Uncategorized

Columbus, OH — Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Jason Williams shredded J.D. Vance’s campaign, calling it a “creation of political consultants,” that’s “not going well” and “not ready for primetime,” and urging Vance to salvage whatever dignity he has left (if any) by dropping out of the U.S. Senate race. 

Read Williams’ brutal assessment of Vance’s “disastrous” campaign here:  

Cincinnati Enquirer: Jason Williams: ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author J.D. Vance should drop out of U.S. Senate race

March 2, 2022 

•  We’ve seen enough of J.D. Vance on the campaign.
• Ohio’s Fox News-created Republican U.S. Senate candidate is now pissing off Fox News commentators. That should tell you all you need to know about Vance’s disastrous campaign.
• It’s not going well, and it never has. And after the worst week of a weak campaign, Vance needs to drop out. The Cincinnati resident’s poll numbers remain in the single digits. Vance is looking at a best-case scenario of a third-place finish in the May primary.
• Bow out now and Vance could salvage some of the goodwill he’d built up for telling the world his rags-to-riches story in the bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy.”
• The 37-year-old political amateur has proven that he’s not ready for prime-time politics. First, Vance needs a basic civics lesson after repeatedly making callous comments about Ukraine and its people. A United States senator must be adept at foreign policy and diplomacy, especially in times of crisis.
• Never would the late, great Voinovich have said: “I think it’s ridiculous that we’re focused on this border in Ukraine. I got to be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”
• But that’s what Vance recently told Steve Bannon for his show on some two-bit cable network called Real America’s Voice.
• In Ohio, we’re used to statesmen holding the seat Vance is so desperately seeking – Rob Portman, George Voinovich, John Glenn, Robert A. Taft.
• Vance then went to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida last weekend and told attendees: “I’m sick of being told that we have to care more about people 6,000 miles away than we do people like my mom and my grandparents and all the kids who are affected by this (U.S.-Mexico border) crisis.”
• You mean, the mom and grandparents who live in the safest nation in the universe and aren’t having their homes bombed by Russians?
• It shouldn’t be an either/or thing. You can simultaneously care about the crises in Ukraine and at the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, it’d be Vance’s job to concern himself with both matters if he were elected.
• The CPAC comments drew sharp criticism from Fox News political analyst Brit Hume.
• “I have rarely lost as much respect for a person in a short a time as I have for J.D. Vance,” Hume tweeted.
• Ouch. That one stings.
• I wrote last summer ahead of Vance launching his campaign that it wouldn’t go well. The national press soon piled on. Vance was a creation of political consultants who thought Ohio voters would know and love him because he goes on Fox News regularly and wrote a bestselling book about overcoming a rough upbringing in Middletown.
• But Vance and the political lab rats who created him didn’t factor in perception, which is critical in a campaign.
• Vance is an outsider all right, but not the one he’s trying to portray. He had spent most of his adult life living on the coasts before returning to Ohio in 2018 and buying a big house overlooking the Ohio River in Cincinnati’s upscale East Walnut Hills neighborhood.
• No wonder Vance told the Wall Street Journal in 2016 that he felt “out of place” in Ohio. He ran with the wine-and-cheese crowd for too long, far removed from Middletown’s ham-and-eggers. I can’t fault a guy for bettering himself. Vance is truly an American success story.
• On the campaign, however, Vance has never pivoted back to show he’s one of us. He’s made things worse for himself by trying to be someone he’s not politically. He’s gone from a principled, Never Trump conservative to licking the former president’s boots.
• It’s not working. Trump is never going to endorse a guy who repeatedly spoke out against him.
• Ohioans, as I predicted, have seen right through it. Vance’s campaign has gained little traction.

###

For Immediate Release:

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Ohioans’ Data, Personal Information at Risk as BMV Can’t Answer Questions about Where Ohioans’ Personal Information Goes Once They Sell It

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles is the latest state agency under Mike DeWine’s leadership that finds itself in the middle of a scandal that could cost Ohioans. WBNS-TV in Columbus published an investigation earlier this week raising questions about whether the Ohio BMV is in violation of federal law as Ohio drivers find their information being used by direct mail solicitors right after they have dealings with the BMV.

In 2020, the agency made more than $40 million selling Ohioans’ personal data to third parties, and as WBNS reports, many of those Ohioans’ personal data is being used to send direct mail solicitations. Similar mailers are often aimed at coercing Ohioans into paying for things they don’t need. Ohioans in the story also raise concerns with how widely their personal data is being shared once the BMV sells it to third parties.

