I was sitting in my County Central Committee meeting and inevitably the subject came up—the recent Speaker of the House vote.

My Representative was present, and he expressed significant concern about how the results of that vote would disrupt, and possibly prevent, implementation of the agenda we sent him to the legislature to enact. Others shared how it would likely stall legislation to protect our children—something close to all our hearts.

Towards the end of our meeting, a fellow member introduced a resolution to censure the Representatives in our party who broke from the caucus agreement. A robust discussion followed. Senator Hackett was in attendance and strongly urged “unity” and did not want the boat rocked. Some references were made to the “Tea Party” and “far right.”

I’m going to be honest … I didn’t know what was meant by that. And so, I said something to the effect, “I don’t know is meant by the ‘tea party’ or what happened there—I’m not from that era. But what I heard my Rep say is that he is going to have a hard time implementing the agenda we want him to because of this. At the least he deserves our support.”

The motion for the censure failed by one vote.

I don’t tell this story to disparage my fellow committee members. I tell it to highlight where we all can do better—myself included.

The day before, I had flown home from Maricopa County, Arizona. Maricopa has become ground zero for all the bad ways to run an election. The Lake v. Hobbs case is national news. But what many people do not know is Maricopa also has an amazing band of God-fearing, honest Patriots. They work hard—and smart.

Over the last several weeks the AZ legislatures conducted hearings in which they learned about problems with voting machines, signature verification, chain of custody, and mail-in ballots. Just last week the AZ Senate passed a resolution to ban foreign voting machines and to require source code to be made public.

This is impressive progress for a state whose citizens are fighting for truth in a state that seem primarily run by cartels.

There is much we can learn from these tenacious AZ Patriots but today I want to highlight one important part—they support their good legislatures.

As I sat in my own CCC meeting I realized that I cannot expect my Rep to go to bat for me if I am unwilling to have his back when he does. Like many other Buckeyes, I have been frustrated and even angered by some of the things that have taken place in our legislature the past several years. But I also must ask myself what role I play in this. If my Rep doesn’t know I will have his back and help him do the things I want him to do, does he even stand a chance? I know they aren’t all representing us well—but we better support the ones that are.

Ohio Precinct Strategy has always been about strategic, local action. We still are. We urge you to get involved in your elections and on your County Central Committee, to run for School Board, County Commissioner, Dog Catcher—anything. A void of good people will be met with mediocrity—or much worse.

Last year you all knocked it out! Grass-root patriots got elected to school boards, county commission seats, County Central Committees, state Central Committees, and worked and watched our elections. We are grateful for you and already can see that you are making a difference!

OPS is ever evolving, and the current urgent issue is legislation. Are you aware that there are eight bills concerning elections making their way through our legislature right now? At OPS we are particularly concerned about the impact of three of them. If you would like to partner with us in these efforts, you can fill out this form or contact us.