Rotunda rumble

One mille: More than a million absentee ballots have been requested and more than 551,000 have voted so far, Jake Zuckerman reports. The ballot papers submitted so far tend to come from older voters who do not belong to a political party. But Republicans have generally been more involved in early voting than Democrats so far.

Election denier: After repeatedly refusing to say whether he believes former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance of Ohio took the plunge into election denial on Wednesday by telling a crowd in Pennsylvania that He doesn't think Trump has lost Sabrina Eaton reports. “Did Donald Trump lose the election? Not in the words I would use,” Vance said in response to a reporter’s question at a campaign appearance in Williamsport.

Lot of money: The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Cleveland nearly $59.7 million to help transform the Ohio 2 Shoreway around Cleveland Browns Stadium into a “pedestrian-friendly boulevard,” writes Courtney Astolfi. Mayor Justin Bibb called the award Wednesday a “critical step” in making Cleveland a more connected and accessible city. The money comes from the bipartisan 2021 infrastructure bill.

More money: A northeast Ohio city where toxic chemicals spilled in a train derailment last year will receive nearly $16 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build a new public safety complex, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown announced Thursday, Eaton writes . Brown, a Cleveland Democrat who is in a tough re-election battle with Republican businessman Bernie Marino, said the East Palestine derailment on Feb. 3, 2023, highlighted the community's urgent need for modernized public safety infrastructure.

Cheers to success: Recreational marijuana sales totaled $11.1 million for the week ending Saturday, bringing the total since cannabis sales began to $109.5 million. Combined with medical marijuana sales that began in January 2019, total marijuana sales in Ohio are now over $2 billion. Prices per ounce continue to fall, Laura Hancock reports.

I drink to this: Communities across Ohio will vote on local options, deciding whether certain businesses can sell a certain type of alcohol in a certain location, whether they can have regular sales or whether they can sell alcohol on Sundays, Molly Walsh reports. Local elections give voters a say in what types of alcohol are sold, including where, when and how. The state has a new guide explaining why Ohioans are voting on the measures.

Extra, extra — Vance opened his campaign appearance Wednesday in Wilmington, North Carolina, by revealing that he had appeared as an extra on a TV show filmed there while stationed at a North Carolina Marine Corps base. “One day they came and said, 'Okay, we'll give you something to eat and we'll pay you $300 to work as an extra in One Tree Hill.' So that was my encounter with Wilmington. “It’s good to be back and it’s good to be back as your vice presidential candidate,” Vance told the crowd.

With friends like these: One of Vance's top political advisers, Aaron Kofsky, has posted extensively on Reddit for years about the use of various drugs, including cocaine and opiates, under the username PsychoticMammal, Wired reports. In the posts, written just three months ago, Kofsky wrote about withdrawal and trying to “kick” tianeptine – also known as “gas station heroin” – and kratom. advised other users about transporting drugs on domestic flights; and called Vance “a Trump bootlicker.” According to his LinkedIn profile, Kofsky, who is in his late 20s, has been advising Vance on financial matters since May and has worked in Vance's Senate office since March of last year.

Interested in a promotion? According to Punchbowl News, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Champaign County and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, appears to be positioning himself for another run with leading Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. He dramatically increased his donation to the National Republican Congressional Committee by transferring $2.5 million. Buckeye Liberty PAC has raised nearly five times as much this election cycle as it did last year and has spent 10 times as much money as it did in 2022. Jordan is also showing up in districts to campaign for Republican incumbents and candidates, even if he is not asked to do so.

Buckeye brain tease

Ask: A disease that strikes cruise ship passengers takes its name from this Ohio county seat. What is that?

Email your response to[email protected]. The first real respondent will be mentioned in next week's newsletter.

Thank you to everyone who answered last week's trivia question: The first chapter of the March of Dimes was founded in May 1939 in this Ohio city.

Answer from last week: Coshocton. The March of Dimes was founded in 1938 by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and served to combat polio. Today, however, the nonprofit focuses on reducing child mortality and preventing birth defects.

Rob Kirchstein, a Capitol Letter reader from Plain Township in Stark County, was the first to give the correct answer.

Tick ​​tock

The 2024 election is just around the corner and Ohioans will help decide who will run for president, control of the U.S. Senate, how the state will determine the state's legislative and congressional lines, and many other election races . Here are some important dates in the election countdown:

Deadline for requesting a postal vote… 11 days (October 29)

Last day of early voting… 16 days (November 3rd)

Last day to postmark a mail-in ballot... 17 days (November 4th)

election day… 18 days (Nov. 5)

Be sure to check out our Ohio guide to the November 2024 elections

On the way

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute honored Ohio Governor Jon Husted with the 2024 Champion for Charter Schools Award. Husted was recognized for standing up for a $3,000 award per student for low-income students attending high-quality charter schools.

Birthdays

Friday, October 18th: Susan Waidner Humphrey, Fundraising Consultant, Precision88

Saturday, October 19th: State Representative Thad Claggett; State Representative Riordan McClain

Sunday, October 20th: Jett Facemyer, director of government relations, Intralot; Cole Weidman, legislative aide to state Rep. Richard Dell'Aquila

Straight from the source

“This was a day of love from the perspective of millions, it's like hundreds of thousands, it could have been the largest group I've ever spoken to before. They asked me to speak, I went and spoke. And I used the term peaceful and patriotic.”

— Former President Donald Trump speaks about the Jan. 6 riots at Univision's town hall on Wednesday.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing that provides concise, timely information for those who care about state government decisions. Subscribe to receive the Capitol Letter free in your email inbox every weekday.