Susan Cavendish has four kids. One of them, her five-year-old son, is autistic.

"There was a time when he was considered nonverbal," she said this week, standing outside Mike Carey's Columbus office. "But in large part, due to the services and support he has received, he has made progress that at one time seemed unobtainable."

Those services come through Medicaid, public schools, and publicly funded childcare. Her family's food help has already been cut.

"It has become increasingly difficult to make up the differences and make sure my children are getting the nutrition they need," she said. "When you cut SNAP, people do not suddenly need less food. Children do not suddenly become less hungry."

More than a dozen people were out there with her. Carey's office did not respond when the Ohio Capital Journal asked for comment.

What his vote did to his own district

Carey voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — Trump's budget bill. Here is what that means in Ohio's 15th Congressional District, which covers Madison County and parts of Franklin, Fayette, Clark, Shelby and Miami counties:

• 220,200 residents in the district are on Medicaid.
• 12% of households in the district get SNAP food benefits.
• An estimated 33,000 people in the district could lose health coverage by 2034.
• $40.4 million in special education funding is at risk.

Statewide, the damage has already started. More than 100,000 Ohioans — including more than 50,000 children — have lost their SNAP benefits since the bill made the deepest cuts to food aid in the program's history. About 113,000 Ohioans have already lost health coverage after the tax credits that made insurance affordable expired. And the bill's new Medicaid work requirements could push 356,000 Ohioans off their coverage.

Carey's own description of that bill, back in May 2025:

"The One Big Beautiful Bill Act offers momentous tax relief that will help workers, families, seniors, farmers, and small businesses live the American Dream."

Momentous tax relief. Susan Cavendish is trying to buy groceries.

"Congressman Carey, our people matter too"

The protest was part of the Center for Popular Democracy's national "Care Over Cruelty" August recess campaign, joined locally by Progress Grove City, Parents United for Public Schools, and the Ohio Organizing Campaign.

Kate Terenzi of the Center for Popular Democracy laid out the ask plainly:

"Health care, education, and food must come before tax cuts for billionaires, ICE, data centers, and another endless war. We need care over cruelty."

Michelle Bolzenius, whose daughter has special needs, made the education point:

"Public schools are asked to educate every child who comes through their doors. That promise matters tremendously to families of children with disabilities. But we cannot expect schools to fulfill that responsibility without giving them the resources to do so."

And Jen Belt, an organizer with Protect Grove City, put the question directly to him:

"We hear about jobs. We hear about economic development, we hear about winning the race for artificial intelligence, and yes, economic growth matters, jobs matter, investment matters, but Congressman Carey, our people matter too."

The pattern: he doesn't answer

"Carey's office did not respond to a request for comment" is not a one-off line in one story.

We wrote in August about his telephone town hall — the one he promised on Facebook and X to post the call-in number for, and then never did. His office put out a press release afterward celebrating that 12,000 people joined. WOSU has tried to interview him 17 times, knocked on his door, and left a note at his office.

This is a congressman who is happy to tell you what he did. He is much harder to reach when you want to ask him about it.

It fits the rest of the record. Before Congress, Carey was a registered lobbyist on House Bill 6 — the law at the center of Ohio's biggest bribery scandal, which cost Ohioans $683 million. And a month after taking a $3,500 check from Les Wexner, he voted to keep the Epstein files sealed.

Who's asking

Carey faces Democrat Don Leonard in November. Leonard beat former state Rep. Adam Miller in the primary with nearly 53% of the vote.

"I'm a Medicaid kid," Leonard told the Ohio Capital Journal. "Those programs gave me a shot at the American Dream. Why would he take that same opportunity away from kids today?"

Carey won the seat in a 2021 special election and has held it since. The Cook Political Report rates the district "Likely Republican" — which is another way of saying he has not had to answer for much.

Ohio's Republicans in Congress voted for this together, and we've laid out what the whole delegation's votes are costing the state. But 220,200 Medicaid enrollees and $40.4 million in special education funding are Mike Carey's constituents and Mike Carey's numbers.

He can keep not returning calls. The bills are still arriving.

Source

Megan Henry, "Ohioans criticize Ohio US Rep. Mike Carey for cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and education", Ohio Capital Journal, August 20, 2026. Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal.