Adam Holmes, who represents both Muskingum and Guernsey Counties in the Ohio House of Representatives, spoke early Friday morning on an amendment that would ban the sale and display of Confederate memorabilia, including flags, at the state’s county fairs.

Holmes, a 30-year Marine Corps veteran, voted along party lines to table the vote saying that, “it would be wrong to leverage a county fair, and what the objectives are of that fair, to make a political point.”

“Symbols mean things, and they don’t always mean the same things to people,” said Holmes who referenced his own military service in regards to fighting for others’ first amendment rights.

Homes instead suggested that the House form a fellowship or taskforce to talk not just about the Confederate flag but the larger issues surrounding the debate.

“That freedom does mean that you can fly flags that people don’t like, the freedom we are defending does mean that you can take a knee at the start of an NFL football game and not respect the flag,” Holmes continued.

“I am not excusing the confederate flag, I had to study it for years,” said Holmes in reference to his time at the Naval Academy. “If we are going to be a leader, like Ohio can be, then thinking about county fairs is just too small.”

Holmes referenced that slavery in Ohio was banned in 1803 and urged against divisiveness between his colleagues.

“This is the point about symbols, it’s not one side versus another,” said Holmes.

Assistant Minority Leader Kristin Boggs, who spoke directly after Holmes, rebutted the need for a task force.

“We don’t need a task force to tell us that there is a problem, we don’t need a task force or a study to talk to more people about what this symbol means,” said Boggs.

“I was a 4-H kid, I understand that fairs are the fabric of our communities,” Boggs said in referencing her childhood growing up in Ashtabula County.

Boggs then urged her colleagues across the aisle to vote for the amendment saying that the Democrats didn’t have the numbers for it to pass.

“I believe if it’s not clear, that the Confederate flag is a symbol that glorifies white supremacy, slavery, and treason,” said Boggs. “Regardless of what you think the confederate flag means, there should be no question that it is a divisive symbol.”

Alaina Swope, who is running against Holmes this November as the Democratic nominee, responded to Holmes’ floor speech by saying “my opponent said several times that ‘symbols matter,’ without saying what the Confederate flag symbolizes in Ohio, a Union state.”

For Swope, she said the Confederate flag symbolizes hate and then went on to challenge Holmes’ sincerity in regard to his call of unity during the early morning debate on the amendment.

“The county fairs are enormous events for those of us in Muskingum and Guernsey counties, and to continue to let a hateful symbol, one that alienates my opponent’s black constituents, spread through them is shameful,” continued Swope.

Swope also made reference to a 2015 order by the Ohio State Fair Board which banned Confederate memorabilia.

“I urge my opponent to listen to his black colleagues like Representative Brent, who boldly stood up this morning and introduced this amendment, and elevated the black voices in his community instead of his own. As Representative Brent said, ‘if we don’t stand up to white supremacist, we stand with them,” Swope finished.

Holmes did not respond to a request for comment beyond his remarks on the House floor early Friday morning.