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  February 25, 2022

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:

PARTICIPATED IN THE PLUNDER. J.D. Vance took a shot at Jane Timken – who owns a significant amount of stock in the Timken Company, which owns several steel mills – for being an out-of-touch millionaire, saying, “I’m the only person who can look Tim Ryan in the eye and say, ‘my family didn’t own a steel mill — they worked in a steel mill.” Vance’s super PAC allies wasted no time piling on to spotlight the company’s business dealings with Putin’s Russia, with one advisor, tweeting, “No candidate has business ties in Russia except for Jane Timken. Her husband’s company has provided steel for their tanks, rail, and military,” and another going even further:  “Worth remembering that the last time Russia invaded Ukraine, Jane and her husband eagerly participated in the plunder.” No matter how hard she tries, Jane Timken just can’t escape Timken.

SMALL AND IDIOTIC. When asked about Timken’s ad saying he was “overcompensating for his inadequacies,” J.D. Vance hit back on the Bill Cunningham Show, saying, “I know Donald Trump. Jane Timken is no Donald Trump. She doesn’t have his charisma, which is why her campaign isn’t doing very well. And when she makes jokes like that, it just makes her come across as small and idiotic. It doesn’t come across as funny. I think it’s ridiculous that she’s trying to distract from the fact that she doesn’t have a message, right? Why is Jane Timken running for Senate? It’s a bunch of RNC talking points, so it’s not surprising she feels like she has to go after me in these ridiculous attack ads.” Ouch, sounds like someone touched a nerve.

POSTER CHILD OF THE ESTABLISHMENT. On the Mark Levin Show, Josh Mandel laid into his GOP opponents for not taking on the establishment, saying, “These people who are running against me, they were nowhere to be found. They did not have the courage to take on Kasich. They won’t have the courage to take on the squishy establishment leaders in Washington. You know, I’ve got a bunch of people running against me in this race who are a bunch of never-Trumpers, pro-impeachment RINOS.” After hammering Timken’s squishy RINO roots for months, Mandel pounced on Senator Rob Portman’s endorsement as proof, calling her “the poster child of the establishment. You know she was the party chairman, you know she provided coverage for DeWine with all his mask mandates and vaccine mandates. This lady actually defended the congressman who voted to impeach Trump. You know, she’s pro-impeachment.” Josh is right about one thing: after failing to gain traction as a MAGA warrior, Jane Timken went back to what she knows best – the establishment. Good luck with that, Jane!

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!

For Immediate Release:

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chair Elizabeth Walters issued the following statement in support of Ohio’s Ukrainian American community following Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.

“Ohio Democrats stand strong with Ohio’s Ukrainian American community amid Russia’s unprovoked attack on the nation of Ukraine. Our state is a stronger, richer place because of the Ukrainian Americans who call Ohio home. Our thoughts are with our fellow Ohioans during these difficult days ahead and we stand ready to offer any support we can.” 

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For Immediate Release:

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement as Republicans yet again broke the law in producing and approving GOP-gerrymandered maps.

“Once again, Republicans have failed to understand the assignment. Every time they pass another gerrymandered map, Ohioans pay a steeper cost for the political games Republican politicians are playing with our elections. And it will be a high cost to pay. Ohio Democrats have done their job and produced fair maps. The failure of this commission falls squarely on the shoulders of Republicans. 

“GOP politicians on this committee have proven time and time again that they’re more interested in placating special interest donors and extremists in the legislature than operating within the law. Any statements from them saying otherwise is strictly performative and should be treated as such.” 

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Columbus, OH — Today, U.S. Senator Rick Scott, the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), admitted the GOP’s plan if they retake the majority is to hike taxes on working Ohioans and retirees. 

According to the Washington Post, Scott’s plan “calls for new taxes on tens of millions of Americans,” which could include a tax hike that falls disproportionately on the shoulders of working-class Ohioans. If he had his way, Scott’s tax hike could even mean tax increases for retirees, who are already living on a fixed income after they spent years paying into Social Security and Medicare. 

It’s also important to note what isn’t mentioned in Scott’s proposal. MSNBC’s Steve Benen says, “Scott offers nothing on health care, child care, ideas on how to curb inflation, or even an explanation as to how he would go about pursuing his ostensible, wildly unrealistic ideas.” 

