Author

Nick Evans
Nick Evans has spent the past seven years reporting for NPR member stations in Florida and Ohio. He got his start in Tallahassee, covering issues like redistricting, same sex marriage and medical marijuana. Since arriving in Columbus in 2018, he has covered everything from city council to football. His work on Ohio politics and local policing have been featured numerous times on NPR.
Pumping the brakes: Ohio House Speaker dismisses effort to limit court jurisdiction on Issue 1
By: Nick Evans - November 16, 2023
Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens threw cold water on a bid to thwart the recent abortion rights amendment Issue 1. Instead of attempting to deny the courts’ jurisdiction or rushing to the ballot with a repeal effort, Stephens argued lawmakers should focus on maternal and early childhood care. Despite the speaker’s measured response, Democrats remain […]
Ohio Republicans weigh response after losing at the ballot box on abortion, marijuana
By: Nick Evans - November 14, 2023
Lawmakers are back to work and Ohio Republicans are wrestling with the fallout of last week’s passage of Issue 1. In any other circumstance, a 13-point victory amounts to voters sending a clear message. But when it comes to the reproductive rights amendment, some right-wing lawmakers aren’t listening. On the heels of Issue 1’s passage, […]
Ohio’s Issue 1 goes down: Voters keep power to amend state constitution without higher threshold
By: Nick Evans and Megan Henry - August 9, 2023
The Republican-led effort to make amending Ohio’s constitution more difficult has failed. As of 11:45 p.m., unofficial results for the Aug. 8 special election show voters rejected Issue 1 57% to 43%. The Associated Press called the race at 9 p.m. While precincts were still reporting late into the night and absentee ballots will continue […]
J.D. Vance’s transformation from Trump translator to MAGA combatant
By: Nick Evans - August 8, 2022
Since publishing his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” Republican U.S. Senate nominee J.D. Vance has been on something of an ongoing lecture tour. The book wove together the opioid crisis and the challenges of growing up in poverty in an industrial community in decline. But most fortuitous for Vance, it came out as Donald Trump was ascending […]