Ohioans for Medical Marijuana announced Monday that it has formed a campaign team to support its initiative to establish a comprehensive medical marijuana program in Ohio.
Brandon Lynaugh, a veteran of more than a dozen statewide ballot issue campaigns, will serve as campaign manager. Lynaugh most recently served as campaign manager for No on 3, which led the effort to defeat the Responsible Ohio initiative last year.
“We’re excited to have Brandon at the helm of our Ohio campaign,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which is supporting Ohioans for Medical Marijuana. ”His extensive experience with ballot issues and his history of standing up for Ohioans make him the right person to lead our team. He is committed to establishing a sensible, fair, and compassionate medical marijuana program that will benefit countless seriously ill Ohio residents.”
Lynaugh’s support for establishing legal access to medical marijuana stems from his experience with a close family member who suffers from epilepsy.
“I know that helpless feeling that families have when they watch someone they love have an epileptic seizure,” said Lynaugh. ”Passage of this amendment will help bring relief to the suffering of thousands of patients and their families. It’s a personal issue for me and I would not turn down the opportunity to be a part of it.”
Ohioans for Medical Marijuana also announced the addition of Trevor Vessels as deputy campaign manager, Aaron Marshall as director of communications, and Lee Roberts as political director.
Vessels is a Republican political operative with more than 15 years of campaign experience. In 2014, he had nine candidate and ballot issue clients and served as campaign manager for a successful statewide race.
Marshall is a former award-winning reporter who spent seven years covering the Statehouse for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He most recently worked as a senior writer in executive communications for Ohio State President Michael Drake, and is a proud graduate of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs with a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Management.
Roberts is a Democratic political operative who brings a decade of experience working in local, state, and national politics. His past work includes managing the 2009 Columbus Income Tax increase, managing Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s 2011 re-election campaign, and serving in Mayor Coleman’s office, where he focused on public safety issues.
They join the team of Lissa Satori, Michael Revercomb, and John Pardee who joined the effort in February as campaign coordinators.
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Ohioans for Medical Marijuana is supporting a 2016 ballot initiative to establish a comprehensive medical marijuana program in Ohio. For more information, visit https://OhioansForMMJ.org.
