Joyce vs. Rader in 14th Congressional Distrit (Cleveland, Ashtabula: house, legal)

[WRnative]

Ohio's 14th Congressional District spans much of northeastern Ohio including all of Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga Counties, part of eastern Cuyahoga County, and parts of northern Summit and Portage Counties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio%2...ional_district

Republican incumbent David Joyce will attempt to defend his seat against Democratic challenger Betsy Rader.

Joyce has drawn national attention for his ad championing his recent vote opposing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) despite support for the repeal from President Trump and the Republican Congressional leadership.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.5dbbd7050922

As Joyce HAD VOTED 31 PREVIOUS TIMES TO REPEAL THE ACA, he likely was given a pass by the Republican leadership to vote against repeal because his vote wasn't needed in the House, where repeal passed with party-line Republican support, in order to enhance Joyce's re-election chances.

Also, clearly Joyce's vote for Republican leadership (e.g., Speaker of the House) helps enable the Republicans to control the House, leading to the possibility of further ACA repeal efforts if the Republicans maintain control of the House. And given Joyce's voting record on ACA repeal, there's little guarantee that if his vote actually was critical to a repeal vote in the House, that he wouldn't once again vote to repeal the ACA.

Democratic hopeful Betsy Rader notes the cynicism of Joyce's opposition to the ACA:

<<“Dave Joyce had really campaigned on repealing the Affordable Care Act and really hadn’t proposed anything to replace it,” Rader said. >>

Rader: Voters want 'checks and balances' in OH-14 race | Local News | starbeacon.com

One analysis gives Rader a 19 percent chance of upsetting Joyce. See the table at the end of this article.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...for-the-house/

[Coco6163]

I am an independent voter who tends to vote more often for Rs than Ds. I don't vote in the 14th District; so I have no dog in this race. But if I did, I would vote for Rader.

I don't have any real problem with Joyce. He tends to be among the few reasonable legislators left among the GOP in Congress. So my reasons for favoring Rader are about her strengths rather than any serious criticism of Joyce.

I know Betsy. She will bring a new vision to Congress, and that can't hurt. More importantly, however, she is exceptionally bright and has a diverse legal background that will make her an excellent voice to represent her district on matters that are currently of great importance everywhere. In particular, she has previously served as in house counsel at the Cleveland Clinic. So she undoubtedly has a strong understanding of at least some aspects of health care and the attempts to reform our health care system. Despite having worked for years on the corporate side of the world, her most recent years have been devoted to representing individual employees. So she is interested in and very knowledgeable about how to protect workers' rights while also understanding how to balance those rights against employers' needs.

Betsy also brings a rare combination of tenacity and civility. She keeps her cool when dealing with others while tenaciously fighting for what or who she believes in. I strongly endorse Betsy Rader.