FreedomWorks Celebrates as Ohio Rejects the Obamacare Individual Mandate and Votes YES on Issue 3

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, Ohio taxpayers preserved the freedom to choose their own health care and voted YES on Issue 3 in the special ballot initiative. With 66 percent of 1.8 million votes supporting Issue 3, the Health Care Freedom Amendment will advance to protect Ohio taxpayers from the Obamacare individual mandate and prevent a $1 billion increase in the state Medicaid budget.

“The feedback from Issue 3 at the polls is good news for taxpayers, and bad news for President Obama,” commented Matt Kibbe, President of FreedomWorks. “Tonight’s evidence that Ohio voters are rejecting the individual mandate and showing up at the ballots to weigh in specifically on health care policy suggests that the President has a very long re-election campaign ahead of him.”

In the months leading up to the vote, FreedomWorks and Tea Party leaders across Ohio launched an aggressive grassroots campaign to educate taxpayers on the importance of voting “YES” for Issues 2 and 3. FreedomWorks produced over 18,000 yard signs and 145,000 door hangers, which were distributed by local volunteer leaders in twelve key locations throughout the state.

FreedomWorks also engaged its Ohio membership of 35,345 on the web platform, www.YesForJobs.com, which allowed voters to download door hangers and to submit an absentee ballot. A total of 204,000 phone calls were placed to Ohio voters in the final week preceding the vote. 

Issue 2 did not fare as well at the polls, which would have preserved Governor Kasich’s much-needed pension reform for public sector unions, merit pay for teachers, and expanded school choice. However, FreedomWorks remains optimistic that this fight is far from over.

“We dedicated countless hours with grassroots activists in Ohio to preserve Governor Kasich’s SB5 reforms, and are proud of what our volunteers were able to accomplish in their communities,” commented Brendan Steinhauser, Director of Federal and State Campaigns for FreedomWorks. “We will continue to fight for equal opportunity amongst all Ohio workers, and continue our efforts to loosen the stranglehold that corrupt union leadership currently has on the Ohio economy.”

“We were out-spent by the unions that have been in power for generations in Ohio, but we were not out-organized. The small-government movement in Ohio is coming out of this special ballot battle stronger than ever.”