Uncategorized

Columbus, OH — National media outlets are noticing just how wild the GOP Senate primary in Ohio really is. Slate takes a look at the most recent “crazy pants debate” and assigns each of the candidates a final grade based on their performances.    

“All of the GOP Senate candidates are locked in a race to the bottom, sinking to new lows every day. With six months to go and millions to spend, this crowded primary is sure to get nastier and even more insane as the candidates get desperate to reach the finish line,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.  

Slate: A Guide to the Crazy Pants Ohio Republican Senate Primary and Its Most Recent Crazy Pants Debate

Ben Mathis-Lilley

November 16, 2021 

• The Ohio Republican Senate primary is not being held until May, but has already made a number of national headlines as its competitors have raced to the bottom of the MAGA barrel and then tried to dig through it to find an even lower level of barrel. Well-connected venture capitalist J.D. Vance is pretending he hates “the elite” and thinks QAnon makes a lot of sense, while perennial candidate Josh Mandel is calling for violent resistance against the vaccine “Gestapo” and adopting a southern accent on Fox News despite being from suburban Cleveland. It’s been fun times from the get-go.
• Last Thursday night in Columbus, five of the candidates gathered for a forum, which was basically a debate but with less overt hostility and formal back-and-forth. In viral tweets, Politico’s Natalie Allison flagged some of the event’s worst/best moments, chief among them IT entrepreneur and candidate hopeful Mark Pukita’s monologue about why people should know that Mandel is Jewish. What better use of 90 minutes could there be than reviewing the entire tape?
• Before we dig in, here’s a primer on the candidates:
  • Vance, who skipped the event, is the author and investor who denounced white rural America for its purported culture of poverty in Hillbilly Elegy, ran a Middle America-focused tech startup fund backed by Jeff Bezos, and has called Donald Trump, among other things, an idiot. He is running as a fanatical Trump supporter who will protect white American culture against the influence of wealthy tech figures like Jeff Bezos. (This is really true!)
  • Longtime state party figure Jane Timken, who was also absent, wants to be a regular conservative senator and is saying Trump stuff because it seems like the best way to go at the moment.
• Among those who were present:
  • Mandel is a former state treasurer who was the party’s nominee in a losing 2012 race against Sherrod Brown. He supported Marco Rubio in 2016 but has always come from the racial cheap shot school of conservative politics and transitioned easily into pitching himself as a MAGA enforcer for alt-right and anti-vax types.
  • Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons and Pukita are respectively on the more genial and more unhinged edges of the politically incorrect Baby Boomer businessman lane.
  • Cleveland-area car dealer turned cryptocurrency enthusiast Bernie Moreno is a Colombian immigrant running on the idea that the U.S. is descending into failed-state Latin American socialism. (He is also younger and more handsome than the name “Bernie” and the phrase “Cleveland-area car dealer” would suggest.)
  • State senator Matt Dolan is running as someone who supports Trump on some things, but not others, and will therefore lose.
• Here we go! Time stamps are by the minute. 
• 16:30: Pukita, who wears the clear rectangular glasses frames of a mild-mannered architect but seems to vibrate with the throwback rage of a man who gets mimeographed newsletters from other Barry Goldwater donors, opens his remarks by denouncing (among other things) “facades” and “caricatures,” which, it will soon become clear, is a shot at Mandel (and Vance). “I make people uncomfortable,” he says matter-of-factly, then calls conservative Republican Mike DeWine “an awful governor” who “should never hold office again” to huge applause. (DeWine is disliked by some right-wingers for having instituted relatively modest anti-COVID restrictions.)
• 33:00: Gibbons is cut off by the moderator during what seems to be a complaint about how work shortages have affected McDonald’s.
• 44:15: Moreno says that he was, at one point, canceled for criticizing DeWine.
• 45:30: Pukita brags that he is not vaccinated and confronts Mandel, who had previously refused to say whether or not he’d gotten his shots, about dodging the issue. Mandel takes the microphone only for Pukita to cut him off when it becomes clear he is not going provide an answer this time either.
• 1:08:00: Moreno says the FBI should have its funding reduced until it stops advancing liberal causes and that Jan. 6 was an “unfortunate riot” rather than an insurrection.
• 1:15:20: An increasingly defeated-looking Dolan tries to convince the crowd that you shouldn’t pass abortion bills that will immediately be ruled unconstitutional. Moreno dunks on him shortly thereafter, basically calling him a coward, to huge applause.
• 1:23:25: OK, here’s the Pukita rant bit. He says: “So, in terms of anti-Semitism, all I did, in an ad, was pointed out, that Josh is going around saying he’s got the Bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other. Right? But he’s Jewish! That’s fine—everybody should know that, though, right, because to me, it’s a facade, it’s a character. If I went into a mosque, right, with the Constitution and a Koran and said that’s how I was gonna make decisions in Washington? I’d get laughed out of the place. If I did the same in a temple with the Torah and the Constitution, I’d get laughed out of the place. If I went into a Hindu temple with the Gita and the Constitution, they probably wouldn’t laugh, because they’re very, very polite people. But I probably wouldn’t get invited back.”
• Closing comments and grades:
  • Gibbons is not going to win this race but is having a good time and had a nice suit. 8/10
  • Dolan already looks like a hollow-eyed salesman who is going to have to tell his kids that there’s no Christmas this year. He needs to drop out before he reaches medically dangerous levels of beleaguerment. 1/10, gets credit for at least showing up
  • For all the attention given to Vance and Mandel’s outrageous positions by national outlets like Slate, Pukita is much more of the genuine article if what you’re looking for is someone who would strangle a Communist in public. 10/10 (but to be clear it would be extremely bad news if he really got elected)
  • Mandel has natural authoritarian impulses, which allows him to understand what a certain portion of his audience is looking for, but is hamstrung by being—and I’m sorry, this isn’t nice, but it’s true and relevant to the question of who will win the race—kind of a lurching goon. You can just see the effort coming off of him. Total goon. 0/1,000

