A conversation with Casey Weinstein
Talking with the Democratic State Representative from Hudson about life in a superminority, his Senate campaign, and why he seemingly drives online trolls to insanity.
One way I judge Democratic state legislators is by how much vitriol they draw from the other side.
In that regard, I’ve come to respect State Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson). Weinstein would be a conservative in my ideal government. But this is Ohio, where anyone to the left of Ronald Reagan’s moldering corpse needs to stick together.
Weinstein, unlike a lot of Democrats in Ohio, has twice proven he can win a district with more red voters than blue. He’s been effective enough in a legislative superminority that he’s running unopposed in a primary for the 28th State Senate District, a safe Democratic set currently held by State Senator Vernon Sykes (D-Akron).
The Rooster spoke exclusively with Weinstein over the weekend about life in the superminority, the failures of Frank LaRose, dealing with online trolls, and more.
What follows is a lightly edited version of our conversation. Weinstein is denoted by “CW” while I’m noted as “TR.”
TR: It’s another day in paradise in Columbus. I’m coming to you live from under the Main Street bridge about a mile from the Statehouse, braving this weather we've got.
CW: It started off not so bad at all for us this [in Hudson] morning, but it's just been steadily accumulating all day. So now we've got a decent, maybe five inches of snow.
TR: Well, at least you ain't got to deal with the commute to Columbus.
CW: I was happy to see the session get canceled [this] week, too. Because [the Republicans] have got this persistent fight going on. They have got a primary to go fight out. So, it seems like the less we're down [in Columbus] that they don't wanna be down there.
TR: That’s what I said when Jake Zuckerman had that cleveland.com story that this has been the least productive Ohio House since the Eisenhower Administration. I was like, “That's music to my ears. The less these guys are working, the better.”
CW: That's absolutely true. That's absolutely true. It's a little exhausting.
The Higher Education Committee that I'm on has been ground zero for a lot of this really bad stuff. It's tough to sit there and do the tough questioning that it takes over and over again on these guys.
TR: It takes a special type of person. I tweeted about a Politico article about a State Senator in a superminority in Wyoming. His one quote was like, “I'm getting the crap kicked out of me about every 20 minutes.”
CW: That's pretty accurate. [House Republicans] are always on offense. […] Except for the first time this year in this [General Assembly]. We've been able to push back at the initiative level with Issue 1 and Issue 2, which hit them like a ton of bricks. I mean, it just shocked the hell out of them.
TR: It really did; it really did.
CW: It was like they were in the bubble burst, and this cold, cold air rushed in, fulfilling a vacuum. It was like the public shocking them.
Of course, [State Senate President Matt] Huffman (R-Lima) immediately snapped back, ridiculously. He was claiming they were gonna put it back on the ballot again. But he was told to come to his senses eventually.
But I'd say just in general, man, there's a thickness and a tension in the air because [the Republican supermajority] is always coming for our most vulnerable citizens, my most vulnerable constituents.
Whether that be kids, the LGBT community, minorities or poor people. I honestly don’t want to say poor, but the people who are struggling. […] It seems like [Republicans] are always on offense coming for them. I feel for them.
It hurts, honestly, that sometimes there's nothing we can do to stop it.
TR: I saw [Center for Christian Virtue president] Aaron Baer after the House voted for the veto override on HB-68.
He was with [Ohio Christian Alliance president] Chris Long and other far-right figures. They were taking celebratory pictures. I was like, “Who's next on your chopping block, brother? You're so far down the totem pole on your cultural grievances that you're picking on transgender children.”
CW: That's actually brilliant. And that really is; you are brilliant with this stuff, with how you come at it, man.
TR: I would redo how I would have joined the scene if I could. I came in a little hot. I was smoking more marijuana than I should have been. But I got that behind me now. Life goes on.
CW: That's good. Although it's perfectly legal. But, no, I don't understand the need to regulate and intervene in others' private lives.
I don't understand it when their decisions are not harming you. So often with these bills, it's not Ohioans, and it's not the people they claim are affected that come to testify. It's people from out of state. It’s some think tank person who workshopped it and said, “Oh, this riles people up. It stokes anger and fear.”
They want to keep people angry and fearful. It wears on you, coming up against that. That's kind of like the same thing you see out there on social media. Particularly against quite a few folks.
TR: That was the crux of the call, man. Honestly, I'm a big believer that you can tell what somebody stands for by their enemies. And I'll go after politicians because that's part of the job.
But what kills me about the people that come after you is that you’re in a superminority.
Your agenda is not getting passed in any way that's offensive to the average Republican voter. And yet you seem to have a knack for developing the nastiest people in your social media mentions, like you’re the King Emperor enacting the Woke Agenda in Ohio.
