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Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party wrote to news stations around the state calling on them to pull down a false and misleading ad run by Republicans that misrepresents the records of Democrats running for the Ohio Supreme Court. Late last week, the Ohio Bar Association asked the Republican State Leadership Committee to take down the misleading ad. In its letter, the Ohio Bar Association asserts that the ad: “grossly oversimplif(ies) their (Democrats’) opinions just to score political points” and “serves to erode public trust and confidence in the judiciary.”

“Republicans are so desperate to distract from their records and cling on to control that they’ve resorted to lying about the Democratic candidates running for Ohio Supreme Court. This is exactly the kind of nasty politics Ohioans are so tired of seeing from the GOP-controlled Supreme Court. We’re asking that news stations do the right thing and stop running this irresponsible ad, especially so close to Election Day,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters.

Find the full letter to TV news stations HERE and below: 

Dear Station Manager:

I am legal counsel for the Ohio Democratic Party. I write with regard to an advertisement by the Republican State Leadership Committee (“RSLC”). The text of the advertisement is attached. This advertisement is a gross oversimplification to the point that it is deliberating false, misleading and deceptive, and knowingly misstates the legal rulings of Justice Jennifer Brunner, and Judges Terri Jamison and Marilyn Zayas. The Ohio State Bar Association (“OSBA”) has asked the RSLC to take down the advertisement, as it “grossly oversimplifies their (Democrats’) opinions just to score political points” and “serves to erode public trust and confidence in the judiciary.” Their letter to the RSLC is attached. While we agree with OSBA’s opposition to the misleading advertisement, we have no faith that the RSLC will take down the advertisement themselves. However, stations like yours have FCC licensing requirements to adhere to, which are grounded by the public interest against misleading political advertisements. For these reasons, your station should refuse to continue to air this advertisement.

The RSLC advertisement makes several factual assertions that are false, misleading, and/or deceptive. To begin, the advertisement mischaracterizes the DuBose case with this accusation: “Jennifer Brunner and Democrat justices on the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of lowering an alleged murderer’s bail.” First, this statement is deliberately false, as it was a bipartisan decision by the Ohio Supreme Court to lower the unconstitutionally excessive bail at issue from $1,500,000 to $500,000 for a defendant that had no financial means to pay.

Additionally, the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision took no issue with a 24-hour lockdown enforced by electronic monitoring for DuBose, among other restrictions.

Next, the advertisement accused Judge Marilyn Zayas of throwing out a murder conviction. In fact, Judge Zayas was part of a majority decision that set aside an aggravated murder conviction but only to set the matter for a new trial for murder or felony murder, because prosecutors failed to demonstrate that the defendant acted with “prior calculation and design” as required by law.

The advertisement wants the viewer to draw the conclusion that Judge Zayas set a murderer free, when the truth is far from RSLC’s mischaracterization. Last, Judge Jamison was accused of writing an opinion that “would have thrown out evidence of drugs seized legally by police.” This is flat out false, as Judge Jamison’s dissenting opinion in the referenced matter was that the drugs were seized illegally because they were obtained without a search warrant. Every assertion in this ad was intentionally designed to deliberately mislead and deceive voters, and accordingly, we ask you to cease airing it.

Additionally, I must point out the following concerning the media’s responsibility with regard to blatantly false, misleading, or deceptive ads like this one.

Unlike candidates for office, independent political organizations like RSLC do not have a “right to command the use of broadcast facilities.” See CBS v. DNC, 412 U.S. 94, 113 (1973). Because you need not air this advertisement, your station bears responsibility for its content when you do grant access. See Felix v. Westinghouse Radio Stations, 186 F.2d 1, 6 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 314 U.S. 909 (1950). 

Moreover, you have a duty “to protect the public from false, misleading or deceptive advertising.” Licensee Responsibility With Respect to the Broadcast of False, Misleading or Deceptive Advertising, 74 F.C.C.2d 623 (1961). Failure to prevent the airing of “false and misleading advertising” may be “probative of an underlying abdication of licensee responsibility” that can be cause for the loss of a station’s license. Cosmopolitan Broad. Corp. v. FCC, 581 F.2d 917, 927 (D.C. Cir. 1978).

The advertisement by RSLC is false, misleading, and deceptive, and we demand that you refuse to continue to air it.

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Columbus, OH — Frank LaRose, looking to run for Senate in two years, is removing all appearances of trying to shoot straight as Ohio’s chief elections official. After amplifying election lies and creating taxpayer-funded solutions to problems that don’t exist, LaRose is now donating campaign funds to two of Ohio’s premier election deniers. 

Financial disclosures show LaRose’s campaign directly donated to Madison Gesiotto Gilbert and J.R. Majewski, a pair of radical MAGA Republicans who each refuse to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. 

• LaRose to Madison Gesiotto Gilbert:

• LaRose to J.R. Majewski:

“Frank LaRose is once again putting his own pathetic political ambitions over doing the job he was elected to do. As Ohio’s chief elections officer, LaRose should be condemning election deniers. Instead, he’s bankrolling them,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes. 

