Bryan Hambley – candidate for Ohio Secretary of State

Official Campaign Website:

Social Media:

To contribute:

  • Via Online:
  • Via U.S. Postal Service. Please make checks payable:
    • Hambley for Ohio
      545 East Town Street
      Columbus, OH 43215

To contact the campaign:

Dr. Bryan Hambley decided to run because:
“I care about Ohio, and I have seen my patients and
our communities suffer from a broken and gerrymandered democracy.”

MEET BRYAN

Bryan grew up on a small family farm in a tight-knit community where he saw the impact of people coming together. When he was a child, the state tried to shut down his town’s small public school. The town of 800 people got into their trucks, drove to the state capitol, and made their voices heard to save the school, the heart of their community. His parents taught him this was democracy at its best: a community rallying to do together what no one could do alone.

Ever since, Bryan has committed his life to fighting for what’s right. He has organized communities around key issues.

  • Fighting against pharmaceutical companies using their money to buy influence in hospitals.
  • Bringing critical health care to underserved communities.
  • Standing up for the right to vote and be heard.

As a cancer doctor who cares for leukemia patients, Bryan has helped hundreds of patients and families as part of a team of dedicated nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and physicians. In that time, he’s seen how outrageous healthcare costs are bankrupting families, health insurance denials are delaying urgent chemotherapy, and rural hospitals and nursing homes are closing and leaving communities without quality care. And yet, Ohio’s government has been silent on these and other vital issues. A rigged and unresponsive legislature prioritizes politicians over citizens. Bryan is running because caring for his patients and his community cannot end at the hospital door.

The people of Ohio deserve better. When Ohio’s Secretary of State used misleading ballot language in 2024 to confuse voters and maintain unfair districts, Bryan organized medical professionals across the state to fight back. He took his two young children door to door to talk with neighbors about how gerrymandering leads to an unresponsive and ineffective government. These conversations confirmed that Ohioans all want the same thing: a state government that works for the people.

His wife, best friend, and partner, Jana, is a trauma surgeon, and together they have two wonderful children– ages 5 and 7. They are teaching their children the same commitment to democracy and to fighting for what is right that Bryan learned from his parents.

Bryan is running for Secretary of State because he has seen how his patients and our communities suffer from a broken and gerrymandered democracy. He is passionate about making our democracy work. But, he cannot do this without you; Ohio needs a community of people working together to care for Ohio, and strengthen our state.

Join his team now in building a better Ohio. To volunteer, please visit here.

ISSUES

Fair and Competitive Districts

Voters should choose their elected representatives, yet, in Ohio, our politicians get to choose their voters.

Time and again those in power have used gerrymandering to fix elections. Our broken system for drawing political districts allows incumbent politicians to decide the boundaries of their own districts, enabling them to draw their way to a safe seat and unchallenged power.

It’s time for a change. Our communities deserve to have representative voices in Columbus and in Washington. Our democracy needs fair competition to hold politicians accountable and give voters a real choice.

The voters of Ohio have spoken repeatedly that they want fair districts. The only reason politicians are still in control of the process is the result of current Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s policies. On August 16, 2024, in an act The Columbus Dispatch called a ‘scheme to suppress the will of the people’, LaRose used his office to approve deceptive ballot language to undermine State Issue 1 and mislead voters. That should never have happened.

As Secretary of State, I will use my office to fight for fair and competitive electoral maps. For a better Ohio, we should take the redistricting power out of the hands of politicians, and place it where it belongs- with citizens.

Make Ballot Initiatives Fair

Have you ever read a ballot initiative and found it confusing? In Ohio, this has been intentional, as politicians try to confuse and mislead voters to get the result they want. 

Ballot initiatives are those rare times when voters get a direct say in what happens in Ohio. Unlike voting for a candidate in an election, a ballot initiative allows voters to decide an issue without a middleman. Voters choose, not politicians.

This is the most direct form of democracy we have at the state level in Ohio. Yet, current Secretary of State Frank LaRose has undermined the process. LaRose’s office has twice put forth intentionally confusing ballot language for State Constitution amendments. In 2023, they made the reproductive rights amendment intentionally deceptive, and in 2024 purposefully misconstrued the outcome of a “Yes” vote for the anti-gerrymandering initiative.

No Secretary of State should use their authority over ballot language to confuse voters to get the result they want. The Secretary of State’s job is straightforward: to make sure the language on our ballots is understandable and unmistakable.

As Secretary of State, I will make certain the playing field is fair by ensuring ballot initiative language is clear and precise. Ballot initiatives should be written in language voters can understand, so their voices can be heard.

Engage Ohioans In How Our Government Works

The strength of our democracy lies in our citizens: a state full of people who know how their government works and how to hold politicians accountable.

As a leukemia physician, I see insurance companies deny care to patients while increasing their profits. These special interests know how to manipulate our democracy, leaving average citizens out in the cold.

As Secretary of State, I will partner with educators across the state to make nonpartisan election resources available in every one of our schools. Together, we will foster the next generation of citizens by promoting civics education inside and outside of schools so that all citizens know how to use our democracy to make Ohio work better for everyone.

Make Every Vote Count

In a democracy, voting is a sacred act.

Therefore, the core duty of Ohio’s Secretary of State is to ensure every eligible voter in the state can vote, that each vote is counted, and that no one is allowed to interfere with that process.

As Secretary of State, I will combat the misinformation about our elections that undermines trust and confidence in the basic duty of our government to hold fair elections. My office will always provide authoritative and accurate information about the voting process.

The current administration has repeatedly changed rules around who can drop off absentee ballots, even limiting the assistance caregivers can provide disabled Ohioans, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Voting Rights Act. Frank LaRose asked the State Legislature to pass a law banning drop boxes all together, adding more bureaucratic forms and red tape to a process which should be easy and secure for all Ohio citizens. We must ensure that every Ohioan entitled to vote can register and cast their ballot without unnecessary barriers.

Volunteer and paid poll workers and election officials across our state are the backbone of our election system. I will invest in the education and support of these workers to whom our state owes a debt of gratitude–regular Ohioans who give their time and energy to make our democracy work.

ARTICLES