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For Immediate Release:

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Columbus, OH – Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, cementing the largest investment in our nation’s infrastructure in a century. This month, the Ohio Democratic Party and For Our Future Ohio traveled around the state to talk directly to Ohioans and tell them about the critical investments coming to their communities as part of the ‘Building Ohio Together’ Tour. Leaders across Ohio praised the crucial infrastructure legislation and continued calling on Congress to keep building on the momentum created by the infrastructure bill.

Read more about what they’re saying from the Building Ohio Together Tour stops across Ohio:

Lorain:

The Morning Journal: Infrastructure bill will benefit family, community, Lorain County Democratic leaders say

Richard Payerchin

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help communities pay for road and utility projects — and it will help Lorain County families, said Democratic elected officials and local union leaders.

…

“‘It means supporting the small businesses that grow our economy and help us compete against other countries to bring more jobs back home,’ [John] Novak said. ‘And right here, because of this historic bill, the Great Lakes are set to receive $1 billion in new funding to support clean drinking water and spark hundreds of thousands of jobs.’”

…

“The bill is the largest infrastructure investment in American history and it will have meaningful results for working families in Lorain city and county, [County Commissioner Matt] Lundy said.

…

“Who in the world doesn’t want improved roads?” Lundy asked.”

The Chronicle-Telegram: Local Democrats, union leaders celebrate $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill

Kevin Martin

“Gathering at Lorain’s Lakeview Park on the Lake Erie shore, Lorain County Commissioner Matt Lundy and Sheffield Mayor John D. Hunter were joined by John Novak, business manager for IBEW Local 129, and Jim Slone, president of the Lorain County UAW’s CAP Council, as part of the Building Ohio Together Tour, organized by the Ohio Democratic Party and For Our Future Ohio.

…

“The plan will provide funding for broadband infrastructure investments, expanding access for thousands of Ohio students. Lundy said the package represents a game-changer for Lorain County and the entire country.”

Lima: 

Hometown Stations: Mayor-Elect Smith and Union leaders talk about benefits of federal infrastructure bill

“Mayor-Elect Sharetta Smith was joined by the presidents of the local UAW and the Lima Building Trades unions to talk about the funding plan. The bill will give Ohio over $9 billion for highway improvements and nearly $500 million for bridges. Plus, there is another $1.4 billion heading to the state to improve water infrastructure, and millions more to increase broadband access around the state. All of that work could mean more work for union labor locally. The bill was signed into law last week, and Mayor-Elect Smith says that the new funding source could be a benefit to help with some of Lima’s aging infrastructure problems.”  

Lima News: Lima hoping for funding help

Joe Gilroy

“Passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act should bring extra funding to the City of Lima, mayor-elect Sharetta Smith and local union leaders said Monday.”

…

“Experts believe the bipartisan bill will create good-paying jobs that will help Ohio businesses grow by investing in roads, bridges, public transit, water pipes and broadband.

…

“‘Because of this bill, Ohio’s economy will be back on the road to recovery with billions of dollars in investments and hundreds of new good-paying jobs. We’re working to lower costs for working Ohioans, rather than for big corporations and the super rich,’ [Jeff] Adams said.”

Zanesville:

WHIZ-TV: Zanesville Leaders Discuss How the Infrastructure Bill Will Improve Muskingum County

“This past November, President Biden passed a major infrastructure bill that invests in roads, bridges, public transits, water pipes and high speed internet. Zanesville leaders came together today to discuss what this would mean for the Muskingum community.

“Ohio is expected to receive $9.2 billion for highways and $483 million for bridge replacement and repairs. According to Todd Ware, Third Ward City Councilman Representative, $6 to $7 million of that will go towards Putnam Hill Park and Dug Road repairs.

Zanesville Times Recorder: Officials hope to see Dug Road reopen with federal infrastructure bill money

Erin Couch

“On Thursday, Zanesville City Councilman Todd Ware and representatives from the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council and the Communications Workers of America union spoke at Putnam Hill Park, about what the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could mean for Zanesville and Muskingum County.

…

“Roads, bridges, water and broadband are all included in the bill, but Dug Road, formally known as Muskingum Avenue, was a talking point as a project that could benefit from the $1 trillion bipartisan bill.

…

“Dug Road was partially closed in 2017 due to rock slides. It was closed fully in 2019. In some cases the road was an alternative for emergency vehicles, shortening drive times to medical services by several minutes, Ware said.

