Author

Nick Evans has spent the past seven years reporting for NPR member stations in Florida and Ohio. He got his start in Tallahassee, covering issues like redistricting, same sex marriage and medical marijuana. Since arriving in Columbus in 2018, he has covered everything from city council to football. His work on Ohio politics and local policing have been featured numerous times on NPR.
After sluggish summer, some Ohio Republicans predict Vance comeback while others have doubts
By: Nick Evans - August 18, 2022
The dog days of summer are usually the time when political campaigns lay low, biding their time for a post-Labor Day blitz. Tim Ryan didn’t get the message. Ryan poured more than $7.5 million into advertising since winning the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in May. Spending at that clip is a recognition of the challenge […]
State health officials preach prevention as Monkeypox, COVID-19 continue spread
By: Nick Evans - August 12, 2022
Ohio Department of Health officials emphasized calm and caution during an update Thursday. Cases of Monkeypox are on the rise nationally, and COVID-19 continues to spread as children prepare to return to school. Both present challenges, health officials explained, but the state is well-positioned to respond. Monkeypox cases so far have come primarily from to […]
Groups introduce tracker for Ohio’s COVID funds and suggestions for remaining dollars
By: Nick Evans - August 11, 2022
Researchers with the Ohio Poverty Law Center and Advocates for Ohio’s Future have built an online tool to track how state and local governments are spending COVID relief dollars. They also have a few ideas for the nearly $2 billion Ohio has left over. Last year’s American Rescue Plan Act, ARPA, sent more than $10 […]
Dem U.S. Senate nominee Tim Ryan takes aim at his GOP opponent during state fair visit
By: Nick Evans - August 8, 2022
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Tim Ryan bashed his Republican opponent J.D. Vance as “clueless,” and disengaged with policies that matter to Ohioans. Ryan spoke at the Ohio state fair a few days after Vance made a visit of his own. Shortly after judging a ribs and pulled pork competition last Tuesday, Vance declined to weigh in […]
Where are the financial disclosures?
By: Nick Evans - August 5, 2022
Update 8/9/2022: since publishing, J.R. Majewski has filed his disclosures for 2021 and 2022. None of the other candidates referenced in this story have done so yet. A raft of candidates running for Ohio congressional seats this year have so far failed to file financial disclosures with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. […]
Wrapping up Ohio’s Aug. 2 Statehouse primaries
By: Nick Evans - August 4, 2022
Polls closed Tuesday on a displaced and largely neglected primary election in Ohio. Unofficial turnout figures were just 7.93% according to Secretary of State Frank LaRose. But even if turnout was anemic, the results still count, and those results offer a couple of firsts worth highlighting. In Northeast Columbus-area Districts 3 and 9, voters are […]
J.D. Vance’s transformation from Trump translator to MAGA combatant
By: Nick Evans - August 3, 2022
Since publishing his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Republican U.S. Senate nominee J.D. Vance has been on something of an ongoing lecture tour. The book wove together the opioid crisis and the challenges of growing up in poverty in an industrial community in decline. But most fortuitous for Vance, it came out as Donald Trump was ascending […]
At State Fair, Vance downplays funding gap, explains opposition to same-sex marriage bill
By: Nick Evans - August 3, 2022
At the Ohio State Fair Tuesday, J.D. Vance downplayed the gap in fundraising that has opened up between himself and Democrat Tim Ryan. The Republican U.S. Senate nominee also elaborated on his opposition to the Respect for Marriage Act. After a bruising primary, there were concerns that Vance might have a difficult time consolidating support […]
Vance would vote against codifying right to marriage for same-sex couples
By: Nick Evans - July 28, 2022
Republican Ohio U.S. Senate nominee J.D. Vance would oppose legislation to codify the right to marriage for same-sex couples, according to Mission: America, a Columbus based non-profit which bills itself as a ministry. In a joint statement with Ohio Value Voters, Mission: America president Linda Harvey criticized the Ohio Republican congressmen who voted to pass […]
What Ohioans had to say at the America First Policy Summit
By: Nick Evans - July 27, 2022
The America First Policy Institute held a two-day forum in Washington, D.C. capped off with an appearance from former President Donald Trump — his first visit to the nation’s capital since leaving office. “Our country is being dealt one historic humiliation after another on the world stage,” Trump said. “At home our most basic rights […]
Black state lawmakers take aim at Vance over comments likening abortion to slavery
By: Nick Evans - July 26, 2022
A month out from the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Ohio Democrats are doing their best to keep abortion on voters’ minds. The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus is criticizing Republican U.S. Senate nominee J.D. Vance over comments likening the impact of slavery to that of abortion. In an interview with the Catholic Current […]
Ohio state Sen. Fedor offers bill extending unemployment to lower wage workers
By: Nick Evans - July 25, 2022
State Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, has introduced legislation to lower the income thresholds for claiming unemployment. The shift would make it easier for part-time and underemployed workers to receive benefits if they lose their jobs. Under current law, workers must make almost $6,000 and be employed for at least 20 weeks out of the year […]