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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]

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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.” 

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Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Cincinnati.com columnist Jason Williams eviscerated Ohio Republicans for playing politics with redistricting. Williams rightfully observes that Republicans are “flipping everyone the bird,” ignoring the Constitution and putting their own political interests over the needs of Ohioans when drawing new maps. The column points out the multiple times Ohio voters overwhelmingly called for redistricting reform and the various ways GOP politicians went ahead and ignored those calls. 

“Statehouse Republicans are arrogantly and unapologetically doing whatever the heck they want with the map-drawing pen, throwing a big, fat gerrymandering party like they’re living on a consequence-free Pleasure Island,” writes Jason Williams in the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

“Republicans will do anything to avoid accountability for the various ways they’ve betrayed Ohioans, including choosing their own voters rather than the other way around. From day one, the GOP has ignored calls for fair districts and put their own political interests over the needs of Ohioans,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

You can read more from the Enquirer here and below: 

• In 2018, Ohioans wagged their fingers at the state’s controlling political party and sent a loud and clear bipartisan message about redistricting. Be fair. Republicans have responded by flipping everyone the bird.
• Statehouse Republicans are arrogantly and unapologetically doing whatever the heck they want with the map-drawing pen, throwing a big, fat gerrymandering party like they’re living on a consequence-free Pleasure Island. 
• It’s hard to believe the gerrymandering could get worse after voters overwhelmingly approved bipartisan redistricting reform three years ago. But all one needs to do is look at Hamilton County on the proposed congressional maps unveiled last week by the state Senate and House as an obvious example that Republicans are blatantly ignoring what voters ordered them to do.
• They’ve blown multiple deadlines to come up with this? What a joke.
• The ballot initiative put stricter map-drawing guidelines and more layers of checks and balances in place for redistricting. Republicans have collectively responded: We don’t care.
• The legislature has until Nov. 30 to make changes to its proposed maps, but no one who pays close attention to this stuff is optimistic that House Speaker Bob Cupp and Senate President Matt Huffman are suddenly going to start eating Fairness Flakes for breakfast every day.
• Gerrymandering makes people feel like their vote doesn’t count. Apparently their vote to reform redistricting didn’t count, either. It’s a vicious cycle that disillusions voters to check out. That’s what Statehouse Republicans want. Fewer voters often favors the majority party. 
• We’re seeing the dark side of one-party rule play right now. No wonder the statehouse has been under the months-long cloud of the pay-to-play FirstEnergy scandal. Power-drunk lawmakers think they can do whatever they want.

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Columbus, OH —  Today, three of the five members of the “Foul Five” will meet at the Ohio Press Network GOP Senate forum in Columbus. And just because Vance and Timken won’t be there does not mean the forum will be any less nasty. 

In fact, it could mean tonight’s forum is even nastier. When Vance was absent from GOP events in the past, Mandel put together a shoebox with Vance’s face on it that reads “Never Trumper J.D. Vance” in his place. Yikes. 

The GOP Senate candidates will meet following two pro-Mandel Super PACs launching a cumulative $1 million ad buy attacking J.D. Vance. The ads highlight Vance’s own words calling Trump an “idiot,” “reprehensible,” and “noxious.” The latest ad lambasts Vance for calling himself a “flip-flopping flipper” to describe how he changed his position on Trump. 

And we know that all these attacks come at the expense of the issues Ohioans care about, like meaningful investments in infrastructure, efforts most of these candidates have opposed at every turn. Ohioans are looking for candidates who are on their side, and this lot isn’t it. 

“While Democrats are keeping their promises by investing in infrastructure and creating good-paying jobs, Ohio Republicans have focused on petty feuds that do nothing to help working families get ahead. Every forum and debate continues to highlight the deeply personal divisions that make the messiest primary in the country even messier,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

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