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“Orlando Sonza is wildly out of step with Southwest Ohio, from supporting a national abortion ban without exceptions and legislation outlawing IVF, to bills that would ban same-sex marriage. Unlike Sonza, Greg Landsman is focused on making it easier for people to live, work, and raise their family in the community that they love. Greg has always prioritized the needs of Southwest Ohio children and families, which is why they will send him back to Congress in November,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.
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To: Interested Parties
From: Aidan Johnson
Date: March 19, 2024
Subject: The Case Against Orlando Sonza
Born and raised in the greater Cincinnati area, Greg Landsman has spent his entire career advocating for children and families. As a parent and former public school teacher, he helped lead the effort to expand access to affordable preschool. A pragmatic leader, Greg has a long history of working with broad, bipartisan coalitions to deliver meaningful results for Ohio. Whether it’s securing $15 million for economic development initiatives, roadway improvements, water infrastructure, and affordable housing, $24 million to strengthen our supply chains and protect national security while lowering costs, or leading legislation to help local law enforcement retain and recruit additional officers to keep our streets safe, Greg will never stop fighting for Ohio’s hardworking families.
Greg is the champion Ohioans need in Congress – and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Running against him this November is Orlando Sonza, whose agenda is a threat to Southwest Ohio. A candidate who won’t be able to vote in his own election, Sonza is committed to banning abortion nationwide, outlawing IVF, and has said that America “should be a place where there’s no abortion.”
His attacks on reproductive rights are just the beginning of the threat Sonza poses to Ohioans’ fundamental freedoms. If elected, he would outlaw same-sex marriage, protect the gun lobby, and defund public schools, waging an all-out-war on families and children that call Southwest Ohio home.
Sonza Is An Anti-Abortion Extremist Who Would Take Southwest Ohio Backwards
Orlando Sonza is committed to a national abortion ban without exceptions and has lied to voters in an effort to cover up his support of these dangerous policies. The anti-abortion extremist has even said that America “should be a place where there’s no abortion.”
What’s more, as part of the systematic campaign by far-right extremists set on controlling women’s bodies and women’s choices, Sonza supported legislation that would effectively ban IVF treatments. After the Alabama Supreme Court decision that caused multiple fertility clinics to shut their doors, the Trump loyalist tried to hide his true beliefs. However, the truth of the matter is that Sonza’s dangerous agenda would threaten the medical technologies that millions of people depend on in order to start or grow their family.
Last year, while Ohioans were fighting to protect their reproductive rights, Sonza repeatedly voiced his support for an undemocratic effort aimed to stop voters from enshrining abortion in the state’s constitution by increasing the vote threshold to pass such amendments. When that effort failed, he campaigned to kill November’s pro-reproductive rights Issue 1 — and called it a “sad day” when it won by a 26-point margin in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District.
Meanwhile, as a member of the Pro-Choice Caucus, Landsman is focused on protecting abortion access, birth control, IVF, and reproductive care. He campaigned to restore reproductive freedom for Ohioans and won’t stop fighting until Congress codifies Roe v. Wade, undoing the devastating consequences of the Dobbs decision.
Sonza Would Ban Same-Sex Marriage
In the same Cincinnati Right to Life survey where Sonza proudly proclaimed his anti-abortion stance, Sonza publicly supported the idea of “the union of one man and one woman as the only definition of marriage that should be legally recognized at all levels of government.” This view would outlaw same-sex marriage and take away a constitutional right that millions of Ohioans fought hard to protect. Given the chance to clarify his position to Business Insider, “Sonza did not address his apparent opposition to same-sex marriage.”
A whopping 60% of voters in Ohio support federal legislation that would legalize same sex marriage. Sonza not only believes politicians should decide when Ohioans start a family, but with whom they start a family.
Sonza Opposes Common-Sense Gun Safety Measures Despite Overwhelming Support Among Ohioans
Rather than addressing gun violence in Cincinnati, when it comes to gun safety, Orlando Sonza sides with the NRA. After the Ohio State Senate proposed common-sense gun safety legislation that increased the firearm purchasing age to 21, implemented a red flag provision, and a 72-hour wait time for background checks, Sonza wrote an op-ed calling the bill “ill-advised.”
Since then, he has doubled down on his dangerous opposition to common-sense gun safety measures on the campaign trail. At a time when voters demand solutions to senseless gun violence in Southwest Ohio, Sonza has proven that his loyalty lies with the gun lobby, that he wants teenagers to be able to buy guns, and that he will be an obstacle to any real reform.
Luckily, Ohioans can count on Greg Landsman to stand up to the gun lobbyists who are more focused on making profits than protecting children and keeping our communities safe. In Congress, he co-sponsored bipartisan background checks legislation and an assault weapons ban, so that we can get these weapons of war out of our schools and off our streets.
