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ODP Statement Regarding J.D. Vance And RonDeSantis’ Visit To Youngstown

Columbus, OH — Following the news that San Francisco Vance and Florida Man Ron DeSantis are visiting Youngstown, Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Michael Beyer released the following statement: 

“Ron DeSantis and J.D. Vance deserve each other – they both flipped on Trump on a dime and abandoned their states in order to promote themselves.” 

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The Lever: J.D. Vance’s Wall Street Tax Dodge

Columbus, OH – A new report from The Lever finds that multimillionaire J.D. Vance, who said it is “objectively true” he is a member of the elite, appears to have “structured his income to exploit” an elite tax loophole benefiting the wealthy few. Vance is a Big Tech-backed Silicon Valley millionaire who owns a D.C. townhouse, enjoys tasty brunches and wine tastings in San Francisco, and titled his own blog “The Hillbilly Elite.”  

“J.D. Vance is a multimillionaire fraud who is running for U.S. Senate to pad his pockets and those of his fellow coastal elites. Ohioans can’t trust a phony like Vance, who has shown he’s only out for himself,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Read more below: 

The Lever: J.D. Vance’s Wall Street Tax Dodge
Julia Rock
August 19, 2022

  • The supposed populist Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance has structured his income to exploit a controversial tax loophole that almost exclusively benefits the super-rich, according to financial disclosures reviewed by The Lever.

  • Vance’s opponent, Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, has co-sponsored legislation to close the so-called carried interest loophole, which lets many Wall Street moguls pay an artificially low tax rate on their income.

  • Politicians in both parties have denounced the tax dodge — but if they ever get serious about trying to eliminate the maneuver, Vance could stand in their way. If Vance wins in November, the Senate’s arcane rules could empower him to stall any initiative to close a tax loophole from which he stands to personally benefit.

  • Only an elite few are eligible for the notorious carried interest loophole, which allows private equity and hedge fund moguls to pay a capital gains rate of 20 percent on some of their income, rather than the typical 37 percent tax rate for top earners. In contrast with regular investors, only general partners — the firms’ top executives, who have become some of the richest people in the country — benefit from the loophole.

  • Vance, according to a newly filed personal financial disclosure, seems to count himself among this elite few, having structured his compensation to take advantage of the tax dodge. Indeed, his disclosure explicitly shows him classifying his ownership stakes in investment funds as carried interest.

  • Such financial maneuvers contrast with Vance casting his campaign as a populist crusade against elites. Having risen to fame thanks to his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance has positioned himself as a “conservative outsider” — despite the fact that he is being backed by his former boss, billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, as well as former President Donald Trump.

  • Vance’s campaign is being boosted by a GOP super PAC whose largest donors include moguls from the equity industry that benefits from the carried interest loophole. Among them is Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who gave the super PAC $10 million as his firm has been lobbying on “issues related to carried interest.”

  • The past three presidents — Joe Biden, Trump, and Barack Obama — all campaigned on closing the carried interest loophole, as have lawmakers in both parties. Vance, who has not taken a stance on the tax break from which he is positioned to benefit, did not respond to a request for comment.

  • Earlier this year, when asked by Huffington Post what he would do with his assets if elected, Vance replied, “I think probably put it in a blind trust is the thing that would make the most sense.”

  • In this case, though, he wouldn’t be blind to his stake in preserving the carried interest loophole.

  • Vance has not named many policy specifics on the campaign trail, but has alluded to imposing higher taxes on corporations that offshore jobs or engage in certain types of politics.

  • He has not, however, specifically taken aim at the carried interest loophole.

  • Vance reported on his disclosure forms that he is a general partner at two different private equity funds, and says he has carried interest stakes there.

  • One of the firms where Vance lists himself as a general partner is “Rise of the Rest Seed Fund.”

  • In 2017, Vance launched that venture capital fund with AOL co-founder Steve Case to back startups outside of New York, California, and Massachusetts. Big names invested in that fund including Jeff Bezos, the Kochs, the Waltons, and billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio.

  • His disclosure lists Vance as a “general partner of Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, LP,” adding in a comment: “Filer is entitled to carried interest from the general partner of Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, LP.”

  • Vance also runs a private equity firm, Narya, which he started in 2019 to provide venture capital to Ohio companies. The firm raised money from prominent investors including Thiel, as well as billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

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It’s a Day That Ends in Y, So Mike DeWine is Campaigning on Ohio Democrats’ Victories

Columbus, OH —  For the second time this week, Mike DeWine is set to tout critical funding for law enforcement that he opposed, this time in Willard. DeWine has repeatedly taken credit for money that was passed by Ohio Democrats and that he’s on the record opposing. Today, DeWine will yet again shamelessly turn a critical Democratic victory into a political photo op to make it look like he’s got law enforcement’s back. He doesn’t.  

