The Free Press has asked this before to some high-profiled state Democrats: Who on earth is trying to turn the tide in deep-red rural Ohio?  

Shrugs and blank looks are their answers. There is no rural Dem strategy. Hasn’t been one in a long time. But there are grassroots Democrat candidates who have been pushing back, yet not being properly funded by the state party. Such as Tamie Wilson of Ohio’s 4th congressional district. She’s a mom, a small business owner, and a patriot who’s a descendant of veteran families. She’s a granddaughter of a WWII veteran and has two uncles named after Presidents.

March 19 will be Wilson’s second Dem primary. She won her first primary by herself in 2022 with just $2,500 in her campaign chest, beating a candidate who had $1 million in contributions, a team of experts, and 60 volunteers.

True, the Ohio 4th congressional district, north and northwest of Columbus, includes the state’s fastest growing county in Delaware County, but the sprawling, gerrymandered district is mostly farmland and small to medium towns such as Ashland and Marion. What makes so many progressive or left women cringe across America is how Rep. Jim Jordan and his smirk, chair of the House Judiciary Committee and nearly became Speaker of the House, has essentially owned the district since 2006.

Wilson lost to Jordan in 2022, getting nearly 90,000 votes in defeat. But she stays beyond determined because she’s authentic not phony. The Delaware County resident is likeable, warm hearted and down to earth. So, the Free Press asks this to all of Ohio’s 4th congressional district: Don’t be fooled by all of MAGA’s rocks, she’s Tamie from the Block.

“I come from a very loving and caring family,” Wilson told the Free Press when asked what inspired her to seek such a high office. “The rise in racism from Trump is something I can’t stand. Never in my lifetime have we had a leader such as that. Our leaders are supposed to bring out the best in us, not the worst in us. So, watching the rise in racism and domestic terror groups, and watching how they treated Obama, is just absurd.”

Without a doubt, a large chunk of Ohio’s rural voters gravitated towards Trump and MAGA because they couldn’t believe or accept that an African American had won the White House. Worse in some ways is how the allure of MAGA’s culture of “this is all about me and I deserve more, more, more” was also irresistible.

Disturbing but not surprising is how this relates to Jordan and his leadership in the district.

“This district has been ignored, forgotten, and just abandoned for 17 years. He doesn’t do anything. He’s voted against the people 97 percent of the time. He votes against every single bill. He voted against the Violence Against Women Act,” said Wilson.

“I’ve always been that person to help people. It’s just in my blood to help people. It agonizes me that people are suffering and are voting against their better interest. I am constantly thinking, strategizing, and re-strategizing about what I can do to help. I know that if your life is better, you’re going to help make a positive impact on the people’s lives around you. When we do better, everyone does better. That is the core of my essence and what I am trying to do.”

What a lot of people in the district don’t know about, she says, is Jordon’s role in the Dr. Richard Strauss sexual abuse scandal at Ohio State. Strauss is alleged to have abused 177 male students from 1978 to 1998, and Jordan, who was a wrestling coach at the time, is accused of turning a blind-eye. Wilson, on the other hand, has become a confidant and a source of hope for the victims. She’s learned through them that 1 in 4 boys are sexually abused while taking part in athletics. She recently went to Washington to advocate for the OSU victims.

“I’m a true Buckeye fan. But we also need to acknowledge they really failed the students from not protecting the students from that rapist. They enabled the rapist,” she says.

Wilson, who has become a national Dem star in ways through her Twitter account , which mostly criticizes Jordan, says she’s never met him.

“He won’t come near me. He won’t debate me. He’s afraid of me. He doesn’t acknowledge me, but he responds to me,” she says. “Last year I went to the Champaign County Fair, and I went on Twitter saying you’re never here and he was there the next week.”