• Over the weekend, over a thousand people packed a venue in Columbus for a mock ‘town hall’ to denounce Republican members of Congress for not opposing actions by Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
• The event is part of a slew of protests and creative actions, like missing posters made for Ohio’s Senators, by central Ohio protesters since Trump took office.
• Residents say their lawmakers are difficult to reach. They struggle to get meetings even with their staff and receive form letter responses.
• Republican lawmakers say they are meeting with constituents.
• Senator Bernie Moreno accused protesters of being funded by dark money. Organizers refute this.

Over the weekend, more than a thousand people packed the Valley Dale Ballroom in Columbus for a rally hosted by Indivisible Central Ohio at which speakers derided their Republican members of Congress for not opposing cuts and other actions by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Organizers called the Saturday event a “town hall” and set empty chairs on stage for Ohio’s Republican senators, Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, who did not respond to organizers’ invitations to attend. Moreno was at the Tuscarawas County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday.

In protest, the group posed questions they would’ve asked the senators to ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence platform.

“The purpose of the event was to show how desperate people are to protect their country, their democracy and how desperate they are to see our elected representatives, our senators, feel the same kind of concern we do,” said one of the organizers, Clintonville resident Mia Lewis, 63. “We knew that it was a congressional recess and we figured hey, they’re here, part of their job is coming home periodically to talk to their constituents. Let’s invite them to something.”

Indivisible Central Ohio also invited Franklin County’s U.S. representatives, Republican Mike Carey and Democrat Joyce Beatty, who both told organizers they had prior commitments. Beatty provided a statement to be read at the event.

Saturday’s event mirrors so-called town halls held nationwide over the weekend and in recent weeks as many Americans express outrage at Trump’s actions and frustration with their members of Congress. This event was part of a slew of protests in central Ohio, including demonstrations at the Ohio Statehouse; weekly Wednesday demonstrations in front of the John W. Bricker Federal Building, Downtown, where Moreno has an office; and weekly Saturday demonstrations against Musk outside the Tesla dealership at Easton Town Center.

Trump’s net approval rating is nearly even, according to recent polls, with about half of Americans disapproving and half approving. For many who disapprove, they feel compelled to speak out.

The recent level of constituents reaching out to members of Congress and participating in political events is unusually high and shows a lot of concern, said Paul Beck, professor emeritus of political science at Ohio State University. 

“It takes a lot to motivate people to get out of their easy chair, particularly on a February or March day when it’s either snowing or cold outside,” Beck said.

Central Ohioans who have tried to reach their Republican lawmakers accuse them of being unresponsive to constituents. They say it’s difficult to get meetings even with staffers or they receive form letter responses that don’t address their concerns.

Indivisible Central Ohio and others have called on their members of Congress to host their own town halls and hear from constituents. Demonstrators have made missing posters to try to shame Moreno, Husted and Carey.

Husted and Carey’s offices say they are meeting with voters and attending public events. An aide for Husted said he is holding events open to Ohioans — in Washington, D.C. A spokesperson for Moreno accused Indivisible Central Ohio protesters of being funded by dark money. Organizers refute that.

Meryl Neiman, 58, a Bexley resident and organizer with Indivisible Central Ohio, said members of Congress should listen to their constituents, whether or not they voted for them.

“That’s your job — not to take abuse — but be willing to stand up and have the spine to explain why you’re doing what you’re doing or not doing,” Neiman said.

Republican leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, has recently encouraged Republican lawmakers to avoid town halls since anti-Trump protesters have started showing up.

Neiman would like to ask Ohio’s senators:

“I’d like to know what line in the sand the president might cross that would cause you to speak up and say something or even consider impeachment,” Neiman said. “For example, if the president openly defies a decision by the Supreme Court, at that point would you stand up and say something?”

