Hey, Ohio, Georgia and Pennsylvania: Please save the republic.

Rep. Tim Ryan, Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman are Democratic candidates on 2022's front lines.

Each has won before in their battleground states.

The first election since the Capitol was stormed by an armed mob on Jan. 6, 2021, the importance of Nov. 8 cannot be overstated.

Keep your eyes on the prizes.

My trifecta faces close Senate races with vexing amateur Republican candidates. Case in point: fumbling Herschel Walker of Georgia.

These three "D's" are keys to keeping the airtight 50-50 Senate blue. (See below.)

Americans shall soon see how well our democratic norms hold up. As someone in the siege that day, fervently do I pray the midterms pass without deniers, violence or bloodshed.

But we can't assume political peace — the handshake and concession speech — anymore. Has the damage to democracy been done? Say it ain't so, Joe.

Oath Keepers are an extremist militia that marched into the Capitol on the Olmsted terrace as Congress met to certify the presidential winner: Joe Biden. Five are now on trial for seditious conspiracy, telling it to the judge and jury.

But they're a thimbleful in the ocean of thousands that then-President Donald Trump summoned to a "wild" riot, to overturn the election.

Now to the bellwether battlegrounds. Ohio and Pennsylvania have open seats, which may be majority "pick-ups."

A son of Ohio's heartland, Ryan represents Youngstown. It's seen hard times as good factory jobs left town and country.

At 49, he's won 10 House elections, never wavering in his pitch to the people. Globalization was another word for hard knocks.

Ryan could well win, given that Ohio has a Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown. Once in a blue moon, the red state crosses the color line.

Youngstown is the steel town that Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about: they "made the cannonballs/that helped the Union win the war."

Ryan is running against a political novice. Author J.D. Vance wrote a popular book on his hometown "hillbillies" in Appalachian Ohio.

Trump endorsed Vance, then mocked him at a rally. Vance barely flinched. He's made a lot of money outside of Ohio, mining California gold and venture capital.

Vance's campaign was kept afloat by Trump, Senate Republican funds and Peter Thiel, a high-tech (PayPal) baron.

Ryan's eloquent everyman floor speech ("Holy Cow!") on the Jan. 6 attack was worthy of a modern Demosthenes, the Greek orator. I fell under its spell; nobody else put it that well.

Warnock, 53, is the preacher at Martin Luther King, Jr.'s beloved family church, the Ebenezer Baptist in Atlanta. Elected on Jan. 5, 2021, (yes) he made a mark by lending his pulpit voice to voting rights.

Like Ryan, Warnock plays chords of conviction. Georgia voters are best at nonviolent resistance, standing in long lines to vote.

Looking like a woodcutter, John Fetterman, 53, lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania would shock the Senate and bring fresh blood to the aging body. He's a stark contrast to Dr. Mehmet Oz, one more candidate who's never faced voters.

Campaigning takes talent and skill. It's not beanbag.

Television celebrity Oz telegraphs as elitist, with 10 houses and expensive tastes (like "crudite.")

Yet Oz gained ground by seizing advantage of the stroke Fetterman suffered this spring. NBC News didn't help, noting Fetterman had trouble with "small talk."

Good for Fetterman, honest about minor stroke effects. That fits his straight-talking persona.

The late Sen. Robert Byrd, an old-school enforcer, would insist Fetterman don a coat and tie for the floor. He might liken the slick Oz to a "snake-oil salesman."

Last, let me show some faith in Wisconsin. Somehow, it sent the best and worst of senators in history, Robert La Follette and Joseph McCarthy, to Washington.

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is a boor, with few friends in his party. He said his young Black opponent, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, "turned against America."

Whoa, Nellie.

Note each state has a red rural/blue city divide. But we're not a big small town; the pioneer frontier is closed. Still, the Senate favors those Republican states with small populations, like the Dakotas.

It's only fair for city voters to have their day and sway.

(The vice president breaks the tie in a 50-50 vote.)

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. Follow her on Twitter @JamieStiehm. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit Creators.com

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