CHICAGO — Ohio's Democratic delegates officially cast their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris during a Democratic Party virtual roll call on Aug. 5. They got to do it again in a celebratory roll call Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
When casting the state's ballots, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters acknowledged the potential history in the making.
"As the first woman to lead Ohio Democrats, I am proud to cast our ballots for the first woman to be president of the United States. Mr. Secretary, we cast one vote present and 142 votes for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz," Walters told the cheering crowd at the United Center.
Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D - Upper Arlington) was there standing beside Walters.
"It was just so fun to be part of the Ohio delegation and celebrate our nomination of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the ticket," Russo said.
In interviews from the DNC with 10TV, both Democratic leaders say Harris has energized Ohio Democrats since President Biden stepped aside.
"In the eight days after the Ohio Delegation pledged our support to Vice President Harris, we had 24,000 new volunteers sign up to take action with us in Ohio," Walters said.
"I suspect we'll get an additional bump as well immediately following the convention in terms of a surge of volunteers," Russo said.
While they bask in the excitement of the convention, they also look at the job that lies ahead in the 75-day homestretch to Nov. 5.
"We talk a lot about that," Russo said. "It's good to get energized while you're here, but you know we have to grind it out for the remainder of this election cycle through November."
On the local side, Ohio has a U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, who has former President Trump's endorsement.
"At the end of the day, all of this new enthusiasm is super helpful, but the senator has won tough races throughout his whole career," Walters said. "So, we know he's going to keep running hard and we're confident that he'll win in November."
Senator Brown's campaign told 10TV he was never planning to attend the DNC this year so he could focus on campaigning in Ohio and meeting with Ohioans.