OPINION:
Ohio leans conservative. Ohioans voted for George W. Bush, Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump over Joe Biden and for the White House, 2024, is projected to vote Republican not Democrat.
And yet Ohio voters gave the thumbs-up to abortion as a state constitutional right and to recreational marijuana.
On values, the heartland has shifted. And it ain’t for the good.
Ohio has spots of blue among its red, notably in majority votes for Barack Obama, twice, and Bill Clinton, twice, along with Jimmy Carter, once. Meanwhile, the House and Senate election histories have been pretty evenly divided by party lines. The governor’s slot has gone Republican since 1990, with only one exception in 2006.
Yet the abortion measure passed with more than 57% to roughly 43%. That’s about the same margin of passage of the recreational marijuana vote.
If this is where America’s values are headed, conservatives have a tough road.
In 2014, Pew Research Center found that 40% of adults in Ohio were conservative; 32%, moderate; 21%, liberal; and 7% said they didn’t know.
Eighty-two percent of conservatives said they believed in God, versus 60% of moderates and 48% of liberals.
Twenty-one percent of younger and older millennials said they were conservative versus 24%, moderate, and 38% percent, liberal.
Seventy-one percent of conservatives said religion was very important; 52% of moderates said the same; only 35% of liberals expressed similarly.
Fifty-one percent of conservatives attended religious service at least once a week; 34% of moderates said they attended weekly; only 19% of liberals said the same.
Sixty-nine percent of conservatives said they prayed daily; 51% of moderates said the same; 43% of liberals said similarly. Another 37% of conservatives said they engaged in scriptural study and prayer meetings at least once a week, versus 20% of moderates and 12% of liberals.
That’s all in 2014. See where this is headed? Youthful voters turning more and more toward liberal ideas and less and less to church. Another way to say that: Democrats are having a field day shoving their immoral, selfish, secular agendas into law on the voting backs of the spiritually dead.
In February 2023 came this: “Fading Faith: Southeast Ohio churches see a decline in attendance, funding,” The Post Athens wrote in a story about the many church closings in communities across the state.
“‘Nones’ is a popular term used in recent years to describe those who aren’t religiously affiliated: atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular,” The Post Athens wrote. “Twenty-two percent of Ohioans fall under that identity. … The Pew Research Center recently estimated that by 2070, the number of Americans who identify as Christian would fall near or below 50% of the population, and that percentage could fall as low as 34%.”
Expect more laws allowing abortion.
Make way for more permissions for recreational pot.
If Ohio is a bellwether, then as America’s once traditionally and biblically minded heartland goes — America’s headed for even more moral degradation. And that means Democrats have the political advantage.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.