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Columbus, OH — Ahead of an expected vote in the Ohio House tomorrow to distribute more than $420 million to local communities across Ohio, the Ohio Democratic Party is making sure Ohioans know who is (and isn’t) responsible for the critical investments expected to come their way. The American Rescue Plan, which makes this funding possible, passed thanks to support from Sherrod Brown, Tim Ryan, Marcy Kaptur, Joyce Beatty, Marcia Fudge and Nan Whaley. Not a single Republican voted for the measure – and Mike DeWine even went on record to say he’d oppose it. 

Yet, in recent weeks, Mike DeWine has taken to traveling the state to tout spending that comes from the American Rescue Plan, trying to claim credit for everything from police funding to investments in healthcare workers that DeWine opposed from the start. So before we start to see DeWine scheduling photo ops across the state in communities that benefited from this funding, Ohio Democrats want to make one thing clear: this critical funding would never have been possible if Mike DeWine had anything to say about it.

“No thanks to Mike DeWine, Ohio communities are about to receive critical investments that will help working families recover from the pandemic and move our state forward. While we’re glad Republicans, including DeWine, have recognized how important the American Rescue plan is to Ohio’s recovery, it’s unacceptable for them to try to fool Ohio voters into thinking they had anything to do with it,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.   

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For Immediate Release:
Monday, May 16, 2022

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver took FirstEnergy and Ohio Republicans to task last night with a feature on how working Americans are paying the price for the too-cozy relationship between politicians and Big Energy. Oliver highlighted the FirstEnergy bribery scandal as the perfect example of how energy executives are too often in the pocket of politicians, like Larry Householder, or political appointees like Sam Randazzo and his friends in Mike DeWine’s office. Oliver’s feature is another reminder of just how shocking this bribery scandal is and how we still don’t have answers from Mike DeWine about what he knew and when about the largest public corruption scheme in Ohio history.

“What is very clear is that FirstEnergy was working extremely hard to influence the decision making process. They actually paid the chairman of the state’s utility commission $22 million in consulting fees in the years directly preceding him becoming their regulator,” said John Oliver while discussing the scandal.

Watch the video discussing Ohio here : 

Some of what Oliver discussed:

• In some states like Ohio, public officials appear fully in utilities’ pockets. 
• Very basically, FirstEnergy funneled $60 million to the speaker of the Ohio House [Larry Householder] to pass HB 6.
• The bill has been called the worst energy bill of the 21st century. 
• FirstEnergy worked extremely hard to influence the decision making process.
• Energy company paid the chairman of the state’s utility commission [Sam Randazzo] $22 million in consulting fees before he joined PUCO.
• Texts between FirstEnergy Chuck Jones and Randazzo the day HB 6 was passed show the coordination with Jones texting Randazzo: “F*** anybody who aint (sic) us.”
• Bottom line: Utility companies have monopolies over the system so they can make as much money as possible while passing costs along to you. 

You can watch the full segment here.

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May 16, 2022

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.

Here are some stories you may have missed:

CALL TO ACTION. Last week, the Cleveland.com Editorial Board echoed Ohio Democrats’ call for accountability and transparency from DeWine over the FirstEnergy bribery scandal, the largest public corruption scheme in Ohio history. Ohio Democrats are trying to get DeWine to tell us what he knew and when about the scandal, questions that have gone unanswered for too long. As the Cleveland.com editorial board writes: “House Bill 6 and the alleged legislative corruption that would have forced consumers to pay for FirstEnergy’s mistakes is a matter of great public importance, as is Ohio’s cozy regulation of public utilities.” The time for answers is now.

HB6 ON HBO. HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver took FirstEnergy and Ohio Republicans to task last night with a feature on how working Americans are paying the price for the too-cozy relationship between politicians and Big Energy. Oliver highlighted the FirstEnergy bribery scandal as the perfect example of how energy executives are too often in the pocket of politicians, like Larry Householder, or political appointees like Sam Randazzo and his friends in Mike DeWine’s office. Oliver’s feature is another reminder of just how shocking this bribery scandal is and how we still don’t have answers from Mike DeWine about what he knew and when about the largest public corruption scheme in Ohio history.

