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Which Ohioans Are Heading to Donald Trump's Inauguration?

Six state senators and seven state representatives from Ohio will go to the inauguration, along with many state officeholders. But Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler says there will be many attending who aren’t elected officials, and aren’t even Republicans.

Three of Ohio’s four Democratic members of Congress will attend, along with Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who says he has to work with Trump on trade and infrastructure.

“I’m going to remind him that I’ll work with him on these things and against him if he tries to accomplish a billionaire agenda, which is surely what seems to be what he wants,” Brown said.

Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonidakis, who’s also a Republican strategist, says he’ll be there too: “It’ll be a great opportunity to start the unification process for Ohio Republicans.” 

The Ohio Republican Party, which recently ousted Chairman Matt Borges and replaced him with Jane Timken, of Stark County, won’t be sponsoring a state inaugural ball, though there will be hosting smaller events. The party is said to be having financial problems.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.