Coressel Shows Her Colors

BY PATTY KLEIN

FINDLAY - On Monday, September 30, Ohio House candidates for the 83rd district faced each other in a debate hosted by Findlay’s WFIN radio.  Candidates Ty Mathews (Republican) and Sheila Coressel (Democrat) answered questions from WFIN radio personality, Chris Oaks. During the debate, Oaks probed both candidates about a wide range of subjects but it was during the exchange on inflation in which Coressel showed her colors.

Up until this point, Coressel has run a campaign as a moderate candidate, however questions over healthcare and inflation led to an outburst that couldn't be suppressed. When speaking about the high costs of health insurance, Mathews highlighted the rising costs and challenges since the implementation of Obamacare. Mathews added that increased costs due to inflation are a problem. In her response, Coressel became more animated, expressing that corporate greed was at fault for increasing costs, and not government spending.

"I think the state can work on creating policies and laws to help our citizens and help our citizens in some way, not quite sure how except addressing the underinsured," Coressel said.

Mathews, in his rebuttal, argued that expanding legislation by the state would effectively amount to a single payer healthcare option.

"What she basically means is expanding government to ensure we have a single payer system, which I believe has been a complete failure in bringing down costs as we see with Obamacare," Mathews said.

Mathews carried this sentiment on to tackle how increased government spending has led to 'record high inflation,' potentially as a result of expanding the Medicare program through the Obamacare legislation, to which Coressel was unable to contain her far left leaning philosophies on the matter.

"Ty says inflation is government related, lets be honest, it's not, it is the corporations," Coressel said. "They are the ones that are affecting inflation. Look at those top billionaires, see what they made before 2020 and see what they are making now. When we are talking about inflation, it is not government leading it, it is the corporations. They are looking at the profits and saying 'we can make more and more."

Mathews countered by stating that inflation is a direct cause of government spending due to the printing of new dollars in circulation from the central banking system which ties back to supply and demand principles.

Despite the disagreement on a few singular issues, the two candidates were mostly aligned on other and did echo a message of unite. During the debate, Mathews gave a unifying message during his opening statement in which he thanked those for listening in and still participating in politics despite the divisive climate.

"Thank you to all the audience here and anyone listening online, thank you for being involved in the political process, Mathews said. "Thank you for being engaged, this is where we can start building bridges in the community."

He stressed that while candidates have varying opinions on most subjects, he hoped to find areas where common goals might be found for the benefit of the state and local community.

During the debate, host Oaks asked the candidates for their plans for the Ohio budget as both candidates would be taking a large step up in the role of State Representative with minimal experience. Both candidates made comments alluding to the importance of a balanced budget. Mathews, having already delved into budget issues, expressed the need to find areas where programs could be trimmed while Coressel expressed the need to improve infrastructure by increased spending on roads. 

The candidates were questioned about the idea of eliminating the state income tax, which has garnered more interest given the current economic issues plaguing the state and nation. Mathews spoke in favor of eliminating the tax but suggested that it be phased out over several years. Coressel questioned which state services would suffer or end if the state tax was eliminated and discussed the impact that could have on communities. 

The conversation then turned to economic development where Mathews highlighted his plan to look at economic development through a “new lens.” Mathews discussed his plans for the Ohio Defense Initiative (ODI), which would focus on bringing defense contractors to northwest Ohio. According to Mathews, higher paid and higher skilled jobs associated with the defense industry will improve the economic quality of life for the district. Along with defense based production, Mathews even floated the idea of a military base in the area. 

In her response, Coressel discussed the challenges she has seen in bringing business to Ada. She cited poor infrastructure and roads as a hindrance in bringing business to her area. Coressel noted that space tech companies that had planned to highlight the recent solar eclipse moved their festivities to the Cleveland area when they discovered that area roads were inadequate. 

While the issue of abortion is not as relevant given the added constitutional amendment, Oaks did bring up the matter during the debate and Mathews took the opportunity to inform the audience that he is a pro-life candidate while Coressel expressed that the decision to abort is between the 'pregnant person' and their doctor. On the subject of school funding, Mathews supports the Backpack Bill, allowing parents to use funding for educational opportunities outside of public schools. Coressel showed concern that school vouchers would be used by parents who could afford to pay for private schooling on their own. 

The debate wrapped up with Mathews using his closing statement to encourage Ohio voters to vote no on Issue 1, which some have argued will enshrine gerrymandering into law and that some say is funded by out of state dark money. As a strong opponent of Issue 1, Mathews urged voters not to put the job of drawing district maps into the hands of unelected bureaucrats that can not be voted out by constituents. Coressel used her closing statement to rebut Mathews, claiming that a yes vote on Issue 1 would give citizens the say in drawing the maps instead of politicians  The language used to describe Issue 1 on the Ohio ballot is contrary to Coressel’s statement. The debate recording can be watched on the WFIN Facebook page.