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Ohio-Based Venture Capital Fund Partner: Vance “claiming responsibility for creating 1,000 jobs is definitely a reach”

Columbus, OH – A Politico analysis finds that J.D. Vance embellished just how many jobs he created in Ohio — more than 60 times over. 

Narya Capital, the venture capital firm that Vance founded, which he has claimed created 1,000 jobs — a number a spokesperson later clarified was closer to 750 — was just one of 46 firms that together invested in three Ohio companies. As one independent expert notes, “If one assumes that each investor can take an equal share of the job creation (which is a reasonable assumption) then at best Narya can claim 750 jobs divided by 46 investors which equals 16 jobs.”

This is just another way Vance’s record has failed to hold up under scrutiny. Previous reporting has shown that the non-profit Vance moved back to Ohio to found – also turned out to be a sham.

“It’s no surprise J.D. Vance lied to Ohioans about his business record – everything Vance has said he would do to help Ohio has really just been to help himself,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.  

Read more below:

Politico: J.D. Vance says he’s a job creator in the state of Ohio. Here’s what the numbers show.
Adam Wren
October 30, 2022

• Throughout his Senate campaign, GOP candidate J.D. Vance has touted his business credentials as a venture capitalist and job creator for the state of Ohio.
• “My business in Ohio has been involved in investing and supporting the creation of nearly 1,000 jobs just in our state and jobs elsewhere as well,” he said in a recent debate with his opponent, Democrat Tim Ryan. “I believe in investing in our communities, and I’ve actually put my money where my mouth is.”
• A POLITICO analysis of information provided by his venture capital firm and Vance’s financial disclosure forms suggest that 1,000 may be a bit of a stretch. Since it was founded in 2019, Narya, Vance’s venture capital firm, was part of a group of at least 46 investors who together invested in three companies that created a total of about 750 jobs in the state of Ohio between 2019 and 2022.
• “We’re proud to say that, in just over 2.5 years, Narya has already invested in three Ohio companies that have collectively created approximately 750 jobs,” Vance’s partner, Falon Donohue, said in a statement. 
• Vance’s business record, including his job creation estimate, is open to interpretation.
• But Jeff Sohl, director of the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, noted that Narya was just one of 46 firms that contributed to the investments, so it can’t claim credit for directly creating all 750 jobs.
• “It would be impossible to parse out which investor is responsible for each job created,” Sohl said in an email. “If one assumes that each investor can take an equal share of the job creation (which is a reasonable assumption) then at best Narya can claim 750 jobs divided by 46 investors which equals 16 jobs.”
• A partner at another Ohio-based venture capital fund, granted anonymity to speak freely about Vance’s business record, told POLITICO that “claiming responsibility for creating 1,000 jobs is definitely a reach. We measure job creation based on incremental jobs since our investment.”
• Vance’s business record has been a part of his campaign since at least his launch last July. “What we need in Washington is not just leaders who talk about doing things,” he said at his campaign announcement last year, “but have actually done them and will continue to do them.”
• After the debate, the Vance campaign spokesperson said Vance’s estimate that he had created “nearly” 1,000 jobs comported with their figure of 750, and also pointed to hundreds of additional jobs Vance’s company has invested in outside Ohio.
• Narya’s three Ohio investments are situated near the state’s capital and largest city, Columbus. They are: Branch, an umbrella home and auto insurance provider; AmplifyBio, a commercial drug discovery firm; and Strive Asset Management, an index fund company. None of the three Ohio companies in which Narya has invested count Vance’s firm as their only financial supporter.
• Only one of the Ohio firms Narya invests in — AmplifyBio — returned POLITICO emails seeking clarification about how many jobs Narya’s investments directly support and what median salary they pay. The drug developer said it employs 231 people after a $200 million funding round, to which Narya contributed.
• AmplifyBio may be Vance’s biggest success at Narya, but one for which he cannot claim sole credit. Focused on vaccine technologies along with drug development, the company grew from 120 employees in 2021 after two early stage investments. Narya was one of four investors, which also included Battelle Memorial Institute, Casdin Capital and Viking Capital.
• Branch, the insurance company founded in 2017, employs roughly 400 people, up 300 employees in the last year alone. That growth was fueled by a $147 million fundraising round, led by Weatherford Capital, that Narya participated in along with 11 other firms in June.

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Happy Halloween, and welcome back to Mike Check, your weekly source of all the infighting, conspiracy spewing and corruption that’s making headlines in and around Mike DeWine’s campaign and statehouse, courtesy of the Ohio Democratic Party. 

With just one week to go before Election Day, Democrats want to remind you of all of the ways Mike DeWine has flat-out failed Ohio, and how our state is not-so-strong after all from years of poor leadership from DeWine and his cronies. 