“Time and again, Mike DeWine tries to make it look like he’s got Ohio law enforcement’s back, but the truth is local law enforcement would not have this important grant funding if it were up to DeWine. Mike DeWine is doing little more than once again shamelessly campaigning and claiming credit for the hard work of Ohio Democrats who secured these critical resources for Ohio law enforcement,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes. 

Just over a week ago, DeWine campaigned off the hard work of Democrats, using ARPA money to local police agencies to fight violent crime. And back in May, DeWine similarly used Ohio law enforcement officers as political pawns when he announced funding for the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab and Cleveland’s critical Real Time Crime Center, also made possible by the American Rescue Plan.   

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New Polls Show Nan Whaley is Within One Point of Mike DeWine

Two Polls of Likely General Election Voters Show Whaley and DeWine Virtually Neck-and-Neck

Columbus, OH — Today, new polling shows that Mayor Nan Whaley is within one point of Mike DeWine in the race to be Ohio’s next Governor. The two polls, conducted by Lake Research Partners in early August among 1200 likely general election voters, show the race is neck and neck.   

  • Read Poll 1 results HERE.
  • Read Poll 2 results HERE. 

“Today’s polls confirm what we already knew: Mike DeWine is deeply underwater in Ohio and Nan Whaley is gaining momentum. More Ohioans voted against DeWine than for him in his own primary election, and his numbers continue to plummet with just weeks until the November election. We look forward to continuing to draw the contrast between Mayor Whaley, who is looking out for the interests of working families, and Mike DeWine, who is only looking out for himself,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

The polls also show Mayor Whaley with much stronger favorability numbers (+6) than DeWine, with the sitting governor’s unfavorability numbers ten points higher than his favorability numbers. 

These latest polls follow the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and DeWine’s comments that he wants to ‘go as far as we can’ to rip away reproductive rights in Ohio. They also come as the Republican Governors Association dumps big money into Ohio, signaling their concern about the race. 

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Mike DeWine Is Bad for Business

“But we cannot grow if it [Ohio] is not welcoming. That’s bad for our businesses and terrible for our people.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board outlined all the ways that Republicans like Mike DeWine are bad for business in Ohio. DeWine continues to serve as a rubber stamp for extremists in the legislature who are pushing policies that drive businesses and workers away and keep them away. From ripping away abortion rights to politicians inserting themselves into the classroom, DeWine is sacrificing jobs and workers here in Ohio all to embrace the extremism of Republican politicians who deeply distrust him. At a time when too many working families are struggling to get by, DeWine is only focused on keeping one job: his own. 

“Innovation is steeped in Ohio’s history, and with the announcement in January that Intel plans to spend $20 billion to build two plants in New Albany, there is renewed hope that innovation will help shift the state from the “Rust Belt” to the “Silicon Heartland.” That bright future might be compromised if state lawmakers continue to push an agenda that makes many feel unwelcomed,” writes the Dispatch Editorial Board. 

Read more from the Columbus Dispatch editorial here and below: 

  • Innovation is steeped in Ohio’s history and, with the announcement in January that Intel plans to spend $20 billion to build two plants in New Albany, there is renewed hope that innovation will help shift the state from the “Rust Belt” to the “Silicon Heartland.” 
  • That bright future might be compromised if state lawmakers continue to push an agenda that makes many feel unwelcomed.
  • Around the nation, companies and their potential employees are paying attention to the laws state legislature are passing regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, and abortion access — seen as a human right by many on both sides of the issues.
  • According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 74% of adults younger than 30 say abortions should be legal in all or most cases, as do 62% of adults in their 30s and 40s.
  • If the employee shortage prompted by the pandemic taught us one thing, that thing is that workers have options, and many want to work for places that share their values.
  • About 80% of American workers who took part in a 2021 CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workforce Survey said that they want to work for a company that values diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Sought after workers want to work for companies that value diversity, so it reasons that companies want to be located in cities and states that value diversity.
  • Ohio’s new abortion law is even more restrictive than the one in Indiana, banning most abortions — even those that resulted from rape and incest — after a heartbeat can be detected, typically around six weeks of pregnancy.
  • The conservative Ohio Chamber of Commerce is among several business groups that have spoken against House Bill 616, which would suppress what teachers can teach kids about the LGBTQ community, racism and history. 
  • “Ohio needs to be a welcoming place for all. We should focus on ways to cultivate and harness the talents of Ohioans, while also attracting out-of-state workers to relocate here,” an April statement from the Chamber reads. “The Chamber is concerned that that some of the language in this bill may impede Ohio’s ability to lure the best and brightest minds to fill these openings and put down roots in the Buckeye State; however we trust that through the legislative process everyone will get a chance to have their voice heard.”
  • We believe the Buckeye state remains the heart of this nation.
  • But we cannot grow if it is not welcoming.
  • That’s bad for our businesses and terrible for our people.

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