“Aftab Pureval has already proven he can win tough races by becoming the first Democratic Hamilton County Clerk of Courts in more than 100 years. With a strong base of local support, innovative ideas, and a dedication to working for the people of Southwest Ohio, Aftab is poised to defeat yet another establishment Republican incumbent in November,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján.
To: Interested Parties
From: Amanda Sherman, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 8, 2018
RE: The Case Against Rep. Steve Chabot
Congressman Steve Chabot is the embodiment of everything that is broken and wrong with Congress: wasteful of taxpayer money, beholden to donors and special interests, and more focused on enriching himself and his family than working for the people of Southwestern Ohio.
Chabot has been in Congress for over 20 years and has turned his time there into a nice business for his family and donors instead of fighting for the people of Ohio’s First Congressional District. Chabot voted to take health care away from the people of Ohio and give tax breaks to the wealthy and big corporations while sticking our children and grandchildren with the bill.
Aftab Pureval, on the other hand, has worked hard to make the Southwest Ohio a better place. Aftab was born and raised in Southwest Ohio and served as a federal prosecutor, an attorney at Procter and Gamble, and now as the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, where he has reformed the office and saved taxpayer dollars.
People don’t want another career politician like Steve Chabot who is in it for himself. They want someone like Aftab Pureval, with fresh ideas and a track record of ending corruption and fixing broken systems.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Headline: Rep. Steve Chabot’s campaign has paid son-in-law’s firm more than $150,000 for web consulting [Cincinnati Enquirer, 11/3/17]
Headline: Aftab Pureval gaining ground on Steve Chabot, national prognosticator says [Cincinnati Enquirer, 2/7/18]
“U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot’s congressional district covering parts of Cincinnati and, due to redistricting, all of Warren County isn’t quite as secure as it once was, according to a prominent political forecasting publication. Sabato’s Crystal Ball, long used for handicapping big races, has downgraded Chabot’s 1st District congressional seat from “likely Republican” to “leans Republican.”…the downgrade seems to show that Pureval poses a serious challenge to the entrenched Republican, who has spent more than a dozen terms in office.” [City Beat, 3/8/18]
Rep. Steve Chabot: Everything Wrong with Congress
Epitome of Self-Dealing
Steve Chabot has turned his time working for the people of Ohio’s 1st Congressional District into a lucrative business for himself and his family. In a move that good government advocates say smacks of nepotism and self-dealing, Chabot’s campaign paid his son-in-law over $150,000 for web consulting. For all that money one would think he got a great product, but when asked a respected web designer said the site “looks like it was designed 5 or 10 years ago”. It wasn’t just his family that has gotten richer from his role as a Congressman, in his over 20 years in office Chabot has received over $3.3 million in congressional, taxpayer-funded salary.
Puts Donors Ahead of Ohioans
Note for Ohioans; it seems if you want Steve Chabot to stand up for you, all you have to do is write him a check. After accepting over $2 million from the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors, Steve Chabot has voted to deregulate big banks and weaken consumer protections. Chabot took over $25,000 from the telecommunications sector and then voted for a bill that allowed internet service providers to sell their customers’ data without their permission. When it came time to vote on GOP Tax Scam that gave 83% of the benefits to the wealthiest 1% of Americans while increasing the deficit by $1.5 trillion, Steve Chabot was completely on board.
Endangered Ohioans’ Access to Health Care
Steve Chabot’s district is home to premier medical facilities, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and yet he still voted for a health care bill that would have resulted in a loss of health care coverage for over 500,000 Ohioans, including 35,000 people in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District. Chabot didn’t bother to hold public meetings to hear constituents’ opinions, and he didn’t care that Ohio’s Republican Governor John Kasich warned about the negative impact the bill would have on the state. Chabot went ahead and supported raising people’s premiums and imposing an age tax on seniors.
THE PATH TO VICTORY
Over his 20 years in office, Steve Chabot has become the embodiment of everything that people think is wrong with Congress, while Aftab Pureval has a proven track record of bringing needed reforms and investing in people, not himself.
Aftab Pureval made history in 2016 when he was elected Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, defeating a Republican incumbent and becoming the first Democratic clerk in more than 100 years. In his first months in the race, Aftab took the skills and experience from that race and raised over $660,000, almost five times more than what Chabot raised during the same period.
In 2016 Secretary Clinton received 46.6% of the vote in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District, performing better than any other district in Ohio currently held by a Republican. The outlook for Democrats is sure to get better from the 2016 results given that the district is 62% suburban, a geographic makeup that has swung heavily against Republicans during President Trump’s administration.
Demographics that are more favorable to Democrats, a weak DC-establishment incumbent, and a strong challenger in Aftab Pureval make this seat a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats in November.