In her statement read at Saturday’s event, Beatty said:

“I hear you. We hear you. Democrats hear you. So many of you have called my office, sent letters, emails, posted on social media, and more, pleading with us to act. We see it all, and we’re hard at work to protect your hard-earned freedoms and resources. Personally, like you, I am frustrated and even angry with this Trump/Musk administration.”

Congress members say they are holding events, meeting with voters

Jack Chambers, a spokesperson for Carey, said Carey spent the recess last week meeting with constituents, including at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission’s State of the Region event. He also pointed to meetings Carey had with the family of a World War II Aircraft gunner turning 100, the leadership of the Community Action Center of Fayette County, and the Messer Construction Company.

An aide for Husted told The Dispatch in an email that Husted has been part of 70 meetings with Ohioans and Ohio employers since being appointed senator in January and his staff has taken more than 140 meetings.

The aide wrote, “Sen. Husted is holding events that are public and open to all Ohioans, including one this morning. About 50 people attended his Husted Huddle on March 11.”

Asked where these open events are held, the aide said the huddles are held periodically in Washington.

Some residents have criticized Husted for not opening an office in Ohio yet. His aide said, “We are actively onboarding state staff and opening multiple offices across Ohio over the coming weeks.”

They added, “We’ve overcome technical challenges in the Senate voice mail system so that Ohioans can share their thoughts with the senator.”

Carey and Husted have frequently expressed support for Trump and Trump’s policies.

“Ohioans have made it clear they’re grateful to see Washington finally keeping its promise to stop the wasteful spending that fueled inflation and hurts Ohio families and workers,” the Husted aide said. “So far, we’ve seen this administration take steps to give taxpayers better federal services at lower costs — the opposite of the pattern they’ve seen from Washington for too long. If there are any unintended consequences of the administration’s work to save taxpayer money, we expect the president’s team will continue working to resolve them quickly.”

Moreno says protesters funded by dark money

Moreno’s office accused Indivisible Central Ohio of being funded by dark money in an emailed statement to The Dispatch.

“It’s no surprise that the same liberal billionaires who funded Sherrod Brown’s failing campaign are now propping up dark money groups like Indivisible to lie to Ohioans. Senator Moreno’s top priority is fighting every day for Ohioans of all stripes, no matter what lies radical leftists throw at him,” said Reagan McCarthy, a spokesperson for Moreno.

Moreno has previously accused protesters outside his office of being funded by dark money and on X earlier this month shared a screenshot from a conservative political website, The Washington Free Beacon. The screenshot of a headline said, “Activist with criminal record spearheads weekly Bernie Moreno protests,” referencing Neiman.

Neiman was arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing in 2018 for her involvement in a sit-in inside then-Sen. Rob Portman’s office during Trump’s first term. She was protesting family separation at the border.

“These people don’t have the courage to host a town hall but they take shots at constituents from behind social media,” Neiman said. “They’re constantly talking about our dark money funding, and I’m like, where is it?”

She said while the national Indivisible movement may have big donors, the local group doesn’t.

More protests planned

Mary Mynatt, 73, of Grove City, a leader with Indivisible Central Ohio who founded Progress Grove City, participated in two protests on Tuesday. She and others took a stack of postcards and pink slips written by constituents at the Saturday event to Carey’s office Tuesday afternoon at 140 E. Town St. Afterward, they demonstrated with signs outside Carey’s office.

On Tuesday, Mynatt, a Navy veteran, participated in a demonstration outside the Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic in Columbus to protest Trump’s cuts to veterans’ services.

The momentum against Trump’s administration is only building in central Ohio, organizers say.

“The frustration is high right now in the general population, among all kinds of people, not just Democrats,” Mynatt said. “Republicans, independents, everybody sees what’s happening.”

Meanwhile, counter-protests are starting to pop up in central Ohio. Americans for Prosperity-Ohio announced it is holding its own rally Wednesday afternoon outside Moreno’s downtown Columbus office at the same time as the weekly protest by Ohio Progressive Action Leaders Coalition. Americans for Prosperity is a Virginia-based political action committee supported by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.

