Uncategorized

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Columbus, OH — Earlier this week, it was uncovered by Andrew Tobias at Cleveland.com that Jon Husted had accepted a paid corporate board job while remaining in office as lieutenant governor – another example of the DeWine administration using their taxpayer-funded jobs to line their own pockets. It’s a move that’s raising eyebrows and ethics questions about whether Husted’s move is legal and how Husted can avoid the myriad of conflicts raised by his decision.

Here are eight questions Jon Husted must answer:

1. Did Mike DeWine know about Husted’s decision to take a corporate job while remaining in office and did he sign off on the decision?
2. Did Husted consult the Ohio Ethics Commission about the unprecedented move?
3. How much money will Husted make for his paid, corporate gig?
4. Will Husted be willing to accept a decision by an ethics commission that directs him to choose between his corporate job or his lieutenant governorship?
5. Will he commit to donating his taxpayer salary given the fact that he’s now receiving outside compensation?
6. What guardrails did the administration put in place to deal with conflicts of interest?
7. Were any promises or commitments made to the bank in exchange for Husted’s paid appointment?
8. Has Husted pursued any other paid corporate jobs on top of his full-time elected role?

“Too many Ohio families are struggling to make ends meet under the DeWine administration. Yet, DeWine’s own lieutenant governor is using his political position to line his own pockets, as if his six-figure taxpayer salary wasn’t enough. Taxpayers have been fleeced by this administration enough already. Jon Husted must be held accountable for this unprecedented move and answer key questions about the conflict of interest and legal concerns his decision creates,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

Cleveland.com: Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted takes paid corporate board job with community bank

Andrew Tobias

May 23, 2022 

• Husted will be compensated for the board job, according to Hayley Carducci, a spokeswoman, but won’t say how much until he’s required to disclose it next year in a mandatory state financial disclosure. Husted got elected to the bank’s board after he and his wife, Tina, bought shares of the company earlier this year, Carducci said.
• Heartland Bank has several points of overlap with the state government. Among them:
  • As a state-chartered bank, it is regulated by the state Department of Commerce, organized under Gov. Mike DeWine’s office. The commerce department’s duties include mediating consumer complaints and conducting on-site inspections, according to its annual report. It also proposes rules for banks and other financial lenders; the rule-making process includes getting approval from an agency overseen by Husted’s office: the Common Sense Initiative, which analyzes proposed government rules for their potential impact on private businesses.
  • Heartland is certified as a public depository, meaning it’s eligible to hold cash and other investments owned by the state government, thanks to votes from the state board of deposit, made up of state Treasurer Robert Sprague, state Auditor Keith Faber and state Attorney General Dave Yost.
  • Through a title company subsidiary called Transcounty Title Agency, Heartland participates in an electronic lien and titling program administered through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, which falls under the governor’s office. Transcounty Title Agency also received $813,100 in state grants, administered through the state Public Works Commission, from 2013 through 2015, according to OhioCheckbook.com, the state’s fiscal transparency website.
  • Heartland Bank received a $22,500 grant from the state government in 2017 through a small-business program administered by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, a panel whose members are appointed by the governor, according to OhioCheckbook.com. It also has received about $11,100 from the state commerce department since 2017, although that was for unclaimed funds abandoned by former account holders, and most of it occurred before DeWine was elected. In addition, the state attorney general’s office has paid Heartland a minimal amount — just under $1,400 — since 2016 for investigative services, most recently a $34 payment in March.
• Heartland Bank’s CEO, Scott McComb, has political ties to state Republicans, giving at least $17,100 to GOP candidates since 2016, according to state campaign-finance records. That includes just under $10,000 to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and $5,000 to the DeWine/Husted campaign, including $2,500 in March, around the time Husted was named to the company’s board. McComb’s mother served as a central committeewoman for the Ohio Republican Party, according to a 2018 profile in Independent Banker, a trade group.

Statehouse News Bureau: Ohio’s lieutenant governor defends decision to add on private sector job

Karen Kasler

May 24, 2022

• Ohio’s Republican lieutenant governor is taking some heat for accepting an outside paid job on top of the work he’s already doing as the state’s second-in-command to Gov. Mike DeWine.
• Husted, who is also DeWine’s running mate for re-election in November, said he’d thought about investing in a community bank and joining its board “for many years”.
• Husted said being on the board will help him understand how interest rates, inflation and government regulations affect small businesses and the economy.
• The CEO of Heartland Bank has donated more than $19,000 to Republican candidates since 2016.

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For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Columbus, OH — In the wake of the unthinkable tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, which comes just 10 days after the unthinkable tragedy in Buffalo, New York, one thing remains clear: Mike DeWine will not take action to prevent similar violence in Ohio. In 2019, after a mass shooting in Dayton, DeWine promised to “do something.” Instead, DeWine has proven time and time again that when given the choice between keeping Ohioans safe by standing up to the gun lobby or caving to special interests or extremists in the legislature, he’ll cave every time.

Since the mass shooting in Dayton, Mike DeWine has signed “Stand Your Ground” legislation after once threatening to veto it. He then ignored pleas from law enforcement and Ohioans when he signed permitless carry into law, legislation that will make Ohio families and police officers less safe. There will rightly be calls following the horrific killing of 19 kids in Texas for meaningful action to curb gun violence. But sadly, we already know that Mike DeWine won’t do anything.

