, the blue team could not allow any such challenge to the status quo. (Let alone a Green!)

So, they found a paper candidate on short notice to file, and with all the influence and endorsement of the blue county machine, the paper candidate sailed through the primary unopposed and found some enthusiasm among their voters.

And then the unthinkable happened.

The blue team candidate almost won the general election.

When the dust settled, the blue team tallied their numbers and realized something profound.

The demographics for central Ohio had shifted. There was no longer a reliable swing back and forth between so-called “liberal” and “conservative” voters. Columbus voters in particular seemed to have shifted firmly “liberal”.

This new understanding led the county blue team machine to ramp up recruiting, fundraising and undertake the effort of running a candidate for every race they could.

Meanwhile, the red team slumbered, even as several of their choice elected roles were competed right out from under them several times in a row. However, instead of fighting back with grass roots ground game and pouring effort and energy into revitalizing their sleepy base, they continued to demand the blue team honor the now defunct back-room agreements, and shifted strategy to controlling state level district lines.

The ”redistricting strategy” has kept the red team with a healthy margin of control of the State House and Senate, and the wide-spread, and numerous, rural voter base continues to fall for the faux conservative act for state-wide red candidates. 

However, while the population of the State of Ohio is not growing (in fact, shrinking), urban and suburban central Ohio is gaining residents, both from other cities and from rural areas. 

Red team’s control of the state-level government may be short-lived as local and county-level influence wanes. As demographic shifts and urbanization increase, their traditional rural base diminishes. This disconnect from local issues will erode voter support, leading to significant challenges in maintaining statewide power in future elections.

While at the highest level it looks like the Republican Party of Ohio is in control politically, the reality we are seeing is local and county GOP death spiral.

Ohio is moving more and more purple, and the fake “conservatives” that made their bread and butter over pretending to care about small govt, low taxes and individual liberties days are numbered.

Franklin County Libertarians offer choice on the ballot, not a fake choice between voting and not voting, but real choice with candidates who listen, live and work in our communities, shop in the same stores and experience the same concerns and share values with neighbors. 

We are not asleep, we are not going away, we are putting in the work, and we will represent all residents in Franklin County.

We are not red or blue.

We are not “liberal” or “conservative”. 

We are Libertarians.

We stand for individual freedom, limited government, free markets, and personal responsibility.

Volunteer, donate and get involved.

Easing ballot access is superior to fighting over district lines.

Easing ballot access restrictions for competing political parties provides a more equitable and representative democratic process compared to redrawing or redistricting election district lines around current political party affiliations.

1. Promotes Fair Competition:

  • Eliminating ballot access restrictions allows more parties and candidates to participate in elections, offering voters a broader range of choices. This diversity can lead to more competitive elections, as candidates and parties must better represent constituents’ interests to win votes.
  • Unlike redistricting, which can be manipulated to favor certain parties (gerrymandering), removing ballot restrictions levels the playing field, ensuring that all parties have an equal opportunity to compete.

2. Enhances Voter Representation:

  • When more political parties have access to the ballot, it better reflects the varied political opinions within the electorate. This inclusivity ensures that minority views are represented, leading to more comprehensive and balanced policy discussions.
  • Redistricting based on current political affiliations can entrench existing power structures, often marginalizing minority viewpoints and reducing the overall representativeness of elected bodies.

3. Reduces Partisan Manipulation:

  • Ballot access reform focuses on the procedural fairness of elections, minimizing the influence of partisan interests. It addresses structural barriers such as high signature requirements or restrictive filing deadlines that often keep new or smaller parties off the ballot.
  • Redistricting, particularly when controlled by partisan legislatures, can result in gerrymandering, where district lines are drawn to ensure a particular party’s dominance, undermining the principle of fair representation.

4. Encourages Political Innovation:

  • With easier access to the ballot, new political parties can introduce fresh ideas and perspectives, fostering political innovation. This can lead to more dynamic and responsive governance, as established parties must adapt to new challenges and perspectives.
  • Redistricting does not inherently encourage new ideas; instead, it can reinforce the status quo by protecting incumbents and established parties from significant competition.