CW: It's really gone on steroids over the last couple of years. […] First, let me say, it’s lesser this year, but in the past, I'm out there pretty aggressively. I can be in your face on things.
I try to stay on offense as much as I can. I call people out. I can be pretty combative online. So, I absolutely recognize that. But some of the newbies are pretty bold.
[State Representative] Michele Grim (D-Toledo) is in that world. She's a badass. She's absolutely amazing.
TR: She called [Republican State Representative Joshua] Williams a clown the other day. I was like, “Let's go!”
CW: She's tougher than I am. There's no doubt about that.
CW: But, I recognize I am out there as a public official, and I can be combative at times. I can call people out. In particular, [that time with] State Rep. Sara Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula).
TR: The Nazi Princess!
CW: I went hard when [WEWS reporter] Morgan Trau did that interview, and [Rep. Fowler Arthur] said we need to tell the German soldier Nazi perspective.
[I went hard] when [State Senator] Jerry Cirino came and said, “You need to hear out the Nazi denier, the Holocaust denier in the classroom.” I go hard on that shit. I really do.
But [online trolls] come back, not so much on the policy, but on conspiracy theories and deeply personal attacks. They come after my wife. They bring my kids into it. I don't see them doing that with anyone else—bringing family into it.
I think it's a combination [of things]. There was a really vocal group. Hudson was one of those cities that was like [critical race theory] was a big thing, and masks, and vaccines. Everything blew up in Hudson.
I was pretty vocal against that. I was against the book banning and [banning] CRT.
And, you know, we had the mayor who came—I don't know if you remember this— but our crazy-ass mayor, who has since resigned, came and threatened our school board with jail if they didn't ban a certain book.
It got really hot, and I got involved in that. That's really what seems to have triggered it over the last couple of years because our slate of candidates won in that race.
It really sets local people off. They hate me. They absolutely hate me.
TR: They can't beat you, right? […] So how have they tried to undercut you while in office?
CW: I flipped this district in 2018. There are more Republicans than Democrats in it. It triggers them that I win. And I've never had a primary challenger. I'm running in a bluer seat now for the Senate.
I didn't get a primary challenger despite the entire city of Akron being in it because people know I've been present. I showed up there.
But I think to try to answer your question, they really got hard behind my opponent the last two cycles, Beth Bigham.
CW: [Ohio Secretary of State] Frank LaRose came up, I think three times. Frank and I used to be friends, and then he tried to screw me out of my district [in the redistricting process]. He tried to draw me out of my district and then he came up and supported the hell out of my opponent.
TR: That Frank LaRose winning touch!
CW: Right? Did you see that poll that had [Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno] at 27 and LaRose at 11?
TR: It’s beautiful.
That's how it was always gonna go. LaRose had the name ID because he won the two statewide elections. But that was always going away when [State Senator Matt] Dolan and Moreno turned their money cannons on.
Now that Trump is behind Moreno, it’s like, “It’s over for you, Frank.”
CW: Frank got desperate to do something, anything to prove his MAGA bonafides.
But he just kept losing, man. Trump hates losers, too. So, it was a double whammy. He lost [the August Special Election as well as the General Election in November], and then Trump was less likely to endorse him.
But, anyways. [Ohio Attorney General Dave] Yost came up [to campaign against me]. All the House Speaker candidates came up. They've thrown the kitchen sink at me multiple times. They can't beat me. I keep winning by bigger margins every time.
TR: What do you credit that to? Because a lot of Democratic candidates have trouble in those purple seats. What do you credit to your brand in winning over the voters?
CW: I think it's that vocal, loud voice that I have. I will always speak up even if it may not be the most popular opinion.
Voters always are gonna know where I stand on the issues. And they know that I'm gonna defend our district and defend the people I stand up for and stand up against the bullying.
I can't tell you how many people have said, “Hey, I appreciate that you step up and stand up and speak.” I think they credit that.
Of course, sometimes that incites trolling and gets combative—all that stuff. But people appreciate that you're fighting for them and advocating for them. And I've done a pretty good job of communicating to my constituents.
[…]
They appreciate that in a district with more Republicans than Democrats. I won by eight points last cycle. People like authenticity even if they don't agree with everything you say.
TR: It's been nice to see. Because I feel there are some Democrats, you probably know who I'm talking about, but it seems like they’re only there to take the orders and keep their head down.
On the flip side of that, that’s what I tried to tell [Democratic State Representative Elliot Forhan who is embroiled in scandal]. “Just chill out, man.” But he kind of took it the other way.
