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Columbus, OH —  In remarks to the Sandusky County Republican Party first reported on by the Fremont-News Messager, Ohio Republican Party Chair Alex Triantafilou said that when it came to issue one, Ohio’s anti-gerrymandering amendment, “confusing Ohioans was not such a bad strategy.”

Republican leadership across the state were desperate not to be forced into fair districts and knew they couldn’t win if voters had the facts. Triantafilou continued: “A lot of people were saying, ‘We’re confused! We’re confused by Issue 1.’ Did you all hear that? Confusion means we don’t know, so we did our job.” 

Triantafilou may have said the quiet part out loud, but he was far from the only official tricking the voters. Unsurprisingly, Ohio’s GOP Chair says everyone was in on it: “When I say we, it was all of us. Not just me, Alex. Not just the state central committee, but the entire family of the Republican Party.”

“The GOP lied to voters to cling to their power and corruption and now Chair Triantafilou is openly bragging about confusing the voters in order to win.” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. “Jon Husted, Dave Yost, Frank LaRose and every other Republican is at fault for conspiring to trick Ohio voters and then making fun of them. Ohioans deserve leaders who focus on housing, food prices, prescription drug costs – these assholes lie to us and then use their power to line the pockets of special interests.”

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party kicked off a statewide effort to rally thousands of Democrats to run for local office, especially in races that are often uncontested. This candidate recruitment program is part of a national movement led by Contest Every Race to ensure every Republican faces a challenger, especially in down-ballot races that most impact their communities. 

Despite the disappointing election results, Ohio Democrats are laying the groundwork for success in 2025 and beyond. Finding candidates who reflect their local communities, in every county across Ohio, is crucial to ensuring all voters feel represented —both now and in the future.

The 2025 candidate recruitment program will target recruiting candidates for over 6,000 local offices where typically only one non-Democrat runs, including village and city council members, school board members, and other local offices across the state. The goal is to find and support as many new Democratic candidates as possible to file for office by the February 5th deadline.

“To build a stronger future for Ohioans, especially in our rural communities, we need Democratic candidates who reflect the values of their neighbors—fighting for everyday families and using common sense solutions in office,” said Executive Director of the Ohio Democratic Party, Alexis Nielson. “Local offices are the foundation of our democracy, and the outcomes of those races are felt every day in our communities. By partnering with Contest Every Race, we’re working to recruit more Democrats to step up and run. Ohio Democrats are here to fight for our people and our shared futures.”

“In 2025, we’re doubling down on our commitment to Ohio by launching a bold initiative to recruit and support local candidates in rural and small-town communities,” added Contest Every Race Director Lauren Gepford. “At this critical political moment, it’s clear that there are no ‘off years.’ This program is a testament to our determination to strengthen the party at the local level and prepare for the battles ahead.”

The recruitment program contains multiple components, including text messaging infrastructure, coaching calls, and meetings to organize and mobilize Democrats to run for local office. The program targets areas where the concentration of uncontested Republicans tends to be higher, specifically rural communities and small towns. 

Since its inception in 2018, the Contest Every Race project has recruited over 10,000 Democrats to run for local office across the country. Contest Every Race found that Democrats failed to run in over 50% of all partisan races in 2022, a staggering figure that lays bare the bench and party-building work needed to rebuild Democratic strength in the Trump era. 

To speak with leaders of the Ohio Democratic Party, contact [email protected]. 

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Contest Every Race, a project of Movement Labs, recruits Democrats to run in otherwise uncontested local races and operates a national rural organizing support program to net votes for Democrats in the 2025 election.

COLUMBUS, Ohio- In case you missed it, Ohio Attorney General yesterday joined 23 other state attorneys general in pledging support for Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to run the FBI, calling him a “smart, component reformer.” But Patel’s nomination has been mired in controversy after previous comments surfaced of him pledging to “come after” political opponents and members of the media.

Despite his lack of experience within the FBI, Patel has been described as “frightening” and “eager to pursue a vengeful president’s whims.” He pledged to “go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media.” If confirmed, he’ll only work to protect his boss, not working families in Ohio and beyond.  

“Yost’s enthusiastic support for a nominee who will only work for his political allies at the expense of the American people reveals an unsurprising but disappointing disinterest in working for Ohioans,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “He should be using his responsibility as our state’s chief law enforcement officer to protect Ohioans, not score points with politicians who think the first amendment is up for debate.”