“It’s a day that ends in Y, so Mike DeWine finds his administration at the center of another scandal. As scandal after scandal piles up, it’s clear that Ohioans are paying a steep price for the corruption coming out of Mike DeWine’s statehouse. Ohioans can’t afford four more years of Mike DeWine,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

Interestingly, current BMV registrar Charlie Norman has strong ties to the DeWine family, having served as Chief of Staff to Justice Pat DeWine when he served as Hamilton County Commissioner and as Regional Director for then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

This is only the latest scandal Mike DeWine’s administration finds itself at the center of, including the largest public corruption scandal in state history, a state unemployment fraud scandal, and a state Medicaid scandal.

Read more about the latest scandal involving the BMV here and below:

• A months-long experiment by 10 Investigates is now helping the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles determine if there has been any illegal misuse of drivers’ personal information.
• Since 2010, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has made more than $250 million selling drivers’ personal information to third parties.
• But 10 Investigates wanted to know what happens to drivers’ information after that sale? What are those third parties doing with that information?
• Why does that matter?
• If those mailed solicitations – like those offers for the extended auto warranties – were the result of the Ohio BMV’s sale of driver’s personal data, it could be a violation of a federal law – known as the Drivers Privacy Protection Act.
• As part of our experiment, 10 Investigates tried to narrow the scope of potential leaks of Haeberle’s personal data. His insurance company told him prior to the vehicle purchase that it would not sell his data for direct marketing or solicitations. And there was no dealership involved – Haeberle bought the car in a peer-to-peer sale with the station WBNS-TV.
• That would leave only one entity – the Ohio BMV – which would’ve known that he had recently purchased a vehicle.
• 10 Investigates also found Ohio drivers with similar experiences.
• “None of this was happening until I registered my car,” said Barb Woodruff. “I was looking for ways to opt-out and when someone tells me there is no way to opt-out, I have a problem with that.”

• John Kaminsky got similar mailers weeks after buying car and titling it with the Ohio BMV. He said his dealer assured him they didn’t sell his personal information.
• “I expect the state to have some discretion and have my best interests at heart,” he said.

###

For Immediate Release:

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chair Elizabeth Walters issued the following statement after Republicans yet again released gerrymandered congressional maps that show us all how unserious Republicans on the commission are taking the process.

“The map released by Republicans today is a joke, and one that’s being made at the expense of Ohio voters.”  

###

For Immediate Release:

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement following President Biden’s State of the Union address:

“As President Biden outlined tonight, Democrats – from the White House to city halls across Ohio – are cutting workers in on the deal. With the help of Ohio Democrats, President Biden is bringing billions of dollars in infrastructure investments to Ohio, cutting child poverty rates, lowering taxes for working families, and helping our communities put the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror. 

“President Biden’s pro-job, pro-union, and pro-family agenda is helping Ohioans. Because of President Biden and Senator Sherrod Brown, Americans saw 6.5 million of our neighbors go back to work – the largest single-year unemployment drop in American history. Tonight was a good reminder that President Biden and Ohio Democrats are looking out for our families, and Ohio Republicans only care about the corporations funding their reelection campaigns.”  

###

  February 28, 2022 

Good Monday afternoon, and welcome back to Mike Check, your weekly source of all the infighting, conspiracy spewing and corruption that’s making headlines in and around the Republican governor’s race and Mike DeWine’s statehouse, courtesy of the Ohio Democratic Party.

As the gubernatorial race heats up, Republicans are in disarray with Mike DeWine’s popularity dropping by the day, facing attacks both inside and outside of the Republican Party and having to answer for the largest public corruption scandal in state history. It’s hard to keep up with all of the corruption and mess surrounding Mike DeWine and the GOP gubernatorial primary, so here are some stories you may have missed:

UNDERSTANDING THE ASSIGNMENT. For the third time, Mike DeWine failed to live up to the promises he made to Ohio voters as he voted to pass yet another set of GOP-gerrymandered maps. DeWine’s failure to stand up to his own party is especially weak, considering his fellow Republican Keith Faber voted against the proposed maps. DeWine, who has already been threatened with contempt of court, has doubled down on buckling to his fellow Republicans on the commission and throwing Ohio voters under the bus to keep extremists in the legislature and special interest donors happy.

HOPPING ON BOARD. Today, Mike DeWine finally hopped on the bandwagon and realized how beneficial the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act will be for Ohio, as he submitted a proposal to help fund repairs of the Brent Spence Bridge with funding from the infrastructure bill championed by Democrats and opposed by Ohio Republicans, including DeWine’s own Ohio Republican Party chair. DeWine was noticeably silent as Democrats pushed the legislation through Congress and never took a stance on the legislation that will have clear benefits for Ohio workers and our state’s economy. Now, however, Mike DeWine is happy to hop on board and tout the benefits of the bill for Ohio, since he’s in election mode and looking desperately for any way to possibly fix his ever-hemorrhaging poll numbers.

###