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Columbus, OH — Ahead of the Intel groundbreaking ceremony next week that will create thousands of jobs in Ohio, Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chair Elizabeth Walters held a virtual press conference to highlight the work of Ohio Democrats that made the project possible. 

Despite Republican obstruction, Ohio Democrats were able to pass the CHIPS Act, which helped make the Intel project a reality and prevented Intel from moving jobs overseas.

“When Mitch McConnell and D.C. Republicans in Congress made deliberate efforts to block this urgently-needed legislation from moving forward, you didn’t hear a peep from Mike DeWine or J.D. Vance. They were more interested in protecting their jobs than the jobs of thousands of Ohioans. Because of the leadership and work of Ohio Democrats like Sherrod Brown, Tim Ryan, Marcy Kaptur and others, Ohio is going to get this historic investment that will help us compete with the rest of the world,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. 

Thanks to Ohio Democrats, working families in our state will directly benefit from this critical workforce investment that will make Ohio a worldwide exporter of semiconductor chips and reduce our reliance on other countries for the technology. 

With less than 70 days until Ohio’s election, Ohio Democrats are clearly showing voters who’s on their side. While Republicans want to take our state backward, Ohio Democrats are moving our economy forward.

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Columbus, OH — As debate season starts to ramp up in the closing weeks and days of the election cycle, Mike DeWine has continued to duck committing to debates across Ohio with Mayor Nan Whaley, even as the Mayor has already publicly agreed and challenged DeWine to a number of debates. DeWine also dodged a debate with his primary opponents earlier this year, signaling that he is scared to defend his record to Ohioans, especially since he’s debated political opponents in the past. It’s ‘DeWine Debate Watch’ Day 4, reminding Ohioans that DeWine won’t even try to make his case to them as he seeks re-election to the highest statewide executive office. 

“Mike DeWine clearly knows his record over the last four years of selling out working families in favor of the wealthy and well-connected is not going to be popular with Ohio voters. If DeWine can’t even muster the political courage to tell Ohioans why they should re-elect him, he doesn’t deserve the job and should be held publicly accountable for his cowardice,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes. 

Ohioans deserve answers from DeWine on a number of key issues, including his promise to ‘go as far as we can’ to rip away reproductive rights, his broken promise to ‘do something’ to combat gun violence in Ohio, his connections to the largest public corruption scandal in state history and his role in the failed redistricting process that produced GOP-gerrymandered maps and cost Ohioans millions of dollars. 

Read more from Ohio Capital Journal here and below: 

Ohio Capital Journal Commentary: Healthy Public Debate is The Essence of Democracy

David DeWitt

September 1, 2022 

•  [I]n America, we obviously have a Constitutional Republic — a form of representative democracy — where the people vote for their representatives to public office theoretically in service of constituents and their interests.

• In either or any form, healthy, robust debate is critical to the functioning of small-d democracy.

• Those who would presume to be the embodied representation of the interests, needs, and desires of millions of people owe it to voters to subject themselves to the intellectual rigors of honest debate.

• The independent Ohio Debate Commission announced earlier this week that it has scheduled debates for Ohio’s 2022 General Election. This election will decide representation for the interests, needs, and desires of more than 11.7 million Ohioans, and includes every statewide executive office including governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and auditor; as well as Ohio Supreme Court races for the chief justice and two other justice seats; and Ohio’s next U.S. Senator.

• But thus far, only the Democratic candidates have agreed to participate. While Democrats Tim Ryan, running for Senate; Nan Whaley, running for governor; and Jennifer Brunner, running for chief justice, have all signed on, Ohio voters have gotten no such commitment from Republicans J.D. Vance, Gov. Mike DeWine, or Sharon Kennedy.

• DeWine, meanwhile, has done just about everything to say he doesn’t want to directly debate Whaley, without explicitly saying he doesn’t want to directly debate Whaley.

• My estimation is that DeWine doesn’t want to directly debate Whaley because he and his campaign feel the governor has little to gain but much to possibly lose by open public intellectual challenge to his record when it comes to, say, access to abortion, Ohio’s FirstEnergy Corp. political bribery scandal, or his participation in the unconstitutional gerrymandering of state legislative and congressional districts.

• Insofar as they may want to avoid talking about their positions and records on issues that do not poll well for them, presumably they are confident in their own arguments on the issues and that their ideas on, say, immigration, the economy, inflation, or gun laws may be persuasive for many.

• Nevertheless, they do not want to stand up and make their cases to the public in an independent, statewide public forum of tête à tête with their opponents.

• Healthy public debate is the essence of democracy. The free exchange of ideas is a touchstone of a free and open society.

• To cower before that challenge on the rostrum of the American Pynx is an open intellectual insult to the more than 11.7 million people they seek to represent.

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Columbus, OH – Earlier this month, a bombshell report revealed that J.D. Vance is “proud” that his sham non-profit brought a Purdue Pharma mouthpiece to Ohio. In an interview with Richland Source this week, Vance said it was a “good thing” that Dr. Satel came to Ohio – despite her long record of arguing both before an after coming to Ohio that “addiction stems from combined behavioral and environmental forces” — effectively papering over the role of Purdue Pharma played in marketing and overprescribing opioids. 

