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    OH-12’s Jenny Bell is ‘Not Too Good for Anybody’

    In early February, when Ohio Third Congressional District candidate Morgan Harper met incumbent Rep. Joyce Beatty in the first debate of the race, Harper told onlookers that before launching her campaign, she was told she was “Going to pay for it, that I wouldn’t be able to get another job here, that this would be the end of me.”

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    Rep. Beatty responded by insinuating she was a socialist and defending the party, saying that the party tried to bring young people into the fold, which drew ire from some in the audience.

    Harper’s claim may have been brushed off, forgotten about quickly thereafter by some, but it also pointed to a “culture of retaliation,” per Harper, felt by others.

    Ohio 12th Congressional District Democratic candidate and nurse practitioner Jenny Bell turned to nursing a decade after earning her fine arts degree at Ohio State University and later working in graphic design and marketing. She was miserable at her job and wanted to make more of an impact on people.

    She completed an intensive, three-year nursing program while waiting tables and working part-time. Now she says she loves her job, but her work also gives her a chance to see the problems with America’s healthcare system from the inside.

    “I started seeing stuff from the inside that was just disgusting. And you’re just like, what is going on and why are people just allowing this to be a thing?” she says.

    “Why the hell are we not giving people their medications today because they can’t afford a copay, just so we can watch them decompensate and then end up in the emergency room — which costs way more money — and then we pay for that?” she says. “But we wouldn’t just lay out the money to begin with?”

    It was this eye-opening experience, combined with the results of the 2016 United States presidential election, that had Bell looking to local Democratic leadership to take a stand. But she lives in a partisan gerrymandered district, drawn to be more Republican-leaning. And after a 2018 loss, the previous Democratic candidate was not going to run again. At that point, no other Democrat seemed to be running against Republican incumbent Troy Balderson for the congressional seat for the 12th District.

    “I just thought, where [are] all these people that should be standing up…and fixing these problems? And I thought, oh shit. I probably should be standing up and doing something about this,” she says. “I’m going to throw my hat in the ring because no one else seemed to be doing that.” (Another Democratic candidate, Alaina Shearer, did eventually come forward before Bell officially announced she was running.)

    “And I didn’t realize how sick the problem is until I got into it, and started learning more about how politics work,” she says.

    Bell has been a lifelong Democrat. In middle school she remembers sporting a Clinton-Gore campaign button. So after she started her primary campaign and began attending Franklin County Democratic Party events, she expected a positive reception to her wanting to get involved. By her account, she was quickly disillusioned.

    A photo of Al Gore and Jenny Bell in 2000, courtesy of Bell.

    “There was no positivity. There was no inclusiveness. There was definitely no invitations,” she says. “It was pretty much ‘wait your turn.’”

    She says the conversations she had often consisted of questions like, “‘Where did you come from?’ ‘Do you have any money?’” She was asked “Why don’t you just run for school board?” and was told, “‘You just don’t put your name on the ballot to go do this.’”

    “‘No one will know who you are,’” she recalls.

    That feeling came to a head when she was invited to the Franklin County Democratic Party’s assessment process, where the local party decides if they will publicly endorse a candidate. Later that week she wrote an editorial on her interpretation of the assessment, in which she writes of a disappointing and even insulting experience.

    “In my opinion, the questions asked and the manner in which they were delivered, were meant to send me a message. And that message was: We don’t know you, and if you can’t bring in money for the party, you are worthless,” she writes.

    Of course, that drew backlash from the very party she was already feeling excluded from. Speaking ill or critically of the Democratic Party — locally in the case of Harper and Bell, so far on record — can put a target on a candidate. Bell describes an unfortunate reality felt by some on the so-called “outside.”

    “I was recently told, when the party starts making up lies about you and trying to ruin your life, that you’ve struck a chord,” she says. “I’ve learned of other things about what they’ve done to other people, who, again, are just young people with new ideas. Who’ve had these same experiences outside of the inner workings. The party doesn’t like that.”