###

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:

WILL THE REAL PAT DEWINE PLEASE STAND UP… and recuse himself already?  Amid more calls this week for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine to recuse himself from a Supreme Court case involving his own dad, there are more and more reasons for him to do so, including the fact that he already has before. A recent report shows Pat did step down from an unemployment case in August also involving dad to “avoid any appearance of impropriety that might result from my father’s public involvement in this matter.” Why would the rules be different now, with Ohio’s political future on the line? Because the DeWines, as always, are only looking out for themselves. 

A BIG, FAT GERRYMANDERING PARTY. Cincinnati.com eviscerated Republicans (including Mike DeWine) last week for ignoring Ohio’s constitution, playing political games and stomping on the will of hard-working Ohioans by “flipping everyone the bird” in the redistricting process. Jason Williams uses his column to point out all the ways Ohio Republicans are betraying the voters they’re supposed to serve and taking our state backward in the process. And with two weeks to go until the final congressional deadline, the only thing we know for sure about these maps is that GOP politicians will continue only looking out for themselves and leave Ohioans’ interests behind.  

SHADY SAM BACK IN HOT WATER.  Despite DeWine being warned about Shady Sam Randazzo’s close ties to big energy, he appointed Sam to head PUCO anyway. Now, we know that appointment directly cost hard-working Ohioans. New documents surfaced last week showing this corrupt duo kept money out of your pockets. Text messages show Randazzo provided FirstEnergy a myriad of favors from inside the DeWine administration, including dropping a few key sentences into the 2019 state budget that saved FirstEnergy millions of dollars by preventing Ohioans from receiving refunds based on the major profits the company received. This certainly smells like statehouse corruption to us, but DeWine loves to defend his pal Randazzo by saying he “did a good job.”

GAG GIFS. Tis (nearly) the season for gag gift exchanges, and Jim Renacci is getting an early start with some gag GIFs and tweets for Ohio voters. Fundraising materials sent from the Renacci campaign by email and social media show just how seriously fellow Republicans are taking Mike DeWine and his leadership. Hint, they don’t.

The GIFs and tweets blame DeWine for COVID and the supply chain shortage by asking if you’ve “got milk?” and say he’s “Not a Leader, A Loser.” This messy primary is only set to get messier from here. 

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! 

###

Columbus, OH — Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement today after President Biden signed the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, which will create jobs in Ohio and provide critical investments for infrastructure projects around the state. Today would not be possible without the work of President Biden, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, and Ohio’s Democratic congressional delegation to negotiate this landmark infrastructure bill.   

“Thanks to President Biden, Senator Brown, and Ohio’s Democratic congressional delegation for this once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure that will create good-paying jobs in Ohio. This bipartisan plan will invest in roads, bridges, water pipes, and high-speed internet, bring back jobs from overseas, and help America compete with countries like China that threaten our economy. The infrastructure plan is a huge win for Ohio, and despite opposition from GOP politicians, will make a meaningful difference in the lives of working Ohioans,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. 

