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COLUMBUS, OH – While Democratic candidate for Attorney General John Kulewicz campaigns to bring transparency and accountability to Columbus, Republican candidate Keith Faber is getting slammed as “tone deaf” after disastrously fumbling his “unconscionable” response when asked about the FirstEnergy scandal. After Faber refused to commit to continuing the case into former FirstEnergy executives, despite the case being “one of the most high-profile tasks Ohio’s next attorney general will face,” questions are swirling around Faber’s relationship to FirstEnergy, including, “how much money flowed from FirstEnergy into his campaign accounts?” and “what laws passed on his watch that benefited the company?”

“After decades of Republican control in Columbus stained our state and raised costs for Ohioans, Ohioans deserve answers from Keith Faber about just how deep his relationship is to the FirstEnergy scandal and why he’s refusing to commit to continuing the case for accountability in the largest public bribery scandal in Ohio history,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “While every day ‘tone deaf’ Keith Faber proves that he can’t be trusted to take on the corruption that has raised costs for Ohio families and run rampant under his party’s decades of control in Columbus, Ohioans are standing with John Kulewicz who is running to bring accountability and transparency to Columbus in November.”

At a time when Ohioans are struggling with sky-high costs, including because of the FirstEnergy bribery scheme that has contributed to electricity costs increasing by $663 a year for Ohioans, read more about the stark contrast between Democratic candidate John Kulewicz and Republican Keith Faber:

Cleveland.com: ‘Shame on Keith Faber:’ The FirstEnergy trial is on the November ballot whether he likes it or not

• “Shame on Keith Faber,” host Chris Quinn said without hesitation. “I was stunned at that response. He’s opening the door to drop the charges, which is unconscionable.”
• Quinn went further, raising a question that Ohio voters deserve an answer to before November: What was Faber’s relationship with FirstEnergy when he served in the Ohio legislature? Quinn said FirstEnergy it owned the Statehouse for years, pumping money into campaigns and shaping legislation. Faber held a leadership role during that era. How much money flowed from FirstEnergy into his campaign accounts? What laws passed on his watch that benefited the company?
• The answers are relevant for an attorney general candidate who refuses to say whether he will seek justice for Ohioans. Will he let the executives off the hook?
• Johnston put it in terms that any tired, worn-out Ohioan can understand: “I get tired of talking about First Energy, too. But we need justice to be served here. And the Faber campaign is absolutely unbelievably, just tone deaf when it comes to this.”
• Faber’s Faber-ing — as Johnston joked it might be called going forward — is a signal for Ohio voters headed into the November election: if you care about the FirstEnergy prosecution, the choice between Kulewicz and Faber could determine whether justice is ever actually served.

WLIO: Democratic AG candidate highlights consumer protection, transparency during Lima stop

• “The main thing that I want people to know is that I care about how the economy of Ohio affects all of us. I want to do everything the Attorney General can do to make the economy of Ohio work better for everybody. And that starts with fighting consumer fraud, wage theft, monopolies, exorbitant utility rates, just making sure that we have somebody there fighting for us to keep life affordable for everybody,” says John Kulewicz, Democratic Candidate for Ohio Attorney General.
• Kulewicz also said the next attorney general should continue pusing for the trial against former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former Senior Vice President Michael Dowling, who are accused of participating in a $60 million bribery scheme to secure the passage of a more than $1 billion FirstEnergy bailout by the Ohio General Assembly in 2019.
• “The company, First Energy, has pleaded guilty to bribery. The two top executives are on and will be going to trial in January on charges of corruption. As I have made a commitment that as the next Attorney General, I will move forward with that trial. We awaited too long for justice to be rendered in the state of Ohio. My opponent will not make that commitment. He is laying the groundwork, I believe, for a dismissal of the charges once he’s elected. He will not tell us his position until after the election,” adds Kulewicz.

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“After 15 to 20 years of a Republican majority in Ohio’s Statehouse, it is past time for a change” 

COLUMBUS, OH – Following decades of Republican control in the Ohio statehouse, even Republicans are sounding the alarm bells on their corrupt and power-hungry ticket. Yesterday, a new letter to the editor in The Columbus Dispatch underscored just how dire the situation is facing Ohio Republicans with even their own party criticizing their candidates for being “more interested in clinging to their political power than they are in providing a level-playing field for all participants.”

Check out the letter to the editor featured in The Columbus Dispatch below on how even Ohio Republicans are sounding the alarm on their own party – and are standing with Ohio Democrats in November:

Columbus Dispatch: I am a lifelong Republican. My party must be stopped. Acton has my vote | Letters

• I have been a lifelong moderate Republican, but I am quite upset with how the National Republicans are trying to discontinue mail-in voting. 
• The culture at Ohio’s Statehouse must change! 
• The only way to accomplish this is to elect the Democratic candidates to these important and powerful statewide offices, since it is very clear that the Republicans who play musical chairs to avert term limits are more interested in clinging to their political power than they are in providing a level-playing field for all participants. 
• After 15 to 20 years of a Republican majority in Ohio’s Statehouse, it is past time for a change.
• That is why I will be voting for Dr. Amy Acton for governor and the Democrat candidates for Ohio’s statewide offices in the November midterm election.

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COLUMBUS, OH – While “one of the most high-profile tasks Ohio’s next attorney general will face is overseeing the second prosecution of ex-FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling on public-corruption charges starting early next year,” in new bombshell reporting from Cleveland.com, Republican candidate for Attorney General Keith Faber is refusing to commit to continuing the case if elected. The FirstEnergy bribery scheme that delivered a billion dollar bailout to utilities, has rippled through Republican-controlled Columbus, and has contributed to electricity costs increasing by $663 a year for Ohioans.

“The next Attorney General of the state of Ohio will be tasked with the immense responsibility of overseeing the prosecution of FirstEnergy executives in the largest public corruption scandal in state history – and Keith Faber is proving every day that he can’t be trusted to get the job done,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “Ohioans deserve an Attorney General who will bring transparency and accountability to Columbus after decades of Republican control have raised costs for Ohio families and allowed corruption to run rampant – Ohioans are seeing every day that John Kulewicz is that leader.”

Read more on Faber’s refusal to commit to continuing the case in the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history:

Cleveland.com: Only one Ohio AG candidate pledges to continue FirstEnergy bribery trial

• One of the most high-profile tasks Ohio’s next attorney general will face is overseeing the second prosecution of ex-FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling on public-corruption charges starting early next year.
• But so far, only one of the two candidates running for Ohio attorney general this fall – Democrat John Kulewicz – has pledged to continue the case if elected. The Republican nominee, Keith Faber, says he’ll hold off on committing to any course of action until he discusses the case with AG staffers after taking office.
• After the pair’s first trial ended in a hung jury in April, then-Attorney General Dave Yost obtained a new, expanded grand jury indictment against them last month. “The roots of this complex case haven’t changed – FirstEnergy was hijacked by two scheming executives who sought to control the regulator that influenced the company’s stock prices,” Yost, a Columbus Republican, said at the time.
• Jury selection in the new trial, initially set for September, is now scheduled to begin in early January, a few days before Wilson’s term ends and either Faber or Kulewicz is sworn into office.
• Kulewicz, a retired attorney and Upper Arlington City Council member, said in an interview Thursday that, if elected, he has “every intention of moving forward” with the case
• “I believe the state should move forward as fast as possible with the new indictment,” he said. “The people of Ohio deserve a speedy trial of those charges and a final resolution of the matter.”
• Faber, a Mercer County resident currently serving as Ohio’s state auditor, declined in a statement to say what he would do about the prosecution.

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