Led by John Pepper, Jeni Britton, and Richard Stoff, 25 Ohio business leaders are among 275 across the country affirming that our research universities are critical to America’s competitiveness.

Ahead of the 2024 election, over 80 bipartisan Ohio business and thought leaders signed an open letter in support of a constitutional amendment advanced by Citizens Not Politicians to create an Independent Citizen Commission for statehouse legislative and congressional redistricting.

Issue 1 would have ended gerrymandering by empowering citizens, not politicians, to draw fair districts using an open and transparent process. It incorporated best practices adopted by other states like Michigan and Arizona.

Concerned Ohio business leaders signed an open letter expressing opposition to Issue 1. The formerly proposed constitutional amendment threatened the integrity of Ohio’s democratic processes and aimed to ensure that a simple majority could no longer pass constitutional amendments.

The election was held on August 8, 2023, and Issue 1 was defeated 57%-43%, paving the way for a November 2023 reproductive freedom ballot victory and the November 2024 objective redistricting ballot initiative.

In 2022, Leadership Now members and Ohio business leaders—including Albert Ratner and John Pepper—advocated for passage of the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act. This legislation clarified the vice president’s role in certifying presidential elections, raised the threshold for congressional objections, and safeguarded the orderly transfer of power.

By strengthening the Electoral Count Act of 1887, this reform reduced vulnerabilities exploited on January 6, 2021, and reinforced both the stability of our democracy and the predictability of the U.S. business environment.