BACKGROUND: 

Thanks to Senator Brown and Ohio’s Democratic congressional delegation, Ohio is set to receive new infrastructure funding:  

• 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]

Thanks to Senator Brown and Ohio’s Democratic congressional delegation, the bipartisan infrastructure bill includes huge wins for Ohio: 

• Headline: Federal infrastructure bill could breathe new life into Brent Spence Bridge project [WKRC, 11/5/21]
• The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes the strongest Buy American language ever in federal law. [Star Beacon, 11/11/21]
• Lake Erie will benefit from $1 billion in new funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. [Toledo Blade, 11/9/21]
• Amtrak’s CEO named Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus as cities for passenger rail expansion thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure bill. [Dayton Daily News, 11/8/21]

Leading GOP senate candidates to replace Senator Portman have opposed this deal: 

• Headline: Republican Ohio candidates bash infrastructure bill championed by the senator they want to succeed, Rob Portman [Cleveland.com, 8/11/21]
• Headline: Toledo Leaders Slam Republican Senate Candidates for Attacking Infrastructure Bill [Truth Toledo, 9/2/21]

###

November 12, 2021

Happy Friday, and welcome to “Buckeye Brawl,” a weekly newsletter from the Ohio Democratic Party highlighting the nasty, chaotic, and expensive Republican primary for Senate. This out-of-control primary is making conservatives “deeply worried” about the prospects of Republicans losing this seat.

As the Republican Senate primary continues to sink lower and lower, these GOP candidates are injecting even more nasty personal attacks, more chaos, and more money into this race. We’re here to help you keep track of all of it.

Here’s what you may have missed:

SHOWBOATERS AND SHOW HORSES. Presumably upset that she hasn’t moved up in the polls, Jane Timken decided to attack the entire field of GOP Senate candidates in an interview with Hugh Hewitt this week. She said, “We’ve got a lot of showboaters and show horses in this race. I’m a workhorse…” We presume that’s a shot at Vance and Mandel – who have based their campaigns around retweets, soundbites, outrage, and very little actual substance.

FINGER IN THE WIND. In his opening remarks at the GOP Senate forum last night, Gibbons said he’s running for Senate because he didn’t want to trust the future of this country to (at the 25-minute mark) “career politicians, party insiders, or people who people who put their finger in the air to find out what their…” and then he was cut off. We wish he would have had time to finish the sentence but we’re sure he’s talking about Mandel, Vance, and Timken.

DUCKING DEBATES AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES. Mandel and his campaign went after Vance and Timken for ducking last night’s forum. His spokesperson said “after being exposed as a self-proclaimed Never-Trumper,” Vance was now “refusing to stand on stage and answer questions from voters about being anti-Trump and calling Trump supporters ‘racist.’ Now JD Vance is unwilling to disclose his personal finances and potential conflicts of interest. What is JD Vance trying to hide from Ohio voters?” At the forum last night, Mandel used his closing statement to attack Timken and Vance saying (at the 1-hour 32 minute mark), “Our friends Never Trumper J.D. Vance and pro-impeachment Jane Timken, they’re afraid to face the people.” As a Silicon Valley millionaire, we know Vance hates nothing more than being in Ohio.

TRUMP WARRIOR? I THINK NOT. On Hugh Hewitt’s show, Timken said, “We’ve got a lot of other people in this race who pretend they’re the Trump warrior…” It’s similar to a tactic she took in an interview with Sean Spicer (wow, haven’t thought about him in a minute) when she said, “I am the only one that is the real Trump, MAGA candidate.” She went on to say, “I’m not some Johnny come lately to the America first, Trump agenda.” That’s a shot at Vance and Mandel. After Josh Mandel questioned Timken’s loyalty to Trump, Timken allies fired back at Mandel saying he “sat on the sidelines throughout the toughest times of Trump’s presidency” and that “like the career politician he is, Mandel only spoke out when it benefited himself – during another run for office.” This week, Mandel attacked Vance’s event crowd sizes suggesting that they were so small because he’s a Never Trumper. Arguing over who loves Trump more isn’t going away any time soon.

POLITICAL INSIDERS AND CELEBRITIES. Moreno took a shot at the whole field saying that they consist of “political insiders and “political celebrities” in an interview with Hugh Hewitt this week. That’s a shot at Mandel, Timken, and calling Vance a celebrity is generous but sure (maybe D-List). We hate to break this news to Bernie Moreno but as a political megadonor for years, he doesn’t get to say he’s an outsider. The ultimate political insider is a millionaire like Bernie Moreno who uses their money to curry favor with politicians. Nice try!

Thanks for reading along – that’s all for the Buckeye Brawl this week. If you have questions, my email is [email protected]. Have a great weekend!

Columbus, OH —  Today, several of the GOP Senate candidates participated in a forum with the Ohio Press Network in Columbus. In response, Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Michael Beyer released the following statement:

“As Democrats are keeping their promises by investing in infrastructure and creating good-paying jobs, Ohio Republicans added more mess to their never-ending food fight and in the process failed to talk about how they will help working families get ahead. Every single forum has shined a spotlight on the deeply personal divisions that will make it harder for whatever out-of-touch millionaire who emerges from this primary to put the Ohio GOP back together again.” 

###