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For Immediate Release:

Friday, December 17, 2021

Columbus, OH — In what’s become a pattern for Mike DeWine, he’s once again hiding and dodging any accountability to Ohio voters, this time by trying to dictate to the Ohio press corps what questions they’re allowed to ask. Ahead of a press conference today, DeWine is demanding reporters covering his press conference this morning submit their questions ahead of time, showing how scared he really is to take accountability and answer questions about the real issues impacting Ohio.

It’s only the latest example of DeWine dodging accountability as he’s spent the last year trying to ‘no comment’ his way out of the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history and refusing to tell Ohioans what he knew about the scandal and when.

“Mike DeWine once again thinks he’s above the rules and doesn’t need to bother lowering himself to answering questions about the issues Ohio voters care about. A free press is fundamental to our democracy and for Mike DeWine to try to control what questions reporters ask and when shows how little respect he has for Ohioans and the media asking questions on their behalf, ” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

In case you were wondering, Ohio’s press corps has taken notice:

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  December 13, 2021

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:

THE NAUGHTY LIST. For the second time in under a month, legal documents have raised more questions about Mike DeWine’s connections to the largest public corruption scandal in state history. Last Thursday, a new document was released seeking any correspondence between DeWine and dark money groups, raising further questions about what DeWine and his administration knew about the scandal and when.

A CHANGE OF HEART.  Mike DeWine has been busy the last few weeks, traveling the state to claim credit for funding he opposed. All last week, DeWine shamelessly traveled the state to tout funding for Ohio communities that was secured through the legislation achieved only with Democratic support. Legislation which, by the way, DeWine himself has been on record opposing. While we’re glad Mike DeWine has finally figured out how positive the American Rescue Plan is for Ohio, we’d like him to at least give credit where credit is due. Mike DeWine is losing political support by the day and is desperate to remain relevant to Ohio voters, even if it means he has to use victories secured by Democrats to do it.

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!

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Columbus, OH — According to a new report from the Review Times, the GOP Senate primary is going to be a “record-breaker” and an “arms race” based on the millionaire candidates’ access to huge sums of money. 

This follows a report from Fox News saying “the showdown is fast becoming the most expensive and ugly GOP Senate contest in next year’s midterms.” Last week, WVXU’s Howard Wilkinson argued the GOP Senate primary has “descended into meanness and pettiness and just plain craziness unlike anything ever seen in Ohio Republican politics.”

“With five months and well-stocked war chests, the out-of-touch GOP millionaires running for Senate are doing everything they can to ensure a nasty and expensive primary. They are ignoring hardworking Ohioans as they ramp up their attacks against each other,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

Review Times: Money flows fast in race for Senate seat

Denise Grant

December 9, 2021 

• With campaign spending in the race for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2022 expected to break records, Ohioans should brace for a bombardment of political advertising — and soon.
• “Part of this is going to be an arms race. There will be money spent because others are spending money. Expect it to be a record-breaking campaign,” said David Niven, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati. “It would be shocking if it wasn’t a record-breaker, given the level of competitiveness. It’s a nationalized race with candidates who have unusual access to money.”
• That “unusual access” to money Niven referenced includes the personal wealth and political connections of Republican candidates like Jane Timken, but also the support of super PACs (political action committees). A PAC can raise money and donate it directly to candidates, but donation levels are capped. Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money during an election season, but are restricted from donating directly to a candidate’s campaign.
• Meanwhile, two Super PACs supporting Republican candidate Josh Mandel launched a $1 million ad campaign attacking J.D. Vance, another registered candidate for the 2022 Republican primary election. The ads take Vance to task for being a “flip-flop flipper” in his support of former President Donald Trump. The ads highlight incidents of Vance calling Trump an “idiot,” “reprehensible” and “noxious.”
• But Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” isn’t running empty-handed, either. His super PAC received a $10 million donation from billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder who sits on the board of directors for Facebook. Niven said Vance’s venture capitalist ties could cause the cost of the race to skyrocket.
• “Venture capitalists are used to spending millions on millions of dollars. Those political connections from outside Ohio will open up spigots of money at every level,” he said.

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For Immediate Release:

Friday, December 10, 2021

Columbus, OH — Mike DeWine is losing political support by the day and is desperate to remain relevant to Ohio voters, even if it means he has to use victories secured by Democrats to do it.