Every one of the out-of-touch millionaires vying for the GOP nomination in Ohio’s Senate race needs to come clean and tell Ohioans whether they support their party’s baffling scheme to hike taxes on hardworking Ohioans and retirees.  

“While working families are already feeling the squeeze from rising costs, Republicans are freely admitting they plan to raise taxes on the people who can least afford it. Not one of the out-of-touch extremists running for U.S. Senate in Ohio has dared to break with their party on these reckless tax hikes for hardworking Ohioans – because, unsurprisingly, the only people they’d answer to in Washington are their fellow millionaires and well-heeled special interest friends,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.    

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Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board held little back Tuesday, eviscerating Republican Redistricting Commission members for their complete failure to do their jobs, listen to Ohio voters and draw fair maps. By putting politics above anything else, the Republicans on the Commission have “slapped voters in the face,” according to the Dispatch editorial. The editorial goes on to underscore exactly why Republicans are doing this: political self-interest:

“DeWine, LaRose, Faber, Huffman and Cupp know Republicans would maintain the upper hand in Ohio if there was a fair map. They do not want fairness. They want to dominate. The total number of votes cast in the 16 statewide partisan contests in the past 10 years races favored Republicans 54% to Democrats 46%. The maps should reflect that. Despite ridiculous public explanation of why they have failed to execute your will, the fact is that Republican commission members have not created fair maps because, like selfish children with a bag of candy, they do not wanna share,” writes the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board.

Read more from the Columbus Dispatch editorial here and below:

• The Republican members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission have demonstrated that they just think reason is a joke and it is OK to laugh in the faces of the 71% of voters who said they want district maps to be drawn fairly in the name of just elections. 
• Gov. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Auditor Keith Faber, Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Bob Cupp slapped voters in the face when they voted in favor of two sets of maps for Ohio’s 99 state House seats and 33 Senate districts.
• The slaps just keep getting harder. It is sheer embarrassment that their juvenile behavior forced lawsuits that led to Ohio Supreme Court decisions striking down both sets of maps because those maps overwhelmingly favor GOP candidates. Any reasonable person can see that the ‘hilariously’ disrespectful maps put forward by the commission’s Republicans violates the constitution the five vowed to uphold. 
• “When the dealer stacks the deck in advance, the house usually wins,” wrote Justice Michael Donnelly in the court’s opinion on the state’s congressional district map. Put another way, DeWine, LaRose, Faber, Huffman and Cupp are perverting district maps to make sure members of their party can’t lose statehouse and congressional elections in most of Ohio.
• The Ohio Supreme Court wants the commission to explain in writing by noon Wednesday why it shouldn’t be held in contempt for not drawing fair maps. If the explanation falls short of “here you go, fair maps,”  the commission should be punished for not only being disobedient and disrespectful to the court but for being disobedient and disrespectful to the people of this great state. 
• It may be unlikely, but ruling the commission in contempt if that happens would be just and right.
• By rigging the election map to maintain all but full power to decide who represents you, they are laughing in your face. You deserve far better than this. That should anger Republicans, Democrats, and everyone in between.
• DeWine, LaRose, Faber, Huffman and Cupp could do the right thing, but are instead refusing to act on the  reasons you’ve put forth. They think they are above your reason. The five know full well that the GOP’s maps slice and dice the state to make even voting districts in Ohio’s largest cities safe for Republican candidates. 
• “DeWine, LaRose, Faber, Huffman and Cupp know Republicans would maintain the upper hand in Ohio if there was a fair map. They do not want fairness. They want to dominate. The total number of votes cast in the 16 statewide partisan contests in the past 10 years races favored Republicans 54% to Democrats 46%.  The maps should reflect that. Despite ridiculous public explanation of why they have failed to execute your will, the fact is that Republican commission members have not created fair maps because, like selfish children with a bag of candy, they do not wanna share,
• Putting forward a fair and just map might be complicated, but it is not hard. Citizens have offered multiple maps the commission could have and still can use to arrive at equity.
• It is reasonable that Republican lawmakers on the commission would want to keep all the power they can — their veto-proof majority has helped them do things like overturn DeWine’s health orders — but you should be the ones who decide who represents your will the best, be that person a Democrat or a Republican.
• This is not about what they want to do.  This is about you and your family — this state’s future.
• Ohio’s judicial branch should not have been put in the position of correcting members of our legislative and executive branches as if they were bad little children. But that’s how they are behaving. 

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