‘That could be the difference between life and death,’ he said.”

Cleveland: 

WOIO-TV: Northeast Ohioans host rally in support of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act

“The Build Back Better Act has already been passed in the U.S. House, but it still needs to be passed in the Senate, so Kubicki and others rallied outside of Ohio Senator Rob Portman’s office to encourage him to pass the bill.

“‘Pass the Build Back Better Act, it’s not just about his family, it’s about hundreds of thousands of people who could be helped,” said Kubicki.

Toledo: 

WNWO-TV: Officials celebrate Passage of Infrastructure Bill 

“‘Cities like Toledo haven’t gotten this sort of investment and this sort of attention from Washington in a really long time. I believe you’d have to go back to the New Deal, the Great Depression, and the Works Progress Administration for the last time that Washington D.C. has sent this amount of money to Toledo, and we’re gonna put it to good use,’ said Toledo Mayor ‌Wade‌ ‌Kapszukiewicz‌.”

WTOL-TV: Local Leaders Celebrate Passage of Infrastructure Bill

“‘It will allow us to do things, frankly, that we weren’t able to do under the American Rescue Plan,’ said Toledo Mayor ‌Wade‌ ‌Kapszukiewicz‌.”

WTVG-TV: Preparing for Infrastructure Projects 

“Projects like replacing water lines and expanding broadband access are all possible by funding not seen in recent years.”

Youngstown: 

WKBN-TV: Local leaders celebrate historic infrastructure bill

“‘You’re gonna see roads, bridges, you’ll see ironworkers, you’ll see carpenters, laborers, operating engineers, plumbers and pipefitters. I mean all the way down the list. With this kind of bill to be able to put people to work and good-paying, high paying jobs that can sustain that and actually have a focus on the areas that they’re working in, to keep those tax dollars here, that’s what the best focus of it could be,’ said Marty Loney, Western Reserve Building Trades president.”

The Vindicator: Youngstown labor leaders praise infrastructure bill

“Valley labor and state Democratic Party leaders on Friday celebrated passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and discussed what it means for communities like Youngstown.

…

“The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes strong Buy America rules for taxpayer-funded infrastructure and public works projects. This means American-made iron, steel and manufactured products would be required for federally funded infrastructure projects. That’s great news for growing good-paying union jobs, and that’s why we are here in Youngstown,” [Chair] Walters said.”

Dayton: 

WDTN-TV: Dayton leaders push for passage of ‘Build Back Better’

“Dayton Mayor-elect Jeff Mims and other city leaders held a news conference to discuss the importance of passing the plan. Mims said it is ‘critical for us to make sure we give our youngest learners the best start possible that will put them in a position to make a contribution to this society.’”

More on the new infrastructure funding below:

• 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]

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Columbus, OH — The Ohio Republican Senate primary is one of the most expensive races in the country. The crowded primary is “unprecedented,” “expected to break records,” and “one of the costliest elections in America.” 

An expensive primary with five well-funded candidates could mean a long, protracted primary fight that forces candidates to extreme positions and hobbles the eventual Republican nominee. Without any records to be proud of, the out-of-touch millionaires have already descended into personal and nasty attacks that will spotlight each of the candidates’ individual weaknesses that could carry over into the general election. 

Here’s what they’re saying: 

• Review Times: “With campaign spending in the race for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2022 expected to break records, Ohioans should brace for a bombardment of political advertising — and soon.”
• David Niven, Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati: “Part of this is going to be an arms race. There will be money spent because others are spending money. Expect it to be a record-breaking campaign.”
• Fox News: “The showdown is fast becoming the most expensive and ugly GOP Senate contest in next year’s midterms.”
• Wall Street Journal: “Each has the means to assemble a fully loaded war chest for the primary battle. In interviews, all five said they expected to raise—from individual contributions or their own bank accounts—the $10 million that political operatives estimate a successful primary contest would cost…That would give them all the ability to pitch to the two million Republican voters in the state’s 12 media markets. A primary with so many well-funded candidates would be unprecedented, political operatives said.”
• Cleveland.com: “Thanks to a rare mix of factors – an open seat, several independently wealthy candidates funding their campaigns and one billionaire super donor — Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate primary stands out as one of the costliest elections in America.”
• NBC News: “Nearly all of the ad spending has been on the Republican side, thanks to a crowded Republican primary to replace Portman.”
• Axios: “The race is expected to be one of the most expensive in the country, during a midterm cycle that will likely break election spending records.” 
• Roll Call: “The open Senate race in Ohio has attracted the most self-funders so far, with five Republicans putting in their own money to bolster their campaigns.”
• Politico: “Former President Donald Trump has yet to issue an endorsement in the race, which has featured messy attacks and high-dollar outside super PAC spending.”

