A group of former college athletes who assert that an Ohio Congressman covered up their sexual abuse is hoping one Democrat who’s relatively new to the political game will unseat him on November 8.

The survivors are all victims of sexual violence perpetrated by former Ohio State University physician Richard Strauss and they have brought their advocacy to Ohio’s 4th U.S. House District Race, where neophyte Democratic hopeful Tamie Wilson faces a struggle against incumbent Republican Jim Jordan, NBC4 reports.

The athletes, who were all abused by Strauss from 1978 to 1998, under the ruse of medical exams, gathered outside Ohio Stadium while an Ohio State football game was occurring. Some wore #MeToo Jordan Knew T-shirts and they argued that Jordan is unfit for office because he failed to protect them from a predator.

“Character matters,” said Wilson. “If this guy is going to be a part of sexual abuse, he’s not going to defend the Constitution or our country.”

It’s certainly an indication that Jordan, who supports Donald Trump, is content to sit and do nothing in the middle of an ongoing tragedy. We may not know, for instance, what role he may or may not have played in the January 6 attack on the Capitol because he has continually dodged the Jan. 6 committee’s request that he testify. When these young athletes were being abused, Jordan just looked the other way.

That’s just how this guy is built.

Jordan served as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State from 1987 to 1995, and he repeatedly denies accusations that he knew what Strauss was up to. NBC4 reports Jordan’s office hadn’t responded to requests for comment at press time.

When the allegations emerged in 2018, Jordan claimed “The number of wrestlers who have reached out to me, who’ve said this is complete bologna, we’ve got statements that have been sent to us, people willing to help and tell the truth. We’ll continue to get that information out.”

But a May 2019 investigation conducted by Perkins Coie LLP casts some aspersions on that, having found that the public remained largely uninformed about this, even including some of those victimized by Strauss. The firm also found that university personnel at the time already knew about the complaints and concerns surrounding Strauss’s conduct beginning in 1979 and failed to investigate the situation.

The acts took place in the locker room and in Strauss’s home and hundreds of victims have come forward, telling the story of invasive, medically unnecessary genital exams conducted by Strauss from 1979 to 1996.

“When we were 18 years old, we were easy to manipulate and be lied to and used as pawns in a sense,” said former wrestler Tom Lisy, a survivor of Strauss’s abuse.”

The young men turned to anyone they could — from young assistant coaches like Jordan to then-student health director Dr. Ted Grace. Hundreds of men did this but their complaints fell on deaf ears.

How sad.

“His coverup of the OSU sexual assault is the real crime, the real slight,” Lisy said. “There’s guys I know who trained with him everyday and they went through a journey together and he has completely turned his back to them.”

Lisy also said he thinks it’s important to remember that during this time Jordan, who was 23 or 24, was in the lower echelon of the team’s hierarchy, with more powerful individuals above him.

“That was Jim Jordan as a 20-something-year-old,” Lisy added. “Now, he’s not a 20-something-year-old anymore, and he knows what happened. Now, he’s gonna lie.”

Those who were victimized by Strauss are hoping that Wilson will gain strength because the district that Jordan serves has been redistricted and lawmakers have redrawn Ohio’s congressional maps this year. And the Democratic candidate believes this is in her favor because people in this district are new constituents. A goodly number of them live in the Columbus suburbs of Delaware County.

Not everyone is as optimistic about this, however. Dr. David Niven, an associate professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, said the district’s new shape has been largely gerrymandered to favor Jordan and it’s expected this could give him a margin of victory of 35 percent or more in November.

“The bottom line … Jim Jordan gets the benefit of Ohio geography, which is there’s an awful lot of Republicans in the rural, western half of Ohio,” he said. “And he gets the benefit of that come Election Day.”

Lisy and other assault victims would like Wilson to pack a little more meat into her campaign. But he and the others ultimately believe that unseating a man who allegedly turned his back on them will be a definite victory.

“The reason I’m out here protesting, we’re helping someone else be empowered, we’re helping someone else not be a victim,” Lisy said. “Maybe we’re raising awareness. I’ve put up signs — that’s what I’ve got left on this thing. It was never about the money because if it was, I would have just taken the money and ran.”

And Wilson herself has made her feelings known about Jordan’s alleged keeping silent on this tragic issue. Kudos to her, and let’s get this cancerous Trump supporter out of the Senate.

My opponent Jim Jordan continues to lie about knowing of the Ohio State doctor sexual abuse. I’ve talked to the wrestlers. Jim knew. Help me beat him! Please retweet, spread the word to get us to 102K followers and join our fight to beat Jim Jordan.

— Tamie Wilson (D) for US Congress (OH-4) (@TamieUSCongress) September 13, 2022

Retweet if you believe male sexual abuse needs to be addressed.

I stood with the Ohio State wrestlers at the Buckeyes football game. Jim Jordan knew of the sexual abuse and did nothing. He looked the other way. He covered it up.

Spread the word. We need Justice for the abused! pic.twitter.com/yjn5OXxdoV

— Tamie Wilson (D) for US Congress (OH-4) (@TamieUSCongress) September 5, 2022