COLUMBUS – Five Republican presidential candidates will be among the speakers to address a convention of conservative activists in Columbus this weekend, though the party’s current front-runner and the governor of the host state, who is also seeking the 2016 nomination, are notably absent.
Meanwhile, hundreds of union workers and their supporters demonstrated and marched in downtown Columbus to protest the politics of billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch and their flagship conservative organization, Americans for Prosperity, which sponsored the event inside the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Protesters chanted “Right-to-Work is wrong!” and bore signs reading “Stop the War on Workers” and “It’s About Freedom.” A puppet lampooning Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who fought unions in his state, bounced amid the marching crowd.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana will speak to approximately 3,500 people during Americans For Prosperity’s signature event, the Defending the American Dream Summit, at the Convention Center Friday and Saturday.
Gov. John Kasich and real estate billionaire Donald Trump led a recent poll of Ohio Republican voters but neither is on the convention’s agenda.
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Congressman Jim Jordan are also on the list of speakers.
The convention is in session from 1:45 p.m. until 4:45 p.m. Friday and from 2:00 p.m. too 5:00 p.m. Saturday.
The Ohio AFL-CIO helped organize the march in the Arena District on Friday to call attention to income equality in the U.S. The union’s president, Tim Burga, says Americans For Prosperity, which is funded by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, is responsible for policies that harm the middle class.