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  December 20, 2021

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.

As the gubernatorial race heats up, Republicans are in disarray with Mike DeWine’s popularity dropping by the day, facing attacks both inside and outside of the Republican Party, and having to answer for the largest public corruption scandal in state history. It’s hard to keep up with all of the corruption and mess surrounding Mike DeWine and the GOP gubernatorial primary, so here are some stories you may have missed:

RECUSAL WOES. Pat DeWine is once again picking and choosing when he wants to rule on cases involving his dad or not, playing politics with the highest court in Ohio. Last week, Pat DeWine, refused to hear arguments or rule on a case closing last week involving the state’s “Vax-A-Million” COVID vaccine lottery. The reason? His father was one of the defendants. Yet, hearing a case involving your dad and other Republicans blatantly shoving political power towards themselves through gerrymandered district maps is perfectly “ethical?” Ok, Pat.

DODGING DEWINE. Mike DeWine is once again hiding and dodging any accountability to Ohio voters, this time by trying to dictate to the Ohio press corps what questions they’re allowed to ask. Ahead of a press conference Friday morning DeWine demanded reporters submit their questions ahead of time, showing how scared he really is to take accountability and answer questions about the real issues impacting Ohio:

It’s only the latest example of DeWine dodging accountability as he’s spent the last year trying to ‘no comment’ his way out of the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history and refusing to tell Ohioans what he knew about the scandal and when.

Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday season! If you have questions my email is [email protected]. Have a great week!

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Columbus, OH — According to a new Salon report, U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance has heavily criticized Walmart for undermining American jobs while being personally invested in the company. 

Vance went after Walmart for using “slave labor” but according to Vance’s personal financial disclosure, he owns between $50,000 and $100,000 in Walmart stock. Vance also participated in a “fireside chat” with a Walmart executive in 2017. This adds to a long list of saying one thing and doing another from Vance, from criticizing Big Tech while deriving a “great deal” of his income from Big Tech-related ventures to promising to address Ohio’s opioid crisis but creating a nonprofit that was nothing more than a vanity project to boost his own political ambitions and enrich his political cronies. 

“With his continued investment in a company that outsourced jobs to China, Silicon Valley Vance shows his top priority is looking out for his own bottom line, not Ohio workers. Ohioans know the last thing they need is another out-of-touch millionaire who only looks out for his own financial interest, not theirs,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Salon: Ohio candidate J.D. Vance calls out Walmart for “slave labor” — and heavily invests in its stock