    With the endorsement assessment, Bell’s interpretation was that the questions asked of her were heavily focused on her ability to get donations, more so than what she could bring to the party or her ability to connect with voters, which she feels is more important.

    “This is why I decided I should run. I like to connect with people, and I like to listen to people. And I’m not too good for anybody,” she says. “I don’t care if you’re a Trump voter, I don’t care if you think Balderson is the best thing that’s ever happened. I wanna figure out how I can help you. What have they not done for you that you wanted to happen? Because I’m pretty sure that a lot of people are disappointed in what’s been going on so far.”

    Bell campaigns while riding a bike for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District. Photo via Bell’s website.

    In talking to the constituents in her district, she sees a common thread — regardless of party, there are some basic commonalities: everyone wants to keep their families safe and have their children do better than they did. People are worried about opioid addiction and student loans. No one wants mass shootings, and no one likes having abortions.

    “We have more in common than we have differences. I really think it’s true. It’s just how do you go about it?” she says. “Everyone’s just trying to do the best they can, but I feel like we can do better.”

    She says that is what has been good about running for office: Talking to real people, who have real ideas on how to make their situations better.

    “It’s awesome to talk to people and figure out what their priorities are. And that’s why I just keep coming back to healthcare and keep coming back to housing,” she says. “It makes sense to be fighting for people to have a place to live that doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg. I want to make sure everybody has healthcare and a house and a really good job that pays well.”

    Bell says she wants to go to Washington and show her positivity and willingness to talk to people and bring in outsider ideas. She doesn’t want to be beholden to political ties or donors, she simply wants to be a true representative.

    “You’re not putting on an act all the time. Or you’re not just shaking hands so you can make money, get donations,” she says. “That’s what politicians do. They fake smile and…they say certain things the way they’re supposed to say them. And I don’t see that as being representative of the people.”

    Without going through this process, Bell would still be in the dark about some of the realities of the political process and some of its barriers.

    For instance, in running for political office it’s recommended candidates hire an expert with knowledge on how to do so: where to find all of the paperwork, how to set up campaign bank accounts, what the Federal Elections Commission rules are. It’s intense, time-consuming and the language isn’t clear, she says, which could deter normal, everyday people from running for office.

    She also has a new understanding behind the reason she decided to get involved in the first place.

    “I think people are just really disappointed in money that’s in politics right now. Elections being determined before anyone can vote in the primary. I mean, that’s what happened in 2016,” she says. “I’m not saying it was rigged or anything like that, but they definitely had a favorite. The Democratic Party chose Hillary Clinton. They straight up said it’s her turn. And look what happened.”

    The controversy surrounding the nomination of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee disappointed people, she says. She believes this led to a lot of people casting a ballot for Donald Trump.

    “And so, [it’s] 2016 in November and you’re sitting there crying trying to figure out how this happened to our country…How did this happen?” she says. “And I’m seeing it very clearly now how it happens. It’s all about control.”

    Despite the results of the Ohio Democratic primary and the general election, Bell doesn’t see herself throwing in the towel. She feels strongly about her ability to connect with voters, if simply given the opportunity.

    “I want to continue this fight,” she says. “I advocate for my patients every day and I fight on their behalf, but I feel like I could fight for a lot more people in a lot more [of a] positive way.”

    As far as going through the political process, she hopes to be able to educate people on how it works and bring people together to figure out a solution.

    “If I can get through the negativity of that, I think I can make some serious positive changes,” she says. “So it’s just going to be a fight.”

    For more information, visit jennybell2020.us.

    Editor’s note: The Franklin County Democratic Party has been contacted for comment on claims made in this article, and has not provided a response at the time of publishing.

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    Taijuan Moormanhttps://columbusunderground.com
    Taijuan Moorman is a former reporter and social media specialist for Columbus Underground and The Metropreneur who covered civics, arts, entertainment, lifestyle, and business news and features.
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