In a release from Americans for Prosperity-Ohio, it said the rally comes as protesters flood Moreno’s phone lines with “disruptive tactics,” and that it will stand up for Moreno and “policies that promote prosperity and growth for all Ohioans.”

Government and Politics Reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has hired a company to help make changes to the dam at Palisades-Kepler State Park.

That dam at the park is called a low-head dam. These types of dams are particularly dangerous because of the reverse currents they create. These currents can trap people under the water and drown them.

The dam at Palisades-Kepler State Park was built in the 1930s to create an area for boating and fishing upstream.

Along with the risk of drowning, the dam is now falling apart. There’s a breach on one side, and steel girders are sticking out of the ground.

A company from Ohio, Stantec Consulting Services, will gather information and devise a plan to either remove the dam or transform it with a series of boulders called a ‘rock arch rapids.’

The first step in the project is to gather input from those who use the park regularly.

“The way that people use the park is really important to us. We do intend for this whole area to be a public amenity. Something that people really enjoy. Getting people’s thoughts on how they use it, what they like to be close to. Oftentimes that’s water, right? If there’s things we can do within the project to incorporate all those ideas, with the paramount one really being public safety, can we hit all of that at the same time,” said Nate Hoogeveen, director of river programs at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The project is estimated to cost between one million and 2 and a half million dollars.

It could take between a year and a half to 3 years for construction to begin at the dam. From there, construction itself could take up to a year.

”It would be reasonable to assume in a 1 and a half to 3 year time frame that we could be talking about equipment being in the channel and changing things around to something that looks a lot more aesthetically pleasing,” Hoogeveen said.

Public input will be collected for the project in either late May or early June .

One of the top priorities in this project is safety. But the DNR also wants to protect recreation and fish in the area.

Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.

Rotunda Rumblings

Sprucing up: The biggest state park in Ohio is getting a $9.6 million makeover, funded by leases for fracking underneath it. As Jake Zuckerman reports, the Ohio Controlling Board released the funds Monday for improvements at Salt Fork State Park, some of the first purchases from the new practice of allowing for oil and gas extraction in parks and wildlife areas.

College cash: Gov. Mike DeWine wants lawmakers to allocate $100 million to the state’s public colleges and universities based on graduates’ employment success. Laura Hancock reports that this amount is only about 5% of the state’s main funding stream to schools. Critics are concerned the proposal would be a beginning of undermining the liberal arts.

Dignity of Work: Former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown on Monday announced that he is launching a new non-partisan, non-profit organization to promote the “Dignity of Work” policies he pursued in Congress and touted on the campaign trail, Sabrina Eaton reports. Brown, who has not ruled out seeking public office again, says his new Columbus-based Dignity of Work Institute will be dedicated to the people who make the country work, to creating an economy and a society where Americans’ work is valued, and where everyone can afford a decent standard of living.

Details, please: State lawmakers, as promised, have drawn up a budget amendment spelling out how they would grant the Cleveland Browns’ request for $600 million in state-backed bonds to help build a new stadium in suburban Brook Park. Jeremy Pelzer has the details of the proposed amendment, which – among other things — would relax state limits on stadium funding to allow for the bonds but also require the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to conclude that new tax revenues from the stadium and surrounding area would exceed the cost of paying off the bonds.

Stand, by he: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has a book coming out. The 2026 Republican candidate for governor listed on Amazon (a $28 hardcover) his book, “Stand: An Ohio Life,” set to release May 6. In something of a troll, he quotes praise from his gubernatorial political rival, Vivek Ramaswamy on its cover: “Dave Yost fought against the woke and for the Constitution in court—and won.” A Ramaswamy spokesperson didn’t return an inquiry about the book blurb.

New phone who dis: Vice President JD Vance was part of a group chat of top presidential officials to discuss operational details of missile strikes in Yemen, including National Security Adviser Michael Waltz; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others. But in an apparent accident, Waltz added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, who reported on the contents of the chat in detail, including an apparent philosophical split between Vance and the president.

