Jim Jordan has represented Ohio's 4th District since 2006. He hasn't held a
public town hall since 2017. This week I sat down with Joshua Kolasinski, the
Democrat running against him, for a full hour on what he'd actually do in
Washington and how he plans to reach voters in a district that isn't close.
We got into a total stock trading ban for members of Congress and their spouses,
term limits, universal health care versus a public option, property taxes and
school vouchers, data centers taking water and power without leaving much behind,
Flock cameras and the Fourth Amendment, and immigration. Springfield sits in the
4th District under the new map, so we also talked about the Haitian TPS
revocations, the ankle monitors, and the 20 year old who died in Clark County.
Political solutions without political bias.
https://www.joshuaforohio.com/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome and why the 4th District matters
00:58 Joshua Kolasinski introduces himself
03:26 Outdoors, Yellowstone, and twelve years out west
08:43 Why he decided to run against Jim Jordan
14:46 Universal health care and what insurance has become
18:39 Public option versus Medicare for All
24:38 A total stock trading ban for members of Congress
27:32 Term limits and Ohio's office shuffling problem
32:05 Jim Jordan has not held a public town hall since 2017
36:08 His pitch to independents and Republican voters
46:12 Property taxes, school vouchers, and public school funding
50:50 Data centers, tax breaks, and who pays
55:55 Flock cameras and the Fourth Amendment
59:59 Springfield, Haitian TPS, and the death of a 20 year old
01:08:51 Redistricting and what the new OH-4 map changed
01:12:16 Closing and the 30 second pitch
ABOUT THE GUEST
Joshua Kolasinski is the Democratic nominee in Ohio's 4th Congressional District.
He is a husband, a father of three, a small business owner, and a Christian. He
grew up in Toledo, spent twelve years working at ski resorts and national parks
out west, and now lives in Delaware, Ohio. He ran unopposed in the May 5
Democratic primary. His campaign site is joshuaforohio.com.
WHAT WE COVERED
He says he got in the race after asking his county Democratic chair whether
anyone was running against Jim Jordan and finding out nobody had filed. His
central argument is that the corruption in Washington is not hopeless, and that
believing it is hopeless is itself the thing that keeps it in place.
On Congress: a total stock trading ban covering members and their spouses, with
actual enforcement rather than late disclosure reports nobody reads. Term limits
of two six year terms in the Senate and six two year terms in the House,
effective immediately rather than phased in decades from now.
On Jim Jordan: no public town hall since 2017, meetings scheduled early in the
morning with friendly audiences and announced afterward. Kolasinski pledged a
public in district town hall every quarter if elected, and said he would like
Jordan's own supporters to help him press for a public forum on Jordan's home
turf.
On health care: he argues insurance has drifted from pooled risk into a for
profit business that uses AI to deny claims. He described a three thousand dollar
bill for his son's broken arm with insurance. Pressed on whether he would accept
a public option if Medicare for All could not pass, he said it was worth
exploring but worried it would be sabotaged by the same interests.
On property taxes: fully fund public education at the state and federal level,
and stop routing public money to private school vouchers, which he argues forces
districts back to levies. He also wants more transparency in how property values
are being reassessed.
On data centers: no more tax breaks without something coming back. Return water
as clean as it was taken, feed energy back into the grid, build on closed
industrial sites rather than working farmland. He is skeptical of Republicans
making similar promises now, arguing the tax breaks and nondisclosure agreements
are already signed.
On Flock cameras: he wants them gone, framing it as a Fourth Amendment question
and pointing to misuse by officers and misreads that could put someone at
gunpoint over a bad plate match.
On immigration: he argues Haitian TPS holders are being treated indiscriminately
rather than case by case, and that TPS was a legal status. He talked about the 20
year old who died in Clark County as exactly the kind of immigrant the country
should want to keep.
RESOURCES
ALIVE Podcast Network: https://alivepodcastnetwork.com/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/purplepoliticalbreakdown
Discord: https://discord.gg/ptPAsZtHC9
r/PolicySolutions: https://www.reddit.com/r/policysolutions/
Independent Center: https://www.independentcenter.org/
Living Room Conversations: https://livingroomconversations.org/
Us United: https://www.us-united.org/
HeadOn: https://app.headon.ai/
CIVICS App: https://www.civicpolitics.com