All this week, DeWine has shamelessly traveled the state to tout funding for Ohio communities that was secured through the American Rescue Plan that was achieved only with Democratic support and that DeWine himself has been on record opposing. Ohio media is calling DeWine out for his hypocrisy, as he desperately tries to cling onto political relevance in a state where his numbers seem to drop by the day.

“While we’re glad Mike DeWine has finally figured out how positive the American Rescue Plan is for Ohio, we’d like him to at least give credit where credit is due. This funding was only possible because of Democratic leadership, and would not have been signed into law if DeWine had his way. Mike DeWine’s road show this week was an embarrassingly desperate attempt to remain relevant with voters who stopped supporting him long ago, ” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

Read more about what they’re saying about DeWine’s flip flop below:

Cleveland.com: Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio Republicans tout spending from Democrats’ federal coronavirus aid law opposed by GOP

Jeremy Pelzer

“Gov. Mike DeWine, who’s facing re-election next year, has spent a lot of time this week publicizing proposals to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on grants for first-responders and water projects.

“But what the Greene County Republican neglects to mention when making these proposals is that the money is coming from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, a coronavirus relief bill passed by Democrats last spring over criticism from Republicans — including DeWine himself.

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“On Monday, DeWine staged a Statehouse press conference to propose giving another $250 million in ARPA money to provide grants to help police and other first responders.

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“DeWine also scheduled several media events around the state on Wednesday to publicize water-project grants funded by ARPA dollars.

“But back in March, shortly after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion federal relief package, DeWine — a former U.S. senator — said he would not have voted for the American Rescue Plan Act as it wasn’t bipartisan.

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“Many Republican lawmakers have also sought to take credit for the benefits brought by the American Rescue Plan Act without mentioning that no Republicans in Congress voted for the bill.”

The Columbus Dispatch Capitol Insider: Democrats call DeWine a hypocrite for touting federal funding he opposed

Darrel Rowland

“Kissing babies on the campaign trail has pretty much fallen by the wayside, but handing out government funds still works. Especially when it’s other people’s money that you didn’t want in the first place.

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“Gov. Mike DeWine is busy traveling Ohio touting large chunks of Washington’s largess — spending that the governor and other Republicans opposed.

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“The Democratic National Committee’s “war room” called out DeWine and two other GOP governors Wednesday for reaping the political reward when they and all Republicans in Congress opposed President Joe Biden’s stimulus funding earlier this year.”

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For Immediate Release:

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Toledo, OH — Today, Toledo elected officials and workers celebrated the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and discussed what it means for Ohio, as part of the Building Ohio Together Tour, organized by the Ohio Democratic Party and For Our Future Ohio.

“The infrastructure bill represents the largest infrastructure investment in American History, and will have meaningful results for working families here in Toledo, like clean water and water infrastructure for the 21st century and beyond,” said Chair Walters.

The bipartisan bill will create good-paying jobs and help Ohio businesses grow by investing in our roads, bridges, public transit, water pipes and broadband.

“It’s been seven years since that fateful day when many of us woke up to news that our water was not safe to drink. It’s a crisis none of us want to live through again and this bill puts meaningful investments in place to upgrade our water infrastructure and ensure clean drinking water for all our residents,” said Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz .

These critical investments in physical infrastructure will also be bolstered by Build Back Better legislation that will invest in human infrastructure, by cutting taxes and making life more affordable for working Ohioans.

“As the economy reopens, big corporations have taken advantage by raising costs and squeezing Ohioans. Corporate greed is the reason Ohioans are seeing everyday costs go up. That’s just one reason why we also have to pass Build Back Better,” said UAW Local 12 President Bruce Baumhower

Local leaders also discussed how these investments will help working families in Ohio get ahead and help communities like Toledo compete on a global stage.

More on the new infrastructure funding below:

• Ohio is expected to receive $9.2 billion for highways and $483 million for bridge replacement and repairs. [White House, 8/4/21]
• Ohio is expected to receive $1.2 billion to improve public transit. [White House, 8/4/21]
• Ohio is expected to receive $100 million in broadband funding, including providing high-speed internet access to the at least 259,000 Ohioans who lack it. [White House, 8/4/21]
• Ohio is expected to receive $1.4 billion over five years to improve water infrastructure across the state. [White House, 8/4/21]
• Ohio is expected to receive approximately $253 million for infrastructure development for airports. [White House, 8/4/21]

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