Columbus, OH – Today is the final edition of Bad News Bernie – what a ride it has been. From refusing to pay his employees and destroying the evidence to get away with it, to mocking and insulting Ohioans for caring about abortion rights, to the pattern of lies that has haunted his campaign since the very beginning, there has been a lot of Bad News for Bernie Moreno, and this week was no different. Thanks for tuning in as Moreno proved to Ohioans week after week that he only looks out for himself.

NEED-TO-KNOW THIS WEEK:

• Recent reporting caught Moreno in yet another lie, this time about using an anti-recording device on Ohio voters to “block people from recording his events,” despite claiming that “the gadget was ‘only being used against trackers, rather than regular event attendees.”

• Moreno said he “would support cutting all federal funding for child care” even though “more than half of Ohio’s child care funding” comes from federal sources, and told an Ohio mother he “[doesn’t] support” funding to increase access to childcare.

• New reporting from Cleveland.com revealed Moreno was sued by his former mentor for stealing “confidential company data.”

🔥 PANTS ON FIRE: Last week, Bernie Moreno got caught using an anti-recording device to prevent Ohioans from hearing what he has to say – and now, new reporting from Mother Jones caught Moreno using the anti-recording device on Ohio voters to “block people from recording his events.” Moreno’s use of the device follows him “land[ing] himself in hot water” after he was caught “mocking” Ohio women and calling them “a little crazy” for wanting to make their own health care decisions.

WATCH MORE FROM WCMH HERE

👨‍👩‍👦 MORENO DOESN’T CARE ABOUT OHIO MOTHERS: New reporting this week revealed that Bernie Moreno said he “would support cutting all federal funding for child care” even though “more than half of Ohio’s child care funding” comes from federal sources. As Ohio working families are facing a childcare crisis, Moreno told an Ohio mother he doesn’t support funding to increase access to childcare. Moreno has previously faced scrutiny for telling a woman who worked for him to “put your kids in f***ing daycare” after “she asked about flexibility in her work schedule.”

🚘 LAWSUIT AFTER LAWSUIT AFTER LAWSUIT AFTER LAWSUIT: New reporting this week found Bernie Moreno was sued by his former mentor for stealing “confidential company data” after he moved to Ohio. This is the latest example in “a series of lawsuits that have come to light” against Moreno – who has been sued at least 50 times – including over a dozen lawsuits for refusing to pay his employees the overtime wages they earned and multiple lawsuits for gender and age discrimination. Read more from Cleveland.com here:

• … [Moreno’s] former employer – led by a helicopter-commuting billionaire named Herb Chambers – sued him in 2005, claiming Moreno misappropriated confidential company data and used its resources to poach customers.

• In legal filings that have surfaced during the campaign, Moreno has been accused of gender and age discrimination. More than a dozen dealership employees sued Moreno over unpaid overtime. Another said Moreno stiffed him on profit sharing he was promised.

• The suit claimed Moreno sold about 20 cars through his dealership to Chambers customers in violation of a confidentiality agreement and accused him of “improperly” advertising his Ohio dealership in Massachusetts.

• Years later, more than dozen lawsuits were filed against Moreno by employees at his Burlington dealership, claiming Moreno didn’t pay them overtime. Ultimately, Moreno was ordered to pay two of the workers more than $400,000, and 14 other lawsuits were settled for an undisclosed amount, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

• Moreno and his company or subsidiary also has faced three discrimination lawsuits in Cuyahoga County between 2015 and 2017, according to the Associated Press.

😾 FAT CAT RETURNS: In Toledo, Mansfield, and Northwood, Ohioans were reminded that Fat Cat Bernie Moreno “stiff[ed] workers” and faced “more than 50 lawsuits” – including over a dozen where he refused to pay his employees the overtime wages they earned and destroyed the evidence to try to get away with it.

Ohioans in Mansfield slam Moreno for stiffing his workers.

Ohioans in Toledo call out Moreno’s record refusing to pay his employees.

Ohioans in Northwood protest Moreno over his record of screwing workers.

🤑 ONLY OUT FOR HIMSELF: There’s one thing Ohioans know about Bernie Moreno: he only looks out for himself. From “stiffing workers” and “destroy[ing] evidence” to get out of paying his employees the wages they earned, to his comments mocking Ohio women for caring about the ability to make their own health care decisions, and supporting a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans who voted to protect abortion rights last year, Moreno has made it clear he won’t fight for Ohio.

• Moreno’s campaign has been “clouded” by a “slew of lawsuits for workers’ wages and workplace discrimination,” including over a dozen lawsuits where Moreno refused to pay his workers the overtime they earned, and deliberately destroyed evidence he was legally required to keep to get out of it.