Igor Derysh 

December 17, 2021 

• Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance has accused Walmart of using “slave labor” to make cheap products that undermine American jobs. But his latest personal financial disclosure shows he owns at least $50,000 in Walmart stock.
• Vance, who made a fortune as a venture capitalist before writing the best-selling book “Hillbilly Elegy,” submitted his personal financial disclosure last month after missing the original filing deadline. It indicates that he owns between $50,000 and $100,000 in Walmart stock. (Such disclosure forms list ranges, rather than precise amounts.)
• Vance also participated in a 2017 “fireside chat” with Walmart executive Daniel Eckert to discuss business issues as well as the “populist movement” that “propelled Donald Trump into the presidency.”
• Now that he is seeking the Republican nomination for an open Ohio Senate seat — and hoping to land former President Donald Trump’s endorsement — Vance has taken to criticizing the company and its reliance on China, which has become a popular GOP target.
• During an event in Dover, Ohio, in October, Vance blamed politicians from both parties for shipping “a lot of our manufacturing base off to China.”
• “The thought was we get a lot of cheap stuff in return,” he said. “They make it more cheaply because they were relying on slave labor. So maybe you go to Walmart and things don’t cost as much. But in the process, a lot of middle-class people lost those good jobs that enabled them to support them.”
• Vance reiterated his belief that Walmart relies on slave labor in an interview with conservative commentator Buck Sexton, accusing the company of using diversity and inclusion programs to distract from the issue.
• “Who cares if you are employing Chinese slaves? Who cares if you are benefiting from the Communist Chinese Party’s slave labor?” he said. “So long as you are properly woke, so long as you teach diversity, equity and inclusion at your workplace, you won’t face any scrutiny, you won’t face any consequences.”
• Walmart has faced allegations that it uses slave labor for years. The company says it has taken steps to address forced labor and ensure compliance with its responsible sourcing policies.
• During an appearance in Youngstown last month, Vance argued that a “bunch of idiot leaders” decided to ship middle-class American jobs to China and “countries that hate us” in return for “a lot of cheap plastic garbage at Walmart.”
• This has been a theme of his Ohio campaign since he announced his candidacy in July, arguing in an op-ed that American leaders had made the indefensible choice that Americans should “be able to buy cheaper consumer goods at Walmart instead of having access to a good job.”
• On that issue, he has a point. An analysis by the progressive Economic Policy Institute found that Walmart’s outsourcing to companies in China may have eliminated 400,000 jobs between 2001 and 2013. But in none of his campaign speeches or appearances has Vance disclosed that he is an investor in the company he accuses of killing American jobs and relying on “slave labor.” A spokesman for Vance did not respond to questions from Salon.
• Vance has also drawn accusations of hypocrisy over his campaign against Big Tech, which he has accused of censoring conservatives, since he has spent years investing in tech startups at his venture capital firm Narya and before that at Mithril Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, a Facebook board member.
• On the campaign trail, Vance has also tied himself in knots trying to reposition himself as a pro-Trump Republican after repeatedly bashing the former president over the past several years before deciding to run for office himself. Vance in 2016 said he could not “stomach Trump” and said his policy proposals “range from immoral to absurd.” He now says he has had a change of heart and has ventured on something of an apology tour, even tagging along with Thiel — a major Trump donor who has sunk $10 million in Vance’s campaign — on a trip to Mar-a-Lago seeking an audience with Trump.
• Vance’s campaign is also backed by the billionaire investors Robert and Rebekah Mercer, who helped fund Trump’s 2016 campaign and financially backed many of the players involved in stoking Trump’s election lies and the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

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December 17, 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.

Two new reports this month showed just how nasty this race has gotten. WVXU’s Howard Wilkinson said this GOP Senate primary may be “Ohio’s ugliest ever.” And Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser said that “the showdown is fast becoming the most expensive and ugly GOP Senate contest.” 

Here’s what you may have missed:

AN UNFORGIVABLE DEMOCRAT. On the Mark Levin Show, Mandel went after J.D. Vance for his political transformation on Trump, saying, “The fact that my opponent J.D. Vance did that and refused to vote for President Trump, it’s just unforgivable.” Mandel then said J.D. Vance should be running on the Democratic ticket. In a race that’s all about Trump (with attack ads airing highlighting Vance’s anti-Trump past), this issue isn’t going away any time soon.

A FAILED, FLAILING RINO. Following Mike Gibbons’ ad saying J.D. Vance is on the wrong team for his anti-Trump past, Vance’s campaign responded in an email to their supporters. The email says, “Another day, another RINO attack against JD Vance. This time, it’s already-failed-candidate, Mike Gibbons…Now, Gibbons is running another flailing campaign where he is failing to gain any traction among Ohio Patriots.” It’s hard to keep track of who’s a RINO in this race because it seems like everyone!

“A BUNCH OF WEALTHY PEOPLE.” Josh Mandel (a millionaire) went after other GOP Senate candidates in an interview with Mark Levin, saying he is running against a bunch of wealthy people. Mandel has a point, the Republican primary does have a large number of self-funding millionaires with “eye-popping” amounts of money in their financial disclosures. In typical Mandel fashion, he forgot to include himself. Mandel is an out-of-touch millionaire who serves on corporate boards, fitting right in with the rest of the field!

MORENO VERSUS HIMSELF. Chris Pack, a consultant for Matt Dolan (why?), went after Bernie Moreno (who?) for changing his position on whether the 2020 election was stolen. Moreno apparently forgot there are tweets out there of him saying “accept the results” and “now is the time for unity.” Pack said, “We’ve seemingly entered the ‘Bernie Moreno vs. himself’ phase” of the Ohio Senate race. Well, everyone in this race is a phony calling each other a phony so why can’t Dolan get in on the fun?

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!