U.S. Senate candidate Morgan Harper wants every Ohioan to have the same opportunities she had to get ahead.
Harper, Traci Johnson and Tim Ryan are running in the Democratic primary on May 2 for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who is not running for reelection.
“I lived in a foster home when I was a baby and then was adopted and raised by my mom,” Harper, an Ohio native, told the Mount Vernon News.
She said early life experiences showed her the importance of having even one parent with a stable job and a strong community that allowed them to navigate challenges. Now she wants to ensure everybody gets the chances to realize his or her potential.
After earning a degree at Tufts University, she got a master’s degree in public policy at Princeton University. Her next step was attending Stanford Law School and working in Washington at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“I got to Washington and saw how broken things were and corrupt, and that's why I'm running,” she said. “And that's what I find traveling all over our state, urban, rural suburban areas that people are really looking for folks who just want to get things done and are not so much looking to make a career out of politics.”
She thinks the next U.S. Senators need to make a commitment not to accept PAC money.
On the issues, she wants to get back to the basics to guarantee everyone a fair shot at success.
“I support Medicare for all, universal health care, to ensure that everybody has access to the health care they need, including mental health care, addiction recovery services, regardless of the employment situation,” Harper said, adding that universal health care will support business owners.
Better-paying jobs are needed across Ohio, she said. Her Ohio Opportunity Guarantee follows the Thrive Agenda, which she said will enable the creation of up to 600,000 clean energy sector, high-wage jobs in 10 years.
“Then to work those jobs, we have to make sure that we're creating debt-free training [and] educational opportunities for our young people to continue to be able to have that workforce that's going to make us a state of the future,” she said.
The first legislation she would want to address is for the workforce.
“I really support increasing the federal minimum wage, especially now as we're seeing the cost of food and gas going up,” Harper said.
Public officials need to make sure that people have enough money to live and make sure that jobs are paying more.
“So I support increasing the minimum wage,” she said.
For a Democrat to win the U.S. Senate seat, historic levels of turnout are necessary, she said. That will require a message and a messenger that make people want to vote.
