Ross Gallabrese DISCUSSION — Bryan Hambley, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for secretary of state in Ohio, talked about issues with Dorothy Blaner of Toronto during a meet-and-greet held Thursday at the Main Branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.

STEUBENVILLE — When you are a first-time candidate for a statewide office that your party has not held for the better part of two decades, you have to be willing to get out and meet potential voters.

“The only way to actually run this campaign is in person — in libraries, in living rooms and back yards, meeting people and hearing from them,” Bryan Hambley said Thursday afternoon. “That’s the only way you can form relationships and emotional connections to people and have any chance of turning the tide in the state of Ohio.”

Hambley is seeking the Democratic nomination for the state’s secretary of state post in the May 5 primary election.

A resident of the Cincinnati suburb of Loveland, Hambley has been busy crossing Ohio, and his 345th event of the campaign brought him to Steubenville, where he met with local Democrats during a meet-and-greet held in the community room of the Main Branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.

“I’m a leukemia doctor in Cincinnati, and I’m running for secretary of state because I think elections should be honest and fair. That means fair districts and getting rid of gerrymandering. That means elections that aren’t influenced by PAC money,” Hambley explained.

He is being challenged in the primary by state Rep. Allison Russo, an Upper Arlington resident, and said there are clear differences for Democrats to consider.

“In 2023, Russo voted for unconstitutional gerrymandered maps,” Hambley said. “I agree with the League of Women Voters in that it threw a lot of communities under the bus.

“Second, I believe that corporate PAC money is a cancer on our democracy,” he added. “I think corporations have way too much power, and I have pledged to not take any corporate PAC money during the campaign. I am the only candidate — Republican or Democrat — who has made that pledge and, despite that, we have raised more than $970,000 — that’s more than any down-ballot Democrat at this point ever.”

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination and advances to the Nov. 3 general election will take on either Robert Sprague or Marcell Strbich, who are seeking the Republican nomination. Sprague is the current state treasurer who was prohibited from seeking re-election by term limits.

They all are looking to succeed Republican Frank LaRose as secretary of state. LaRose, who was term-limited in that post, is running for state auditor.

The secretary of state’s role is to oversee elections and act as a portal for businesses in the state.

Hambley said that the first thing he would do if elected would be to push to establish an independent redistricting commission, an initiative that failed in Ohio just a few years ago.

“In 2024, we almost got it right, where we had an independent redistricting commission on the ballot as a constitutional amendment. However, our secretary of state used his power over the ballot language to deliberately make it confusing when people read their ballots,” Hambley said.

“I believe that the first priority of the next secretary of state should be pushing for an independent redistricting commission in 2027, but use the power of the secretary of state’s office over ballot language to make sure it’s clear and fair ballot language,” he added.

He explained that it doesn’t have to be a partisan issue, pointing out that conservative states like Idaho and progressive states like Michigan have citizens’ commissions. The goal, he said, is to have fair districts.

“I believe that gerrymandering makes worse Republicans and worse Democrats,” Hambley added. “There is a handful of politicians who are helped, but everybody else is hurt.”

Another doctor, Amy Acton, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor. Hambley said she is a strong candidate.

“She is a physician, and whenever Democrats are talking about health care, we are winning,” he said. “There are a lot of people who can’t afford their medicine, whose hospitals are closing and who are going bankrupt from medical bills — we need something better. I believe health care should be universal, simple and affordable, and Acton puts that front and center in her message.”

Hambley said that as he has traveled the state — when he gets to Seneca County next week he will have stopped in 78 of Ohio’s 88 counties — he has noticed a change in the political mood.

“Yes, but with a caveat. When I announced my campaign in early 2025, it didn’t seem like any Democrat was going to win in Ohio. That’s not the case in Ohio anymore — the polls have shifted. I sense the mood among people shifting,” Hambley said.

“It looks like it’s going to be a good year nationally for Democrats,” he added. “That alone is not enough for a Democratic candidate to win in Ohio, because it has become so challenging. I do not agree with Democrats who think we should just sit on our hands and not put forward a message other than we are not Donald Trump. We need a positive vision — we need to show what we would be if the voters in Ohio give us power.

“We need something more than just not Trump,” he said. “That is the only way a Democrat is going to win.”

Early voting in Ohio is underway.