Russo Will Face Mike Carey, an Anti-Science, Anti-Facts Coal Lobbyist
August 3, 2021
PHILADELPHIA — Today, 314 Action Fund congratulated State Rep. Allison Russo on winning the Democratic nomination in the race to represent Ohio’s fifteenth congressional district. Russo will face coal lobbyist Mike Carey in the general election. In recent years, OH-15 has persisted as a unique battleground in national and state politics. Senator Sherrod Brown carried OH-15 handily during his 2018 re-election, and it is seen as a critical pick-up opportunity to add to the Democrats’ pro-science majority in the U.S. House.
314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton released the following statement:
“Tonight, voters made it clear that they know Rep. Allison Russo is a formidable leader for the people of Ohio, and we congratulate her victory in this hard-fought primary. Now, all eyes turn towards the general election, where she is up against an anti-science Trump sycophant in the form of Mike Carey. Ohioans won’t settle for a politician who cares more about what Fox News says about them than the issues that actually matter to their families — good paying jobs, strong infrastructure, and affordable health care. These issues have always been top of mind for Rep. Russo, which is why we saw such strong support for her tonight. She will always put the people of her district first, and we look forward to helping her beat Carey in November.”
Ahead of this key special election, 314 Action Fund will commit its vast resources and six-million-strong membership base of grassroots supporters to ensure that Russo’s campaign has the backing it needs to win this November. During the 2020 election cycle, 314 Action Fund’s independent expenditure arm spent over $11.5 million in support of science candidates, including significant expenditures in several primary contests.
In 2022, 314 Action Fund will aim to spend $50 million to elect scientists across all levels of government, with initial targets of seven U.S. Senate races, forty U.S. House races, and twenty-one statewide races — including this race and the Ohio gubernatorial race. In 2020, the organization spent $25 million on behalf of its endorsed candidates and raised a total of $5 million in grassroots donations for scientists running for office.
ABOUT ALLISON RUSSO
Allison Russo is currently serving her second term in the Ohio General Assembly. Russo, who is the Ranking Member of the House Health Committee, entered public service with backgrounds in a range of STEM disciplines. Russo holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology, a master’s degree in public health epidemiology, and a doctoral degree in health policy. This wealth of experience prepared Russo to immediately be an informed and influential figure in the fight for facts-first, evidence-based policymaking in Columbus.
Before being elected to the Ohio General Assembly, Russo was no stranger to health policy. For more than twenty years, Russo advised legislators on ways to improve the affordability and efficiency of health care available to the most vulnerable Ohioans — including veterans, who remain a priority for Russo, a military spouse of a combat veteran.
Russo continues to be heavily involved with her community outside of her legislative office. She is a member of the United Way of Central Ohio’s Women’s Leadership Council and the board of the Upper Arlington Rotary Club. Russo also founded the after-school program Girls Who Lead for young women.
Russo currently serves as the Ranking Member of the House Health Committee, where she has prioritized science and the health of Ohioans over dangerous partisan rhetoric. This is in contrast to Republican members in that committee, who made news for inviting anti-vaccination radicals to serve as “expert witnesses,” including one woman whose claims that the COVID-19 vaccine makes people magnetic were widely criticized. If elected to Congress, Russo would continue to fight to expand access to affordable, high-quality health care for Ohioans.
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314 Action Fund is powered by a grassroots community of over six million people working to elect scientists, doctors, and STEM professionals who will use science and facts to address our most pressing issues like climate change and health care. In 2018 and 2020, we played a pivotal role in flipping the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, electing eleven Democratic scientists to federal office, as well as over 100 to state and local offices. In 2021 and 2022, 314 Action Fund will continue working to elect science leaders and defeat climate deniers in Congress and legislatures across the country.