Nan Whaley speaks to Ohio State democrats. Credit: Molly Petrina | Lantern Reporter

Ohio’s Democratic party gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley came to Ohio State Wednesday to speak to the College Democrats at Ohio State about her campaign goals before voter registration ends Oct. 11. 

Whaley, the first female nominee for Ohio governor, spoke on policies she wishes to address that differ from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine — including gun control and abortion access. 

Whaley said the Democratic party ticket for governor and lieutenant governor features former Cleveland Heights, Ohio, mayor Cheryl Stephens. 

“I always like to say, ‘What’s better than one former female mayor, but two former female mayors?’” Whaley said.

If they are elected, Stephens and Whaley would become the first winning all-female governor and lieutenant governor ticket in U.S. history.

 Whaley, former mayor of Dayton, Ohio, said she appreciates local leaders and is dismayed by watching every community in Ohio  — excluding Columbus — grow smaller over the years. She said this is in part due to more young Ohioans leaving the state to find employment and opportunities elsewhere.

 “We used to export all kinds of stuff out of this state in 1976,” Whaley said. “Today, we specialize in exporting our college graduates.”

Whaley said she decided to run for governor after a tragedy in her own city of Dayton. A man with an assault-like weapon rampaged Dayton’s Oregon district Aug. 4, 2019, injuring 27 people and killing nine in 32 seconds. 

Whaley said she was disappointed in DeWine’s response to the tragedy and his lack of initiative for more gun safety. 

 “Nine dead people in Dayton was not worth the political inconvenience of doing the right thing,” Whaley said. 

 Whaley also cited DeWine’s record with gun safety policies, which she said skews heavily towards the radical positions within his party. Within his time in office, DeWine passed “Stand Your Ground” — which legalizes self-defense with firearms when attacked or threatened. DeWine also passed a permitless concealed carry law as well as a bill arming teachers and bus drivers in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, school shootings. Both laws faced opposition from law enforcement officers across Ohio, as officer-involved shootings increased by nearly 13 percent in states with concealed carry laws, according to ABC 7 .

Whaley and DeWine have also taken differing sides on abortion access in Ohio, as DeWine pushed a six-week abortion ban through the legislature seven hours after Roe v. Wade was overturned. The governor then faced backlash after the rape of a ten-year-old girl, who was forced to travel out of Ohio to have her abortion terminated. 

Whaley said there is currently a court-issued stay on the six-week abortion ban that temporarily allows abortions up to 20 weeks. A newer proposed bill, House Bill 704, bans abortion after conception with no exceptions for incest or rape and certain forms of birth control, such as IUDs. 

Whaley said protecting abortion access in Ohio would be one of her priorities if elected. 

“The first thing that I’m going to do when I get elected is work to put a ballot initiative on so we can take this to the people,” Whaley said. 

College Republicans at Ohio State said in a statement they were concerned “what a Whaley governorship would look like” after a poor run as Dayton mayor.

“Dayton was ranked the fifth-deadliest city in America, as well as one of the worst Ohio cities to raise a family,” the student organization said. 

According to the statement, Dayton ranked at the bottom of 610 Ohio school districts in its 2017 report card and earned a ‘D’ in 2019 while Whaley was mayor. 

“Dayton is a city of 140,000,” the statement said. “What would Whaley do as governor of a state of 11.7 million?”

President of College Democrats Hayley Griggs said the organization’s history with Whaley and her campaign has been long standing. Whaley attended their spring tailgate in 2021 and formed relationships with many students, she said. 

Griggs, a third-year in political science, said with the election for Ohio governor coming up Nov. 8, College Democrats are working hard to support Whaley in her journey to the Ohio Statehouse.

 “A lot of our members intern for Nan, and if they’re not interning, they’re big fans,” Griggs said. “We really hope she pulls through in November.”