Editor’s note: The Portager publishes letters to the editor from the community. The opinions expressed are published not because they necessarily reflect those of the publication but because we feel they contribute meaningfully to the local discourse on matters of public interest.
Recently, a friend of mine was accosted at a non-partisan event by Heidi Workman. Candidate Workman got within a foot of my friend’s face and tried to provoke a shouting match, at the least. Luckily, my friend was able to keep her composure and avoid a verbal or physical altercation.
Candidate Workman also called my friend a “constituent.” Candidate Workman is just that – a candidate, not already elected. She has no constituents. In fact, after even the slightest criticism, Candidate Workman has blocked people from her numerous Facebook sites and her X page. She then accuses people of “hatred and vitriol.”
Her own hatred and vitriol was reserved for immigrants. Candidate Workman seems obsessed with the idea that immigrants are taking over Portage County, after seeing “a gathering of Hispanics at West Branch.” State Park Rangers have repeatedly refuted this after multiple inquiries. She repeatedly stated that she does not believe that any immigrant who isn’t naturalized is illegal; no matter that there are immigrants who are here on visas (especially at Kent State University) or on Temporary Protected Status like the well-maligned Haitians in Springfield, which is, by the way, out of her district. She does not believe in asylum. She also claimed that immigrants are taking over the housing in Portage County, while at the same time, stating that they were also living in the woods, taking all of our money, and all of our jobs.
Heidi Workman clearly does not understand how the economy relies on valid visa-holding immigrant workers. She would rather deport all of them. She has thin skin, such that she blocks anyone from her Facebook and X pages if she is challenged; yet she is aggressive enough to pick serious fights, and is willing to do it in public. She is not fit to be our next State Representative. She has no political experience whatsoever, and does not deserve our votes.
Vote for Nathaniel Adams.
— Elizabeth Stapleton, Kent
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