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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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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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  February 22, 2022 

Good 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:

‘AN EXTRAORDINARY MOVE.’ In case you missed it, the Supreme Court took what Cleveland.com called ‘an extraordinary move’ this weekend by calling on Mike DeWine and the rest of the Republican-led Redistricting Commission to show the Court why they should not be held in contempt of court for refusing to pass a state legislative map. It’s the third failure of the commission to produce a fair map, and the third failure of Mike DeWine to show any sort of leadership, live up to his previous statements and work with Democrats to pass fair maps. Between the ever-growing HB 6 scandal and now a possible contempt of court charge, Mike DeWine’s actions will force Ohioans to pay the price for political dysfunction at the hands of the GOP.

NATIONAL ATTENTION. DeWine’s inability to pass constitutional maps, as well as a massive conflict of interest involving his son, Pat DeWine, put the national spotlight brightly on Mike DeWine, for all the wrong reasons. NBC News reports:  “[T]he GOP led redistricting committee, led by Gov. Mike Dewine, has failed several times to produce fair redistricting maps before a court imposed deadline. And if that’s not enough. Governor Mike DeWine’s son, Justice Pat DeWine, sits on the Ohio Supreme Court and has rebuffed calls to recuse himself from ruling on this politically charged case.” The story goes on to outline how Ohio finds itself amid a constitutional crisis thanks to DeWine’s lack of leadership, and even features a response from DeWine that Ohio reporters are all too used to: “No comment.”

EMPTY RHETORIC.  To be clear, Mike DeWine had every opportunity to live up to his word and work with Democrats to pass fair maps. Instead, he caved to political pressure and fell in line with those in his own party, too weak to stand up to his own party. In 2018 DeWine told the Cincinnati Enquirer: “When I am governor there will be an expectation that the new district maps honor the voters’ wishes.” Last month, DeWine released a statement reading in part: “I will work with my fellow Redistricting Commission members on revised maps that are consistent with the Court’s order.” It’s far past time for DeWine to be held accountable for saying one thing and doing another, proving time and time again that he can only be counted on to look out for one Ohioan: himself.

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For Immediate Release:

Friday, February 18, 2022

Columbus, OH — This week, Dave Yost set a new low for himself after equating overdose deaths to critical pandemic relief. Yost’s claims are not only factually inaccurate – as proven by his own research – they’re a pathetic effort to distract from Yost’s inability to do his own job and meaningfully address the addiction epidemic that continues to grip our state.

Since Yost took office in 2019, drug overdose deaths have been on the rise, and instead of taking real action to save lives, Yost is inflicting more pain on families who have lost loved ones to addiction by implicating that critical pandemic relief is to blame. Rather than trying to score cheap political points, it’s past time for Dave Yost to do his own job and release a plan for how he plans to get Ohioans the help they need amid the growing addiction epidemic.

“Dave Yost should be ashamed of equating critical pandemic relief aid to the number of opioid overdose deaths. The comparison is not only inaccurate, but a slap in the face to every family who lost a loved one to addiction. Dave Yost needs to apologize and then release a plan for how he plans to do his job and meaningfully address the addiction crisis that continues to grip our state,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

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For Immediate Release:

Friday, February 18, 2022

“When I am governor there will be an expectation that the new district maps honor the voters’ wishes.” – Mike DeWine, October 2018

Columbus, OH — In the wake of the Republican-controlled redistricting commission’s third failure to produce maps that reflect the political realities of our state, Mike DeWine and Frank LaRose are sure to be out there trying to do damage control in the coming days. To be clear, DeWine and LaRose had every opportunity to do their jobs, live up to their own words and work with Democrats to pass fair maps. They crumbled under political pressure and caved to their own party instead.

Amid calls for DeWine and LaRose not to receive the endorsement of their own state party, it’s clear these two politicians are desperate to do anything to save their own political hides, too weak to stand up to the extremists in their own party and do the right thing for Ohioans.

Here’s a small sample of DeWine and LaRose’s past comments on the redistricting process, and how those words ultimately meant nothing when it came to standing up for Ohioans’ best interests.

Mike DeWine’s Words:  

October 2018: The Cincinnati Enquirer

“The rules are pretty clear — the voters said that the redistricting process should be done in a bipartisan way and when I am governor there will be an expectation that the new district maps honor the voters’ wishes,” 

January 2022: Official Statement

“Throughout this process, I expected that Ohio’s legislative maps would be litigated and that the Ohio Supreme Court would make a decision on their constitutionality. I will work with my fellow Redistricting Commission members on revised maps that are consistent with the Court’s order.”

Frank LaRose’s Words:

October 8, 2021: Official statement 

“The Commission should set a goal of developing maps that can provide the public an honest opportunity to provide substantive input. A big lesson learned from our last experience is that we need every minute we can get to sit down together to consider proposed maps and negotiate in the hope of reaching a bipartisan consensus.” 

October 29, 2021: Statehouse News Bureau 

“I’ve been struggling for weeks to try and get people to come together and have serious conversations about compromise and meeting in the middle.”

Mike DeWine’s and Frank LaRose’s Actions:

September 19, 2021: Cleveland.com

January 22, 2022: WTOL-TV

February 17, 2022: David Skolnick, Vindicator

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