• Moreno called Ohioans “a little crazy” for caring about a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, said he is “100 percent pro-life with no exceptions,” and would vote for a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans.

• Moreno has been caught in lie after lie on the campaign trail and has faced scrutiny for the “string of inconsistencies that have dogged his campaign.” Moreno was caught repeatedly lying about selling the Chinese-made Buick Envision which contributed to “Ohio jobs being shipped overseas,” lying about his phony “rags-to-riches” story as the “signature pitch” of his campaign, and lying about “s[elling] off all of his businesses” while spending nearly $50 million to open a new car dealership.

• Moreno opposed the bipartisan bill to secure the border, opposed Sherrod’s bill to crack down on dangerous fentanyl, and said he won’t work across the aisle to fight for Ohio.

• Moreno isn’t the self-made outsider he claims to be. Despite claiming he “built his car dealer empire all on his own,” Moreno actually received “much-needed handout[s],” “special favors,” and “financial assistance” and “leveraged his family connections” and the “Moreno Family cash reserves” to enrich himself. Moreno has exploited his insider political connections to boost his businesses and is “heavily invested” in and profited off of a family enrichment scheme with his brothers by funneling U.S. taxpayer money into banks that financed projects his family oversaw.

🗞️ WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING THIS WEEK:

• UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty: “[Bernie Moreno] does not live up to the values of Northwest Ohio and all of Ohio. He’s been lying in the media, and we wanted to confront his lies to his face.”

• Cleveland.com: Senate hopeful Bernie Moreno’s falling out with a billionaire mentor led to legal battle, move to Ohio

• American Journal: Republican Bernie Moreno floats gutting “all” government investments for child care. More than half of Ohio’s child care funding comes from a federal program.

• The Washington Post: “Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno’s campaign is using an anti-recording device to prevent Democrats from recording him…”

• Mother Jones: “Moreno’s decision to muffle recordings with the gadget may have been prompted by criticism he’s received for leaked audio in which he discusses his thoughts about abortion: In late September, Moreno was recorded at an event saying that suburban women making abortion their top issue at the polls is ‘a little crazy by the way—especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.’”

• Rachel Maddow, MSNBC: “That piece of tape of Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno saying a woman over 50 has no reason to support abortion rights because, you know, ‘she’s not making babies anymore. So why should we care what she thinks?’ That tape got Mr. Moreno a lot of negative press coverage… [Mr. Moreno’s campaign] can’t guarantee he’s not going to say stuff like that…”

• The Guardian: “The Republican candidate, auto salesperson Bernie Moreno, has claimed to have refused to sell a Chinese-made SUV. Spectrum News showed that Moreno did sell such vehicles.”

🐤 TWEET OF THE WEEK:

🎶 CODA: “[Bernie Moreno] is truly a fat cat and we don’t need him representing us in DC.”

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Columbus, OH – New reporting from WCMH yesterday highlighted that Bernie Moreno is “using audio jammers” that “emit an electronic sound that muffles and distorts any nearby audio recording” after WCMH first caught Moreno “mocking” Ohio women and calling them “a little crazy” for wanting to make their own health care decisions. WCMH notes that “while early in the campaign, Moreno encouraged people to record his rallies,” “the campaign is now using jammers” that keep Ohioans from recording his remarks or answers to questions he’s asked.  

This week, reporting from Mother Jones also caught Moreno in yet another lie, this time about using the anti-recording device on Ohio voters to “block people from recording his events,” despite Moreno falsely claiming that “the gadget was ‘only being used against trackers, rather than regular event attendees.’”  

WATCH MORE FROM WCMH HERE

Bernie Moreno: “A lot of suburban women that are like ‘listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ Ok, a little crazy, by the way. But, especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, I don’t think that’s an issue for you.” 

Colleen Marshall, WCMH: “That video of Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno saying older women have no stake in abortion went viral after we were first to show it to you a few weeks ago, and new at 11, it is still resonating, because in video given to us by the Ohio Democratic Party, you will see Moreno’s team armed with a new electronic weapon that is apparently aimed at making sure nothing like that happens again. 

“…catching Bernie Moreno off guard just got tougher, because his team is using audio jammers… that black box emits an electronic sound that muffles and distorts any nearby audio recording. So while early in the campaign, Moreno encouraged people to record his rallies, a spokesperson admits the campaign is now using jammers.” 

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