Sonza’s Focus Is On Reelecting Donald Trump And Enacting Far-Right Extremists’ Agenda
The chair for the Ohio Republican Party may be urging candidates to not answer questions about Donald Trump, but it’s too late for Orlando Sonza. While Ohioans are focused on lowering the cost of childcare and the need for bipartisan border security solutions, Sonza said he’s “focused on getting Donald Trump reelected.”
Sonza has also said “I look forward to working with Speaker Johnson.” Johnson supports gutting Social Security and Medicare, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and was the “architect” of the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. During his first term in office, Greg Landsman has established a bipartisan and “moderate political brand,” working with both parties to deliver on the issues that matter most to families back in Southwest Ohio.
Sonza Is A Threat To Children’s Education
Sonza supports defunding public education and propping up schools run by for-profit operators at the expense of a quality education for all. The program he supported would have cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars, while also increasing transportation costs for school districts.
As a former public school teacher who successfully led the initiative that provides quality, affordable preschool for Cincinnati’s three to four year olds, Greg Landsman’s number one priority is the families and children of Southwest Ohio. That’s why he is leading the charge on bipartisan legislation to increase access to quality, affordable child care and is ensuring schools provide kids and families with the basic health, social and nutritional programs needed to get ahead.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Warren County Post: Rep. Landsman Announces $800M Federal Investment in Ohio Broadband [Warren County Post, 6/26/23]
“High-speed broadband will be a game changer for our families,” said Rep. Landsman. “This is huge, and it will help with accessing everything from better healthcare to education and even jobs in both urban and rural communities. As I always say, the most significant progress and investments we make are usually the result of bipartisan work. This is a great example. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included this broadband money, and now we’re bringing it home to Southwest Ohio.”
Spectrum News 1: “$1.6 billion in [Bipartisan Infrastructure Law] funding to support the reconfiguration of Brent Spence Bridge. […] Landsman referred to the money as ‘transformational.’” [Spectrum News 1, 4/13/23]
The Ohio-Kentucky connector is a vital commuter and commercial corridor, carrying more than $380 million in freight each year. But over the past 60 years, the bridge has become functionally obsolete, per the Ohio Department of Transportation.
[…]
“This is about rebuilding America,” said Landsman, a Democrat elected to represent Ohio First Congressional District last November.
Cincinnati Enquirer: How did Greg Landsman and a Cincinnati church save a Haitian family? [Cincinnati Enquirer, 9/12/23]
Cincinnati Enquirer: Where does Republican congressional candidate Orlando Sonza live? [Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/22/24]
The Republican congressional hopeful challenging incumbent Democrat Rep. Greg Landsman to represent part of Greater Cincinnati lives a few miles outside the district he’s running to represent.
U.S. representatives aren’t required to live in the districts they represent, although they traditionally do. All of Ohio’s 15 representatives are registered to vote in their districts, based on a check of records by The Enquirer.
Business Insider: Ohio GOP House candidate backtracks on prior support for federal abortion ban [Business Insider, 03/13/24]
Late last month, Rep. Greg Landsman — an Ohio Democrat who defeated an incumbent Republican in 2022 — declared in a tweet that his GOP opponent supported a federal abortion ban.
“More scare tactics and lies from my opponent,” replied Orlando Sonza, a US Army veteran and local prosecutor who’s all but certain to be the GOP nominee in Ohio’s 1st congressional district.
Yet the attack had some merit.
When Sonza ran for a state senate seat in Cincinnati two years ago, he indicated support for a federal abortion ban — and he suggested that same-sex marriage shouldn’t be the law of the land.
PATH TO VICTORY
Orlando Sonza has a history of losing and is being set up for failure. He reported raising less than $40,000 in the last quarter of 2023 and enters the general election with less than $97k cash on hand. In comparison, Greg Landsman has almost $1.4 million cash on hand — an over 14:1 cash advantage.
Ohio’s 1st Congressional District already rejected an anti-abortion extremist in 2022 — not that Sonza would know, considering he lives outside the district. Virtually unknown, Sonza lost his previous bid for office by 45.6 points, which explains why he has almost no financial support from Republicans in Washington.
This is a Biden +8.5 district and, in 2022, Greg won the seat handily. Last fall, when protecting the right to an abortion was on the ballot, Issue 1 won by a 26-point margin in OH-01.
But the biggest asset in OH-01 is the Democratic candidate. Greg’s reputation as a fierce advocate for Southwest Ohio children and families earned him his spot as one of only two Democratic challengers to beat a multiterm Republican incumbent last cycle. Voters know him as a former public school teacher, a non-profit leader, effective city councilman, and a trusted voice in Congress. Greg’s proven record of delivering for Southwest Ohioans stands in stark contrast to Sonza, an anti-choice extremist unknown to the Southwest Ohio community. That’s why Ohioans will reject Sonza’s extreme agenda and reelect Greg Landsman. |