NOT-SO-STRONG OHIO. Mike DeWine is taking our state backward. For four years, DeWine has been too weak to stand up to extremists in his own party and the special interests fueling his campaign, instead serving as a rubber stamp for policies that hurt working families while failing to provide the leadership Ohioans expect from their governor. From abortion rights to gun violence to redistricting to the largest public corruption scandal in state history, DeWine’s weakness is costing Ohioans big time and Ohioans are literally paying the price. 

Key examples of DeWine’s weaknesses include:

• Abortion Rights – Mike DeWine told an anti-abortion special interest group that he wants ‘to go as far as we can’ to rip away reproductive rights in Ohio. 
• Gun Violence – Despite promising to ‘do something’ to combat gun violence, DeWine caved to the gun lobby and signed gun bills that are opposed by Ohio law enforcement because they make Ohioans less safe. 
• FirstEnergy Bribery Scandal – ‘State Official 1’ has been dodging questions since October about what he knew and when about the largest public corruption scandal in state history, a scandal that continues to cost Ohioans thousands of dollars every single day. 
• Redistricting – Even as he acknowledged the maps he was passing were likely unconstitutional, DeWine ignored voters, caved to his own party and rubber-stamped seven illegal, GOP-gerrymandered maps. 

Mike DeWine has spent his entire term as governor selling out to his wealthy and well-connected donors, leaving hardworking families behind. It’s time to elect a leader who will do more than cower in the corner and actually lead our state. We need Nan Whaley. 

NO DEBATE ABOUT IT. With that kind of record, it’s no wonder Mike DeWine flat-out refused time and again to debate Nan Whaley this year. Ohioans have a right to be concerned about what another four years of Mike DeWine would look like and we know DeWine feels the same way, which is why he only faced Whaley (virtually) once. DeWine insists that he is the most accessible governor, touting press conferences and editorial board interviews as proof he talks directly to voters. These are not substitutes for standing on the debate stage, but DeWine has proven he’s so weak he will always duck, dive and deceive instead of facing an opponent this year. Let’s face it, if DeWine can’t even muster the political courage to tell Ohioans why they should punch his ticket on November 8, he’s admitting what we already know – he doesn’t deserve the job. We deserve Nan Whaley. 

Thanks for catching up on the race each week with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got. Have a great week, and make a plan to vote! 

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“While LaRose equivocates, Chelsea Clark leaves no doubt where she stands.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer Editorial Board endorsed Chelsea Clark for Secretary of State. 

Clark earned the endorsement over Frank LaRose, who is so busy planning his run for U.S. Senate that he’s already abandoned the job he has now. For the last year and a half, LaRose has been passing GOP-gerrymandered maps, sowing election doubts to gain the support of MAGA Republicans and creating taxpayer-funded solutions to problems that don’t exist. The Editorial Board listed LaRose’s dangerous rhetoric around elections as a significant reason they endorsed Clark. 

“In other words, LaRose, a former Green Beret who now serves in the Army reserves, subtly sowed doubts about the integrity of a U.S. presidential election two years ago. What will happen in two years if Trump is again on the ballot and things don’t go his way in Ohio? That’s partly why, in a close call, our editorial board urges Ohio voters to choose Democrat Chelsea Clark, a 36-year-old Cincinnati-area politician and entrepreneur, as secretary of state for the next four years,” writes the Editorial Board. 

Read more from the Cleveland.com/Plain Dealer Editorial Board here and below: 

• In a year when former President Donald Trump still stokes the dangerous lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen — endorsing state-level candidates he apparently thinks will be able and willing to help him if he runs again in 2024 — the race for Ohio’s secretary of state, the state’s chief elections officer, takes on special importance.
• The trouble is that LaRose, 43, who was endorsed by Trump for this election, equivocated when our editorial board asked whether Joe Biden were elected president fair and square.
• Biden “is the president of the United States and was elected through the process we have,” LaRose said. “But I’ve also been clear that there were things that happened in 2020 that shouldn’t have happened. … [They] weren’t some, you know, grand scheme to steal the election. They were things that happened … in courtrooms where activist judges changed the rules, that at the last minute happened in secretary of states’ offices….”
• In other words, LaRose, a former Green Beret who now serves in the Army reserves, subtly sowed doubts about the integrity of a U.S. presidential election two years ago. What will happen in two years if Trump is again on the ballot and things don’t go his way in Ohio? That’s partly why, in a close call, our editorial board urges Ohio voters to choose Democrat Chelsea Clark, a 36-year-old Cincinnati-area politician and entrepreneur, as secretary of state for the next four years.
• Clark, as well, is committed to voting reforms; her late father had firsthand experience of the fight for civil rights for Black Americans (and of the inside of the Birmingham, Alabama, jail). Clark is founder and CEO of the nonprofit STEM Lab, providing STEM education access for underserved youth in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, and has served on the Forest Park City Council for nearly five years.
• While LaRose equivocates, Chelsea Clark leaves no doubt where she stands. She also supports voter access and outreach to ensure that all Ohioans who want to vote and are eligible to vote will be able to cast a ballot.
• Ohioans should elect Chelsea Clark as secretary of state. Early voting in the Nov. 8 election has begun.

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