TALKS ABOUT CAMPAIGN — Taylor Myers, a Beallsville resident who served as an aide to Ted Strickland during his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat, talks about his experiences on the campaign trail. (Janell Hunter)

MARTINS FERRY — Taylor Myers is a young man who hopes to build a future in Eastern Ohio.

At age 23, he became personal assistant to former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, campaigning across the state during the Democrat’s bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Rob Portman.

Myers grew up in Beallsville and remembers his grandmother giving him advice at age 10 that stuck with him.

“My first political memory is my grandma telling me, ‘Don’t do drugs, and always vote for Democrats,'” Myers said.

Myers attended Marietta College and immediately got involved with student political organizations. He earned a degree in teaching with a focus on history, and he took leadership courses that expanded his interest in politics and public service.

“The teacher leadership course focused on educational policy, and that got me more interested in politics. It taught me how to be a leader in the classroom. I took a course called ‘Excel Workshop’ as a freshman and became a leader in it and mentored others my junior and senior years,” Myers said.

Myers noted that he attended both Republican and Democrat party meetings when he was a student at Marietta College, but he gravitated more toward the Democrats.

“I liked what the Democrats said about strengthening public schools and making charter schools more accountable to the taxpayer. I also looked at inequities in school funding,” Myers said.

He also became interested in issues associated with rural poverty and the need for investment in infrastructure in rural areas, including broadband Internet access.

“We should invest in infrastructure early on to get the greatest payoff because things never get less expensive,” Myers said.

He served as the Marietta College Democrats’ president from 2013-17. During that time he focused on building a relationship with the Washington County Democrat Party, and he had the opportunity to meet many government officials.

“We got involved in local and state races. We campaigned for Will O’Neil and Cathy Downer and did a lot for Lou Gentile. In 2012 I went to a political rally in Athens to see Ted Strickland speak, and something he said there changed my life. He mentioned Lou Gentile in his speech, and said he was “like a son” to him. That statement motivated me to get to know Lou, and Lou invited me up to the Statehouse in October 2012. … I was able to spend a whole day with Lou. It was great watching him in action. It was really special,” Myers said.

Gentile, a Democrat who lost his seat in the Ohio Senate to Republican Frank Hoagland of Mingo Junction in November, made some of his early inroads in politics by working with Strickland. While earning his degree in political science at West Virginia University.

Gentile went to work for Strickland in 2002, serving as his campaign field director and working at his district office in Martins Ferry.

In 2005, Gentile was asked to work on Strickland’s campaign for governor.

Strickland was elected, and Gentile was appointed assistant director of the Governor’s office of Appalachia.

Myers met Strickland at the Ohio Democrat Legacy Dinner in 2015, when Myers gave a talk about his work as president of the College Democrats of Ohio.

“I was lucky enough to have sat next to Strickland at dinner. He asked me what I wanted to do next, and I replied, ‘How about I drive you around the state?’ He took me up on it, and I spent 18 months traveling 70,000 miles on his campaign,” Myers said.

He noted the state of Ohio is extremely diverse and that he enjoyed being on the campaign trail with Strickland.

“Every day is something different. When you campaign, every person matters, and you have to be able to listen to a lot of different opinions. I loved that aspect of the campaign — getting to see a lot of people,” Myers said.

Myers attributed Strickland’s loss in November to the amount of “dark money”– money from super-PACs — spent on behalf of the incumbent Portman and against Strickland.

“The two greatest threats to our democracy are money in campaigns and gerrymandering. These are two things every American should be focused on. The system is rigged. … With gerrymandering, the districts have become too safe for both sides, which has helped both parties become more partisan and extreme. We need nonpartisan drawing of lines,” Myers said. “Right now, lines are drawn to benefit the party in power.”

He noted at one point during the 2016 campaign, more money was actually being spent on the Portman-Strickland race than on the presidential race.

“Millionaires are truly buying our elections,” Myers asserted. “I think if the money was equal, I think Ted wins.”

Myers said the No. 1 issue he thinks Ohio voters care about is jobs, saying that helping the economy grow jobs is a “never-ending project.”

“Our economy is falling behind, and it will take the public and the private sector partnering together. I believe that (Rep.) Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) and Lou Gentile were trying to accomplish that,” Myers said.

Myers said he is weighing options for his near future and would love to stay in the Eastern Ohio area for his career.

“This is home. I would love to be able to stay here, but there are limited options. I have a real passion for education. Teaching is public service as well,” Myers said.