GOP's terrible record on health care could flip a key Ohio seat blue

In places like Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Troy Balderson barely won an August special election by fewer than 2,000 votes, the issue of health care could help turn a red seat blue.

Republicans in Congress voted over and over again to take away health care from millions of families and strip away protections for people with pre-existing conditions — and they’ve vowed to try again if they maintain control of Congress.

So it’s no wonder that Americans heading to the polls say they trust Democrats to protect them and their families, not Republicans.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, Democrats are more trusted on almost all aspects of health care, including: protecting people with pre-existing conditions; improving rural health care; protecting women’s access to reproductive health care; maintaining the expansion of Medicaid; and protecting the Affordable Care Act.

Democratic nominee Danny O’Connor has made health care a centerpiece of his campaign, and his passion for the issue comes from a very personal place.

While he was in college, O’Connor’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was a scary time,” O’Connor said in a television ad about dealing with the situation.

O’Connor’s mother was able to beat cancer with the help of a new drug — but Republicans in Congress tried to pass a bill that would force 23 million people like her to lose access to health insurance.

“When I think about people wanting to gut the Affordable Care Act and take away health care from folks who have pre-existing conditions, I think of my mom,” O’Connor says.

Republicans in Congress know their cruel health care votes are unpopular — which is why many Republicans are now simply lying to voters about their position.

While Balderson was not in Congress for these votes, he supports efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act — the very law which protects people with pre-existing conditions.

Yet Balderson is trying to have it both ways by claiming he wants to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

Balderson and his fellow Republicans are lying so shamelessly about healthcare, even more conservative pundits are starting to notice.

“Oh my God, they’re all lying,” exclaimed “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough after a video montage of several Republicans claiming they will protect individuals with pre-existing conditions.

Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who recently switched his party affiliation from GOP to independent, reminded viewers that most Republicans across the country “are either suing to make sure that insurance companies don’t have to support pre-existing conditions, or they voted in Congress to make sure that insurance companies don’t have to pay for pre-existing conditions.”

Even according to a Fox News poll, health care is the top issue for voters this fall — and that could be good news for a health care champion like Danny O’Connor.