COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new nonpartisan organization wants to be an unbiased resource for Ohioans to learn about the issues and policies facing the state.

What You Need To Know

  • Ohioans Against Extremism is a new 501(c)(4) organization created to share honest information about issues and policies with voters 

  • The group is not backed by any party and says it plans to fight any far left or far right bills by using nonpartisan experts and facts

  • Besides sharing information with voters at ohagainstextremism.org, the organization plans to hold educational sessions across the state

Ohioans Against Extremism officially launched Wednesday night in Columbus. Organizers said the purpose is to use facts and experts to combat policies on the extreme ends of both sides of the political spectrum.

“We’re going to focus on the stuff that everyone can agree on,” said Ohioans Against Extremism Executive Director Maria Bruno. “Decency is good. Honesty is good. Following facts, logic, science. All these things are good.”

Bruno said the group’s goal is not to tell people how to vote, but to be a reliable resource for information about what’s happening in the state and local levels of government.

“We want to hold people accountable, but we want to do that in a way that’s productive and not mean for the sake of mean,” she said. “Or partisan for the sake of partisan. We really want to get out of that and get to solutions.”

She said sharing information about statewide Issue 1, the proposed amendment to Ohio’s constitution aimed at preventing gerrymandering, is something they plan to focus on ahead of November’s ballot.

“It’s nice to see an organization which isn’t about promoting a particular party or a particular candidate or even a particular policy,” said Mia Lewis. “It’s just about saying, ’Let’s cut the nonsense, let’s be sane.’”

Besides sharing information with voters at ohagainstextremism.org, the organization plans to hold educational sessions across the state.