Election: Voters beware, O'Ban deceives

In the 28th legislative district state senate race, incumbent Republican Steve O’Ban is pitted against Democrat Marisa Peloquin. The incumbent has spent his time and money confusing voters about what he stands for.

Voters should know O’Ban gets much of his campaign money from ALEC, which is a reason why he is able to afford all the signs you see around the district and television advertisements. ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, is deeply involved in right-wing projects and gets its money, in part, from the Koch Brothers, famous for Koch Industries, a polluting gas and oil company.

O’Ban was a lawyer for the right-wing Evergreen Freedom Foundation, which got its money from the Walmart heirs, and works hard to destroy public schools and the teachers’ unions by supporting charter schools. He also avoids controversy as much as he can.

This year, as well as in 2014, O’Ban agreed to participate in a candidates’ forum sponsored by Faith Action Network, held on October 4. He was given a choice of dates in August, said they were all fine, and then two weeks before the appointed date, he suddenly developed a conflict.

Vote for Peloquin

This story was originally published October 12, 2016 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Election: Voters beware, O'Ban deceives."