WESTERVILLE, Ohio– Ohio (and the rest of the Midwest) take center stage at the fourth Democratic debate.

Twelve Democratic hopefuls took the stage at Otterbein University just outside Columbus in the fourth televised debate to state their case for winning your vote.

They opened the night talking about the man who sits in the seat of power they covet. The impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump that has brought lawmaking in the nation’s capital to a halt was round one of the debate. They shared their disdain for Trump’s actions while in office, in one of the rare moments of universal agreement among the candidates.

“Sometimes there are issues that are bigger than politics,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said, “and I think that’s the case with this impeachment inquiry.”

CNN and The New York Times put on the debate. To their credit, they quickly focused the candidates’ attention on many of the issues that are of greatest importance to Ohio and other Midwest states: healthcare, the effect of automation on jobs and the UAW/GM strike.

The debate marked a return to the campaign for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had a heart attack two weeks ago. His signature issue Medicare for All brought about the most vigorous debate, bringing out the sharp elbows.

“We’re competing to be president for the day after Trump,” South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said. “Our country will be horrifyingly polarized, even more than now, after everything we’ve been through, after everything we are about to go through, this country will be even more divided. Why unnecessarily divide this country over health care when there’s a better way to deliver coverage for all?”  

Job losses due to automation and the ongoing fight between the United Autoworkers and General Motors offered the candidates a chance to highlight their plans to improve the economic plight of workers in Ohio and the Midwest.

“I’ve met with these members of the UAW who are striking outside of facilities in Cincinnati, in Lordstown, Ohio, which has just been devastated, decimated by GM and their malfeasance, paying effectively zero in taxes last year,” former Congressman Beto O’Rourke said. “The people of Ohio investing tens of millions of dollars in the infrastructure around there. What they want is a shot. And they want fairness in how we treat workers in this country, which they are not receiving today.”

The candidates also drew contrasts between their records and that of the president.

“I think we need to focus on making sure that we spark job opportunity for people across this country,” former HUD Secretary Julian Castro said. “As I mentioned earlier, here in Ohio, in the latest job data, Ohio is losing jobs under Donald Trump. He has broken his promises to Ohio and the industrial Midwest. I would invest in infrastructure to put people back to work. I would invest in a Green New Deal to unleash millions of new jobs in a clean energy economy.”

Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer made his debate debut. A question about his plans to deal with income inequality gave him a chance to introduce himself to the country.

“As a result of taking away the rights of working people and organized labor, people haven’t had a raise -- 90 percent of Americans have not had a raise for 40 years,” Steyer said. “If you took the minimum wage from 1980 and just adjusted it for inflation, you get $11 bucks. It’s $7.25. If you included the productivity gains of American workers, it would be over $20 bucks. There’s something wrong here, and that is that the corporations have bought our government. Our government has failed. That’s why I’m running for president.”

After a spirited foreign policy debate centered on the president’s recent decision to remove American troops from northern Syria, moderators steered the conversation back to Ohio with questions about gun control and the opioid epidemic. 

There was a point when there were more opioid prescriptions in the state of Ohio than human beings in the state of Ohio,” businessman Andrew Yang said. “And for some reason, the federal government thought that was appropriate. They ended up levying a $600 million fine against Purdue Pharma, which sounds like a lot of money until you realize that the company made $30 billion. They got a 2 percent fine. 

Ohio also came up in a discussion about abortion. Recently passed laws and policies that restrict abortion access drew universal derision from the candidates.

“For any state that passes a law that violates the constitution and in particular Roe v. Wade, our department of justice will review that law to determine if it is compliant with Roe v. Wade and the constitution, and if it is not, that law will not go into effect,” Sen. Kamala Harris of California said.

The next Democratic candidate debate will be Nov. 20 in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The stage could be smaller as the requirements for making the cut will be tougher for the next debate.