Vance’s non-profit is shuttered, as is its foundation, raising questions about Vance’s management of the organization. Herb Asher, a longtime Ohio political observer, characterized its lack of accomplishments, as well as Dr. Sally Satel’s connection to Big Pharma, as a “betrayal.”

These findings come after a Business Insider investigation last year found that Vance’s non-profit, which claimed to focus on combating the opioid epidemic, was a “charade” and “superficial,” and that its primary purpose was to bolster Vance and advance his personal ambitions. In its first year, the group spent more money paying Vance’s top political advisor than on programs to fight opioid misuse.

“J.D. Vance has been away from Ohio for so long he forgot that bringing a Big Pharma-backed doctor to Ohio is nothing to be ‘proud of,’ and nowhere close to being a ‘good thing.’ Instead of offering an apology to Ohio families who have lost loved ones to addiction, J.D. Vance is defending the indefensible – bringing a Purdue Pharma mouthpiece to ground zero of the opioid epidemic,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

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Latest Round of Records Secured by ODP Raise Questions about Why DeWine Was Meeting with Lawyers, Crisis Communication Team Amid Bribery Scandal

Columbus, OH – Today, Ohio Democrats are releasing the latest round of public records secured from Mike DeWine as the party continues pushing for answers from DeWine on what he knew and when about the largest public corruption scandal in state history. The latest records show that DeWine was often meeting with lawyers, including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, and a crisis communications team at major dates correlating with the GOP-led FirstEnergy Bribery Scandal that DeWine is increasingly linked to. 

The records raise questions about why DeWine would feel the need to seek legal and crisis communications advice as the scandal unfolded, questions that are especially pressing as DeWine and Husted are confirmed to be “State Official 1” and “State Official 2” in federal court documents. 

• Ohio Attorney General candidate Jeff Crossman and Ohio Auditor candidate Taylor Sappington are releasing these records on their websites to improve transparency and accountability around the scandal – in direct contrast to their Republican opponents who have done nothing to get answers. 

• The records can be found HERE and HERE.

“For months, Mike DeWine has been dodging accountability when it comes to his role in the largest public corruption scandal in state history, and these records only create more questions than answers. Consulting lawyers and a crisis communication team as the scandal unfolded doesn’t exactly scream innocence. It’s past time for DeWine to tell Ohioans what he knew and when and it’s time for him to come clean now,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.   

Earlier this year, the Ohio Democratic Party announced a lawsuit against DeWine and his office to get answers about what DeWine knew and when about the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley has called on DeWine, Husted and their administration to release all private emails, text messages and other communications related to the FirstEnergy scandal. 

Since October, Ohio Democrats have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy Bribery Scandal – which Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for months. The lack of accountability from DeWine is leading Ohioans to wonder what he’s hiding and why.

See more below on DeWine’s legal and crisis communication meetings as the biggest public corruption scandal in state history was unfolding: 

Friday September 27, 2019

• Legal Meeting with Matt & Sarah (pg. 2)
  • NOTE: This occurred just days after federal officials secretly recorded Householder and Neil Clark at a dinner club meeting about the referendum.

Monday September 30, 2019

• Had a phone call with Yost but the reason for the call was redacted. The phone call was to Yost’s cell phone rather than through his office. (pg. 5)

Thursday July 2, 2020

• Call with Householder (pg. 19)
  • NOTE: This was just weeks before Householder’s arrest

Monday July 6, 2020

• Two back-to-back meetings with legal. (pg. 20)

Tuesday July 21, 2020

• DeWine had a legal meeting on the day of Householder’s arrest. (pg. 28)

Friday July 31, 2020

• DeWine had a meeting with a risk communications team the week after Householder’s arrest. (pg. 34)

Friday September 11, 2020

• Almost the entire morning was redacted besides a morning briefing and 9/11 moment of silence. That afternoon DeWine had a legal call with the attorney general’s office. (PG. 59-60)

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Columbus, OH — As debate season starts to ramp up in the closing weeks and days of the election cycle, Mike DeWine has continued to duck committing to debates across Ohio with Mayor Nan Whaley, even as the Mayor has already publicly agreed and challenged DeWine to a number of debates. DeWine also dodged a debate with his primary opponents earlier this year, signaling that he is scared to defend his record to Ohioans, especially since he’s debated political opponents in the past. It’s ‘DeWine Debate Watch’ Day 3, reminding Ohioans that DeWine won’t even try to make his case to them as he seeks re-election to the highest statewide executive office. 

“Mike DeWine clearly knows his record over the last four years of selling out working families in favor of the wealthy and well-connected is not going to be popular with Ohio voters. If DeWine can’t even muster the political courage to tell Ohioans why they should re-elect him, he doesn’t deserve the job and should be held publicly accountable for his cowardice,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes. 

Ohioans deserve answers from DeWine on a number of key issues, including his promise to ‘go as far as we can’ to rip away reproductive rights, his broken promise to ‘do something’ to combat gun violence in Ohio, his connections to the largest public corruption scandal in state history and his role in the failed redistricting process that produced GOP-gerrymandered maps and cost Ohioans millions of dollars. 

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