5. Strengthens Democratic Legitimacy:

  • A democracy that allows multiple parties to participate freely in elections enhances its legitimacy. Voters are more likely to feel that the electoral process is fair and that their voices can be heard.
  • Redistricting based on current political affiliations can lead to cynicism and distrust in the democratic process, as it often appears to serve the interests of those in power rather than the electorate.

By reducing ballot access restrictions, the democratic process becomes more inclusive, competitive, and representative, ensuring that all voices can participate and be heard, thereby strengthening the overall health and legitimacy of the representative democracy.

CanISign.org: Franklin County Libertarian Candidates have new tool to verify voter eligibility for petitioning!

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new candidate petitioning tool:

 CanISign.org

This is a voter validation tool using up-to-date voter records from the Ohio Secretary of State website.

Candidates and voters can easily verify if a voter record is eligible to sign the minor part candidate petition.

All they need is last name, street name the county from the pull down, the online tool check the database, brings back a list of possible matches and lets you pick the right one. 

This is checking all primaries in the voter record back to 2022, so even if someone forgets, we can be certain.

The tool is up-to-date with full voter data for all 88 Ohio counties, and can be found at CanISign.org and CanISign.com.

This will tremendously simplify the odious petitioning process.

Please feel free to share this resources with anyone who needs to confirm unaffiliated and independent votes.

Check if you can sign the Minor Party Nominating Petitions!

The Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed to regain ballot access and that gives our candidates until July 18th to collect valid voter signatures to qualify for this upcoming November Election!

If you have not voted in a partisan primary in the last 2 years, qualifying you as an unaffiliated voter, you can sign Libertarian candidate petitions and get them on the ballot!

Ohio state-wide and local Libertarian candidates need your help!

Check and see if you can sign the Ohio Minor Party Candidate Nominating Petition!

Franklin County Libertarian Candidates,

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new candidate petitioning tool:

 CanISign.org

This is a voter validation tool using up-to-date voter records from the Ohio Secretary of State website.

Candidates and voters can easily verify if a voter record is eligible to sign the minor party candidate nominating petition.

All they need is last name, street name, the county from the pull down, the online tool check the public voter records, brings back a list of possible matches and lets you pick the right one. 

This is checking all primaries in the voter record back to 2022, so even if someone forgets, we can be certain.

The tool is up-to-date with full voter data for all 88 Ohio counties, and can be found at CanISign.org and CanISign.com.

This will tremendously simplify the odious petitioning process.

Please feel free to share this resources with anyone who needs to confirm unaffiliated and independent votes.

We are ordering more copies of Judge Grey’s magnificent book for local candidates, and there is a kindle version if you need it sooner.

https://a.co/d/0H3T3rT

FTA/ More of a “must-do” book than a “how-to” book, How to Win a Local Election guides readers through the campaign process detailing what they need to accomplish along the way in order to be victorious. Here you will find information on planning and organizing a campaign; how to run as an independent candidate; the various roles of people in your compaign; campaign procedures and techniques; and how to use computers, the internet, and emails to both manipulate and disseminate data. The book also offers useful advice on issues from financial reporting to developing a campaign theme and strategy, how to win “one precinct at a time,” and even offers tips on such fundamental tasks as the creation and placement of yardsigns and billboards. /

Signatures Needed for Candidate Petitions!

The Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed to regain ballot access and that gives our candidates until July 18th to collect valid voter signatures to qualify for this upcoming November Election!

If you have not voted in a partisan primary in the last 2 years, qualifying you as an unaffiliated voter, you can sign Libertarian candidate petitions and get them on the ballot!

County party members and candidates will be at Pins Mechanical at Easton Town Center Thursday, July 11th at 6:30pm.
Drop by, sign petitions and celebrate our return to the ballot!

We will have state-wide, county and state representative candidate petitions to sign. If you are not sure of your district, we can look it up!

Thursday, July 11th @ 6:30pm – 9pm

Pins Mechanical Co
4117 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219

Directions