FIND SOME SHAME. Mike DeWine has spent the last week traveling the state to claim credit for Democrats’ hard work to put Ohio back on the road to recovery. DeWine announced a boost to behavioral healthcare workforce funding on Friday following his grant announcement for law enforcement last Monday. The problem? DeWine opposed the legislation that made this critical funding possible. Now, because it’s an election year and he’s losing voters by the minute, he’s looking to gain support wherever he can find it – and using Democrats’ accomplishments to do it. DeWine should find some shame and stop campaigning on Ohio Democrats’ work to put our state back on the road to recovery.

THE BLADES COME OUT. The Toledo Blade Editorial Board took DeWine to task this week as Toledoans continue to ask why planned improvements along U.S. 23 between Toledo and Columbus were again shot down. Placing the blame squarely on DeWine and ODOT, the Blade says the updates are needed now and accuses DeWine of “spinelessness.” No lies detected here.

Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. Have a great week!

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For Immediate Release:
May 16, 2022

Columbus, OH — California Vance is limping into the general election and struggling to unite the Ohio GOP – he himself even admitted just how unlikable he is.

On the Mark Blazor Show last week, Vance said, “there are a lot of Republican voters with hurt feelings about the primary results.” And he’s right – which is why he admitted he’s got his work cut out for him when it comes to earning the support of Ohio Republicans. Silicon Valley Vance, knowing just how unlikable he is, went on to say he would start his pitch to Ohio voters by saying, “I might not have been your favorite candidate…” Ouch.

One pastor and Josh Mandel supporter took to Facebook to share his disappointment that Vance is the GOP nominee, saying, “The fall out from this will be felt for years to come. Some who think they won actual[sic] lost in winning. Some who lost actually won in losing.”

And the troubles uniting the Ohio GOP for Vance don’t end there. On the Dan Rivers Show, Vance said he’s talked to Josh Mandel, Jane Timken and Matt Dolan since winning the primary – yet he’s been playing phone tag with Mike Gibbons, his most vocal critic throughout primary season. Here’s just a taste of what Gibbons had to say about California Vance:

• Gibbons told The Vindicator that Vance is “backed by a big-tech guy from the West Coast and he put $13.5 million into his campaign.” He also said “If somebody can move in from out of state and with outside of the state money come into this state with really abandoning it until it was time to run for the U.S. Senate and the state elects that individual then I feel sorry for the voters in this state. I don’t think the voters of this state are going to be duped into that.”
• Gibbons told the New York Times that Trump’s endorsement of Vance shocked him, that Vance was someone who “flew in from the West Coast,” and that, “Ohioans should be insulted” by the whole affair.

“After a primary defined by vicious personal attacks and a race to the bottom that embarrassed Ohio on the national stage, the Ohio GOP is stumbling into the general election trying to cobble together support behind California Vance. As it turns out, it’s hard to unite Ohioans behind an elitist who freely admitted he feels ‘out of place’ in Ohio and cashed in on Ohioans’ pain with a Netflix Hollywood movie deal,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

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Columbus, OH — In what’s become a theme of the week for the DeWine campaign, Mike DeWine once again tried to claim credit for legislation he opposed. At an event in Columbus this morning, DeWine touted $85 million in American Rescue Plan funding to invest in students interested in working in behavioral healthcare and grow the behavioral health workforce.

The problem? Mike DeWine opposed the American Rescue plan, legislation passed by Democrats that made this funding possible. In fact, in March of 2021, DeWine went on record saying he would have voted against ARPA if he was still in Congress.

“If Mike DeWine had his way, this important investment would never have been possible. We’re grateful to the Ohio Democrats who made this critical funding a reality and once again call on DeWine to find some shame and stop campaigning on Democratic victories for our state,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

In another example of DeWine’s desperation and hypocrisy earlier this week, DeWine similarly used Ohio law enforcement officers as political pawns when he announced funding for the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab that also was made possible by the American Rescue Plan.

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