Uncategorized

For Immediate Release:

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) along with Rep. Jeff Crossman, candidate for attorney general, held a statewide virtual press conference explaining to hardworking Ohioans how much money the House Bill 6 corruption scandal is costing them every single day.

The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, a consumer advocacy agency, shows Ohioans have already paid nearly $180 million in coal plant subsidies alone, including propping up a plant that isn’t even in Ohio, and that’s not all:

“Ohio taxpayers are footing the bill for a federal investigation, multiple federal court cases and all of the costs associated with holding Ohio Republicans accountable for the largest public corruption scheme in state history. While working Ohioans are worried about putting food on the table or covering the costs of prescription drugs, Ohio Republicans are forcing those working families to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars each day for a corrupt bribery scheme,” said Rep. Crossman

“While Ohioans continue paying more than $230,000 every day, $9,500 every hour and $159 every minute for this corruption scandal, Ohio Republicans like Mike DeWine and Dave Yost can’t even be bothered to answer questions about what exactly happened and why we’re still paying for it,” said Crossman.

You can watch the full news conference HERE:

In addition to the coal plant subsidies Ohioans continue to pay, taxpayers are also footing the bill for:

• $460 million that FirstEnergy customers paid in bill riders without any evidence that money was used for its stated purpose, raising questions about if that money was ultimately funneled to pay for the $60 million bribe. 
• Four years of FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice investigations into the largest public corruption scandal in state history. While the full cost of the investigation is unknown, it’s safe to say the wide scope and long length of the investigation is costing taxpayers a significant amount of money.
• Separate federal court cases that are set to take place later this year. 

Since October, the party has been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the HB 6 bribery scandal, but has been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for over one hundred days.

Public records requests recently submitted by the party include:

• Any communications among Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, their staffs and special interest groups tied to the HB 6 scandal.
• Any communications between those individuals and individuals who are implicated in the scandal.
• Any communications involving Sam Randazzo’s appointment to the Public Utilities Commission.
• Any communications between DeWine/Husted and statewide officeholders regarding HB 6.
• The demotion of Laurel Dawson & the resignation of Dan McCarthy.

The party also resubmitted previous public records requests that include: a visitor’s log from the governor’s office and the governor’s mansion; any vetting of Sam Randazzo; and communications between Mike DeWine’s staff and FirstEnergy.

The party will provide updates to the media and Ohio voters as the process plays out and as we continue to demand accountability from people in power.

###

Columbus, OH —  Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel already donated $10 million to a super PAC to support Vance but apparently, that isn’t enough. Now he’s retiring from Meta’s board to devote more time to helping bail out J.D. Vance’s flailing campaign. 

The announcement from Thiel comes the same day as a new Politico report says that Vance “needs a course correction ASAP.” According to the pro-Vance super PAC’s pollster, Silicon Valley’s Vance problem is that Ohioans know his anti-Trump past, and his “association as a Never Trumper has only grown since November.” Vance has called Trump an “idiot,” “reprehensible,” and “noxious.” 

Silicon Valley Vance is a chess piece in Peter Thiel’s scheme to create a Big Tech political class. Vance worked for Mithril Capital, a venture capital firm founded by Thiel, and then Vance worked at Revolution LLC, a tech investment firm founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case.

In the year leading up to his Senate run, Vance made nearly $1 million, and a “great deal of his income as listed in the new disclosure report came from ventures linked to Facebook board member Thiel and other tech investors.” As Vance would say (with zero self-awareness about how this applies to him), “Establishment Republican apologies for our oligarchy should always come with the following disclaimer: ‘Big Tech pays my salary.’”

“Silicon Valley Vance’s campaign is so desperate they need a Big Tech billionaire to quit his day job to prop up his flailing campaign. With few allies and his poll numbers sinking, Silicon Valley Vance’s hail mary effort to save his campaign will only remind Ohioans of what got him here in the first place: his Big Tech ties and his anti-Trump past,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

###

  February 7, 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 passes the filing deadline and enters a new month, 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:

PATHETIC POLLING.  A new poll released late last week shows DeWine has lost so much support in his own party, just 25% of likely Republican primary voters would vote for him over a Trump-backed challenger. Even messier? His favorability now sits at a meager 36% according to the same Public Policy poll. And let’s not forget, the chances of Donald Trump endorsing Mike DeWine are virtually nonexistent. Mike DeWine’s only response: he “hasn’t asked” for Trump’s endorsement yet.

$60 MILLION ANNIVERSARY. Friday marked three years since DeWine appointed Shady Sam Randazzo to head the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. A decision that ultimately aided in the passage of House Bill 6. In case you forgot, DeWine chose Randazzo over the objections of Republican insiders and energy strategists. DeWine’s former chief of staff Laurel Dawson not only recruited Randazzo, she knew all about Shady Sam’s $4.3 million bribe from FirstEnergy for weeks before telling DeWine. But that’s not all to the Randazzo saga. To this day, DeWine continues praise of Randazzo’s PUCO leadership, telling reporters after accepting his resignation: “He has done very, very good work as chair.” But that’s not all. DeWine also told Ohio media outlets “I hired him. I think he’s a good person.” That sure sounds like you know something about statehouse corruption to us.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING. Speaking of the largest public corruption scandal in state history,  a reminder that the Ohio Democratic Party submitted several public records requests two weeks ago asking Mike DeWine to give Ohioans answers about who knew what and when about HB 6. Fourteen days later, still no answers. You can follow our countdown online if you need a daily refresher. If Mike DeWine continues to stonewall, we’re prepared to sue. Stay tuned.

Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. If you have questions my email is [email protected]. Have a great week!

###

For Immediate Release:

Monday, February 7, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters issued the following statement applauding the Ohio Supreme Court for once again rejecting unconstitutional state House and Senate district maps. Even though the Ohio Supreme Court made clear that any attempts at gerrymandered maps would be rejected, Republicans once again put politics above the needs of Ohio voters and tried to push through maps that don’t reflect the political realities of our state. It’s past time that Republicans on the commission do their jobs and produce a fair map that Ohioans and the Supreme Court have called for again and again.

“Third time’s the charm. The Ohio Supreme Court once again rejected GOP attempts to gerrymander our state and disenfranchise Ohio voters. The Ohio Supreme Court cannot be more clear: Republicans must produce fair maps that accurately reflect our state, not the Ohio GOP’s political wishlist. Republicans have delayed this process too long already, it’s past time for them to finally do their jobs and give Ohioans what they deserve: fair representation and a state government that reflects the wishes of Ohio voters, not the wishes of extreme Republicans and the special interests they’re bought by.”   

###

Columbus, OH — Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement in honor of Black History Month:

“Today marks the start of Black History Month, a month where we celebrate and commemorate the impact of Black Americans who have changed our state and country for the better. Black history is American history, and our country would not be great without the contributions of Black Americans. 

“While we have made important strides toward inclusion, equity and justice, Black History Month reminds us that this work is not done. We must fight to dismantle systemic barriers for Black Americans that have existed since slavery to ensure every American has the opportunity to thrive. This month and every month, we commit ourselves to the work it will take to build a fairer country and a more perfect union.” 

###