COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTVN) -- National leadership in the Democratic Party are setting their sights squarely on Ohio for a period of time as they collect data and hold conversations ahead of the 2018 midterms.
Grace Meng, Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, visited the Columbus and Cincinnati areas over Father's Day weekend to shake hands and get insights.
"We are very positive. We are very cautiously optimistic about a 'Blue Wave' and about winning the House back. However, we are not there yet. It is still a few months away," Meng tells News Radio 610 WTVN. "I don't want anyone to let their guard up. We still have to continue the work that we are doing. As we have seen results in 43 local seats that have turned from red to blue."
Meng says there is a lot of ground to make up in convincing a majority of Ohio voters to cast ballots for Democrats in 2018, and eventually 2020.
Meng is a Democratic Congresswoman from the New York metro area. We asked her about the investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and what in her view may happen if President Trump were to dismiss Mueller. "What we've seen is very troubling. Manafort was the head of the Trump presidential campaign. We think that we want to see the Mueller investigation be able to continue," she said. She adds, "we want to see the results of the investigation, but what we've seen so far has been troubling. This should concern us not just as Democrats, but as Americans."