CW: He did. But yeah, I have no comment on all that.
TR: I’ve heard that—and feel free to tell me to fuck off—but I’ve heard from legislative Republicans, and I’ve seen it with online trolls, but did you sue the military one time?
CW: Yes, I did. That's true. I joined with a group of multi-interfaith cadets to sue the United States Air Force [in a fight for] religious equality and equal treatment at the academy.
TR: Religious freedom is usually a big Republican talking point!
CW: Right? What I experienced at the academy was a lot of people using their government position to [push] their religious views in the institution itself, and it embraced their religious views as a result.
I really felt and still very strongly feel that there should be equal treatment and no position taken by somebody in a government position to push their personal views.
And then you engage the machinery of the state to push them. We had the Christian Seventh Day Adventist and Jewish cadets that joined together to do that.
It was eventually dismissed on standing. My dad, out of that [lawsuit], formed a foundation that fights for religious freedom.
TR: I've heard Republicans insinuate you got some big bag from that.
CW: No, no. They think—I'll tell you the shit they put out there. They're so wrong.
They think I have a trust fund or I'm the recipient of a trust fund. My wife and I do have a trust for our children that we established that if we die our belongings and our money would go into that trust for our children.
They think that I'm a trust-fund kid who gets money, and I'm not disclosing it. They think I'm taking owner-occupancy tax credits on multiple properties. I'm not.
They think I'm getting paid by my dad's foundation. I've never gotten a cent from my dad's foundation.
Their conspiracies about [my wife] Amanda and about me—they've gone off about our kid, who’s adopted. We have two biological girls, and then we adopted our little boy, Brady.
They started tracking down Brady's birth mom in Dayton. They are digging so deep, and what changed for me was when, I don't know if you remember, two years ago, when [right-wing militia members] amassed in front of my house.
CW: The other difference for me is that I am, as far as I know, the only State Representative who has had mass protests outside my home. I take this stuff seriously.
We had 35 trucks and 40-some-odd dudes blocking our driveway a couple of years ago, almost today.
But I don't know what it is. I'm vocal. I speak up in local elections. I'm Jewish, and [former Ohio Health Department director] Amy Acton got it, too.
TR: I wonder what the common thread is there?
CW. Right. Right.
But they are vicious, man.
It’s fueling conspiracies. Luckily it's an echo chamber. But now they've created a fake account of mine. I think I'm the only State Represenative that has gotten a parody account.
I can very much be wrong about that. But they have cloned my account and pretended to be me. It's next level. But the stuff that really upsets me is when they come after my wife and kids.
TR: What's the craziest thing that you've dealt with in that regard?
CW: Well, people showing up at my home. That was an act of intimidation. They take pictures of our car. They've shown those around town. People taking pictures of where I'm at.
I shared on a podcast that I was going to Disneyland for Thanksgiving. Then [the trolls] started sharing, “Oh, he's gonna be out of town for Disney. He's leaving town. He's gonna be in Disney.” They start sharing this shit.
And some of these guys, like this Josh Walker guy. He is deranged.
That dude tries to direct message me half the time and be my buddy, and then he calls me a pedophile.
When they call me a child molester, that triggers certain people. They claim I'm a child molester. That Josh Walker guy does that.
TR: Is that his real name?
CW: Yeah, I think so. I think so. Joshua Walker. He claims I'm a child molesting, child pornographer. But he literally has said the words, “I’m a child molester.”
That worries me about who that triggers.
And then when they share our family's location around town or when we're not home or where we're gonna be on vacation.
I completely stopped sharing images or locations of my family on Twitter a long time ago. But even on Facebook, my wife and I are extra careful about that. We had to lock down our personal accounts, too.
Because they were sharing stuff from my wife's personal Facebook page. Now we’re completely locked down on that. So, like, attacking my kids, attacking my wife, sharing our location, calling me a child molester. Those are things.
Then there are the quasi-threatening things that we take very seriously and are deeply concerning to Amanda and me.
TR: I want to say I respect you for not logging off, for not letting the haters and losers, of which there are many, kick you off the mission.
CW: I appreciate it. I'm going to the Senate, man.
I think that the ultimate thing I can do is stay in it. Keep advocating, keep being vocal keep representing, and keep going.
That’s kind of how I would wrap it up. All [the online hate] really does is show me that I'm doing the right thing if I'm triggering people who are basically bigoted bullies.
You can follow Representative Weinstein on Twitter and Facebook.
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Casey’s my rep, and he is fighting the good fight against a loud minority here in Hudson who want the worst outcomes.
Great discussion. Thank you, TR & CW!