A conversation with Republican Senate hopeful Matt Dolan: Today in Ohio special episode

CLEVELAND, Ohio – State Sen. Matt Dolan, a Chagrin Falls Republican, realizes he’s taking a different approach to the U.S. Senate race this year.

As one of seven Republicans vying to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman, Dolan has been the lone candidate who hasn’t focused primarily on courting former President Donald Trump. In a special episode of Today in Ohio, Dolan said discussing issues other than Trump might give him a leg up when by the time Election Day is over on May 3.

“I have been all over the state,” Dolan said I have talked to very conservative groups, and when I walk out of that room, I don’t win the whole room for certain, but I win a big part of that room or enough part of that room where they’re saying, ‘You know what, you’re right. I think We do need to focus more on looking forward. On taking on the Biden administration. On setting an agenda for ‘24.’”

Listen online here. An automated transcript of Dolan’s interview can be found at the bottom of this post.

Dolan was the lone candidate to join Today in Ohio, the daily news podcast from cleveland.com, for the special episode recording. Former Treasurer Josh Mandel, former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken, Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons, Delaware County businessman Neil Patel, Columbus-area businessman Mark Pukita and author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance were all extended invitations. Timken and Vance declined while the rest did not respond.

Among the topics Dolan discussed with cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer executive editor Chris Quinn and myself were what the government should do to curb inflation, if Dolan supported extending federal funding for microchip manufacturing through the CHIPS Act, if Ohio should accept Ukrainian refugees, what should be done about mounting student loan debt and what Dolan learned from the coronavirus pandemic.

Today in Ohio also interviewed Democratic Senate hopefuls Tim Ryan, a Niles-area congressman, and Morgan Harper, a former attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley and former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley will also be featured in upcoming episodes on the Democratic gubernatorial contest as will former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci to talk about the Republican gubernatorial election.

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Read the automated transcript below. It has not been edited for grammar or punctuation:

Chris Quinn: [00:00:00] Welcome to a special election episode of today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the plain dealer in our special episodes, we are talking to candidates for statewide office. I’m Chris Quinn. I’m here with our chief political writer, Seth Richardson, who will be conducting this interview.

And today we are talking with Matt Dolan, a Republican candidate for the us Senate in Ohio. Welcome Matt.

Matt Dolan: Thank you, Chris. Thank you, sass. Appreciate you having me on.

Seth Richardson: Yeah, thanks for coming on. I do want to say thank you for doing this. We reached out to all of the, uh, Senate Republican candidates and the rest of them either declined or just simply didn’t respond to the requests.

So, uh, once again, want to say, Hey, we do appreciate you coming on, but let’s go ahead and jump right into it. Uh, obviously one of the biggest issues right now is inflation. And we want to know what you think the government should do to curb inflation.

Matt Dolan: Well I’m first of all, [00:01:00] too, I’m happy to be on because I’m running to be a public servant and my, uh, statements and what I believe in should be known to the public.

So it’s disappointing that I’m the only one. So the first thing you have to do as a public official is you have to identify and acknowledge the problem. And what bothered me was in president Biden, state of the union. Over an hour, he spoke and never once talked about, uh, the high costs that people are facing across the country, including here in Ohio.

So you have to recognize that people are suffering. It costs more to go to the grocery store cost more, to get services. It cost more to pump, uh, fill your gas tank. So, uh, initially let’s talk about the gas tank on day one. President Biden’s made some decisions that interfered with the supply side of the oil and gas industry, specifically the oil and gas industry creation here in the United States.

But of course the demand side didn’t go. [00:02:00] So that immediately set the ball rolling towards, towards inflation. Uh, and of course, to rectify that he is not still not telling America let’s, let’s get back to energy independence. He’s going to Venezuela. He’s going to Iran he’s for a while. He was still working with Russia and OPEC.

So he’s trying to increase the supply side, but he’s really hurting American jobs, Ohio. And America’s independence, the ability to not be dependent on anyone else for the all crucial energy and oil. So that’s number one. Number two is we have to decide what is necessary government spending and what is unnecessary government spending.

And the Biden administration has spent a lot of time. What I would say, an unnecessary government spending flooding the nation with cash. But while, same time disincentivizing folks to go to work, uh, providing, not dealing with the supply [00:03:00] side, not getting goods and services, moving, not dealing enough with the supply chain, not engaging enough with a new economic allies.

So we’re not really, we’re not dependent on China, uh, for their goods in the, and the costs that they, they have to have with us. So federal government needs to play a significant role. Stop. Providing direct money to individuals without tying it to a job. And let me give you an example, a difference between how the Democrats approach it and how I would approach it and have approach it as a Republican, the Democrats in Washington, want to provide the child tax credit.

Well, of course daycare’s an important part of our economy. We need folks to get back into work and they need to know that their child children are safe during the day. Federal government says, here’s a check. It does not require you to get a job. It doesn’t even require you to pay that to daycare. It just provides you the dollar on the assumption [00:04:00] that that money is going to be used for daycare.

How did we do it as Republicans? We set aside $50 million in the budget, and we said, once you get a job and you’re below a certain level of poverty, and that depends on the number of children you have, then you can apply for a grant. To help assist paying for daycare. And the money goes directly to the daycare.

So the provider gets their money. The individual gets their job and the children get daycare. That’s how you solve a problem without flight, without putting more money into the system and not creating disincentives for people to get to work. We want people to get back to.

Seth Richardson: So, um, if you could clarify for me, you think the child tax credit is a net negative in the way that it is currently structured.

Matt Dolan: I think the issue is important. So let’s, let’s be clear here. I think the issue of daycare as being a part of getting people back to work is important. I do not think providing a direct check. [00:05:00] On a monthly basis to individuals with no ties or responsibilities to show that that money actually got spent on daycare, that, that, because you got that money, you were able to take a job.

That’s my problem with how the Democrats and the federal government are approaching this problem. I prefer to address the problem by requiring people to get to work, and then we’ll help with your daycare because we know how important.

Seth Richardson: But can it be argued that it might be difficult for people to get a job if they can’t go out and interview or look for a job because they’re at home taking care of their children?

Matt Dolan: Well, I mean, you can make arguments or excuses all you want. Um, I, there are employers throughout this state who are desperate for workers, whether it be hourly workers, childcare, workers, skilled workers, unskilled workers, um, they will bend over backwards to accommodate employees. Uh, to get a job. [00:06:00] So I, so I do not think that is a valid excuse right now.

Um, you can, you can do it by zoom. You can bring your children to, to the interview. Uh, they’re starving for workers. So we got to create an attitude that, you know, your job is waiting for you. You just gotta want it. And we can’t disincentive.

Seth Richardson: Um, how long do you think that someone should have to have? I have a job before they qualify for the child…