Goodwill visit? On Thursday, Second Lady Usha Vance will travel to Greenland with her son and a United States delegation to visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race, the office of Vice President JD Vance announced over the weekend. Greenland’s prime minister told local publications that the U.S. delegation visit is “highly aggressive,” plunging relations to a new low after President Donald Trump vowed to annex the autonomous Danish territory, CNN reports.

Art of the deal: The Vances sold their Washington, DC-area residence, pocketing a cool $172,025 over its asking price, property records obtained by The New York Post show. The deal for the Alexandria, Virginia, abode closed on March 14, with the final sale price clocking in at $1.86 million.

Playing catchup: We missed ex-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s comments on MSNBC host Jen Psaki’s podcast early this month about potentially running for Ohio governor or U.S. Senate next year. The 2022 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, who now lives in suburban Columbus and does work for natural gas and cryptocurrency groups, told Psaki he’s “entertaining everything now,” but he indicated that, between governor and Senate, he would prefer being governor so he wouldn’t have to spend so much time away from his family in Washington, D.C. On the other hand, Ryan said, he wouldn’t run for governor if Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel enters and wins the GOP gubernatorial primary race, saying the ex-football coach has been a “mentor” since he recruited Ryan to play quarterback at Youngtown State University.

Cleaning up the books: U.S. Sen. Jon Husted plans to introduce legislation this week called the “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Streamline the Code of Federal Regulations Act of 2025.” the Columbus-area Republican wrote in The Wall Street Journal. Citing Ohio efforts he oversaw in Ohio that used AI to spot “dead weight” in Ohio’s legislative code, Husted said his bill “would apply a similar approach federally—annually referring old, repetitive language to the agency that promulgated it so that people within the agency can decide what to cut and what to keep. This way, the federal code won’t shift with the political winds.”

What we’re watching this week

It’s still budget season, and the Ohio General Assembly is in session.

1. The House and Senate are in for floor sessions this week
2. A House committee scheduled a possible vote Wednesday on its version of an energy overhaul the Senate passed last week
3. Two Republicans are introducing a bill Tuesday that would create a new criminal penalty for “harassing” a police officer
4. The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission is set to announce any winning bids for fracking beneath Leesville Wildlife Area on Friday. (The ranking Senate Democrat, for her part, is set to introduce legislation to prohibit fracking on state lands)
5. Other noteworthy bill hearings this week include: cryptocurrency and state pensions; a constitutional convention; intoxicating hemp; banning ranked choice voting; banning diversity, equity and inclusion in schools; banning local bans on AirBnBs; and the designation of Speaker Jo Ann Davidson Day

On the Move

Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican candidate for Ohio governor in 2026, has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Westlake Republican.

Ramaswamy also unveiled endorsements Monday from 15 Republican Ohio state senators, including Senate President Rob McColley of Northwest Ohio, Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Reineke of Tiffin, Majority Floor Leader Theresa Gavarone of Bowling Green, Majority Whip George Lang of Butler County. Others on the list include state Sens. Michele Reynolds of suburban Columbus, Steve Huffman of Miami County, Susan Manchester of Auglaize County, Terry Johnson of Scioto County, Shane Wilkin of Highland County, Jerry Cirino of Lake County, Andrew Brenner of Delaware County, Jane Timken of Canton, Brian Chavez of Marietta, Sandra O’Brien of Ashtabula County, and Hudson state Sen. Kristina Roegner, who is a 2026 candidate for state treasurer.

Birthdays

Andrew Geisler, assistant legal counsel, Ohio Auditor’s Office

Straight From The Source

“The truth of the matter is, literally, there’s maybe 3,000 people in this state that are paying any attention to the governor’s race right now.”

– Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who’s running for governor in 2026, speaking to conservative commentator Bob Frantz in a talk radio show Friday.

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