“After the terrible tragedy in Dayton, Mike DeWine promised Ohioans he’d ‘do something’ to curb gun violence. The only ‘something’ we’ve seen from DeWine is his signing of laws that put Ohioans at greater risk for gun violence. If Mike DeWine is too weak to stand up to the gun lobby and his fellow Republicans and take meaningful action to keep Ohioans safe from gun violence, he doesn’t deserve the job,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

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For Immediate Release:
Monday, May 23, 2022

Cleveland, OH — Today, Mike DeWine is coming to Cleveland to tout grants for Northeast Ohio law enforcement. The problem? Mike DeWine opposed the legislation passed by Democrats that made this funding possible. The funding grant for Cleveland’s critical Real Time Crime Center comes from the American Rescue Plan, legislation that was passed by Ohio Democrats and that Mike DeWine said he would have voted against in March 2021. It’s another example of DeWine’s desperation and hypocrisy, using Democratic accomplishments to try to stay relevant politically and, for the second time in less than a month, using Ohio law enforcement as a political pawn in the process.

“If it were up to Mike DeWine, Cleveland Police would not be seeing one cent of this critical grant funding to keep streets safer. DeWine opposed the legislation that makes this funding possible, and his efforts to claim credit for the work of Ohio Democrats to secure critical resources for Ohio law enforcement is shameful,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

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For Immediate Release:
May 20, 2022

Columbus, OH — Before he decided to run for U.S. Senate, J.D. Vance lambasted Trump’s approach to inciting a deadly rally in Charlottesville in 2017.

As a paid CNN contributor in 2017, Vance said, “If I was President Trump in this situation, I’d spike the football. This is one of the things that really unites the entire country. Racism is bad. Nazism is bad. We fought a war to defeat Nazism. And the president should not just be — there’s a sense in which he’s ambivalent or too cautious about coming out and criticizing this stuff.”

Now, in the wake of the Buffalo terrorist attack that left 10 dead, J.D. Vance said, “Can’t we just condemn whenever anybody commits an act of violence and leave the politics out of it for a little bit?” Quite the departure from his forceful condemnation of racist violence just five years ago.

This isn’t the only time Vance has changed his tune on race since launching his U.S. Senate campaign. Vance has called immigrants “dirty” on the campaign trail after condemning Trump for using xenophobic appeals in 2016. Vance also previously acknowledged that there are “obviously still advantages to being white” but now condemns the concept of white privilege on the campaign trail. And Vance has promoted antisemitic Soros conspiracy theories, saying, the “result of his ‘philanthropy’ is death and crime across America” despite previously liking a tweet implying Trump supporters were antisemitic.

This week, Vance gained attention for rhetoric on the campaign trail that echoed the deadly white supremacist rhetoric identified in forums across the internet, according to experts on hate speech. It’s rhetoric he likely would have condemned years ago.

“J.D. Vance is a fraud and a phony who will say anything to further his own political career – even if it makes Ohioans less safe. With his positions changing by the day, how can Ohioans trust anything California Vance says?” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson from the Ohio Democratic Party.

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For Immediate Release:
Friday, May 19, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party launched the “Workers First Campaign,” the coordinated campaign of community organizers who will work to elect Democrats up and down the ballot this year – from the U.S. Senate to statewide offices to county and local offices. The Workers First coordinated campaign will work in tandem with candidates at all levels to tell the story of how Democrats are fighting for working families and to turn out the vote for Democratic candidates this fall.

Since November 2021, the Ohio Democratic Party has had organizers on the ground working in their communities to talk with Ohioans, hear their stories and show them that Democrats are on their side. Over the coming weeks the Workers First Campaign will be working to register voters and build volunteer teams. Then, ahead of the November election, the coordinated campaign will work to turn out voters for Democrats.

“We’re not taking any community for granted as we look to show Ohio voters we’re on their side and elect Democrats up and down the ticket come November. We’re investing in organizing earlier than ever this cycle, and we’re grateful for the support of our Democratic candidates as we work together to get boots on the ground early, put Ohio workers first and turn Ohio blue,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters.

The Workers First Campaign is made possible by critical investments from Ohio Democrats at the top of the ticket, including Tim Ryan and Nan Whaley.

“This election is about building up our state, rebuilding our middle class, and cutting workers in on the deal. I’m proud of our team’s early investment in the Workers First Campaign, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help elect pro-worker candidates up and down the ticket and in every corner of Ohio,” said Ryan.

“I’m excited to be a part of building this innovative statewide campaign that will elect new leadership from the working class and for the working class. Together, we’ll set Ohio on a path to making sure that every family, no matter where in the state they live, has the opportunity to thrive,” said Whaley.

Ohio Democrats are also committed to a coordinated campaign that reflects the diversity of the Ohioans we’re working to represent. The Workers First Campaign is made up of a diverse group of Ohio organizers that has extensive experience working in the state.

“I’m so proud of the strong, diverse team we’ve put together with the experience necessary to show Ohio voters we’re on their side and put working families first. Come November, we’re going to hold Republicans accountable for the ways they’ve betrayed Ohio voters and elect Democratic leaders who are going to put our state back in the hands of workers, rather than the wealthy and well-connected,” said Hilary Barrett, Coordinated Campaign Director.

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