Ohio's democratic candidate for Secretary of State made a stop in downtown Chillicothe on Tuesday to speak with potential voters.
Kathleen Clyde seeks to take over for current Secretary of State, Jon Husted, who is unable to run for the office again due to term limits.
Clyde is currently serving in her 4th term as State Representative for much of the Portage County area in northeastern Ohio. She comes from a legal background having previously served as an elections attorney, working at a small town law practice in Kent where she endeavored to help new businesses through the registration process.
Speaking at the Crosskeys Tavern in downtown Chillicothe on Tuesday, Clyde talked about the subjects of voter rights, attracting new business to the state, and the importance of congressional redistricting.
One of her chief concerns in her bid for the Secretary of State's Office is working to help attract new business to the state.
"One of the things that are so important is that we work hard to help move our economy forward," said Clyde. "We need to be encouraging and as helpful as possible to new businesses that are starting in the state. I want to work to make the Secretary of State's Office a helpful first stop for our new businesses and streamline that start-up process as much as possible."
(State Rep. Kathleen Clyde pictured with Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney)
Clyde also commented on the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to continue allowing the state to purge inactive voters from the state's voting rolls.
"When I am elected Secretary of State, hopefully I will be able to discontinue that practice," said Clyde. "Voting shouldn't be a "use it or lose it" right. It's one of our core freedoms and I think we should do everything we can to protect it, not cancel voters because they skip a few elections."
Clyde also commended the choice by voters in May to pass the state's Gerrymandering Reform bill.
"I was a proponent of that and helped work on it when it started in the legislature," said Clyde. "We helped put it on the ballot for voters and I was very glad to see it pass by a large margin. Voters are tired of the partisan gerrymandering and I want to continue working to bring fair districts to Ohio."
Clyde is running for Secretary of State against republican State Senator, Frank LaRose in the November General Election.