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Columbus, OH – In an interview with Fox News, California Millionaire J.D. Vance called cutting taxes for middle-class families a “gimmick,” showing just how out-of-touch he is from the hardworking Ohioans who are struggling with rising costs. 

It’s not the first time J.D. Vance has attacked tax cuts for working families. When asked about the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan, Vance said it only helps “on the surface.” That’s easy for a millionaire like J.D. Vance to say. The Child Tax Credit benefitted 1.3 million Ohio families who received $300 per month per child that helped them put food on the table and pay for healthcare and child care. 

These aren’t the only out-of-touch comments Vance is having to defend recently. Vance was caught downplaying the results of bad trade deals that have cost Ohio over 130,000 jobs. Vance said, “I think you can make a pretty good argument that it was not necessarily bad trade deals… You know, it’s not that we have this terrible trade deal with China.”

It’s not the first time he’s blamed Ohioans for bad trade deals. In 2016, Vance trashed Ohioans in Hillbilly Elegy, writing, “We talk about the value of hard work, but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: (Barack) Obama shut down the coal mines or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance.”

“Only a millionaire like J.D. Vance would think a tax cut for working families is a gimmick. Ohioans can’t trust a fraud like J.D. Vance to stand up for anyone but himself and his fellow millionaire coastal elitist friends,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, June 2, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters called on Mike DeWine to donate the money he received from the gun lobby. DeWine has taken more money from the gun lobby than any other Ohio-based politician since 2010. After a mass shooting in Dayton in 2019, DeWine promised to ‘do something’ to keep Ohioans safe from gun violence. Instead, he’s caved to his buddies in the gun lobby and signed several bills that would put Ohioans at greater risk of gun violence, including bills opposed by Ohio law enforcement.

This is not the first time DeWine faced issues with campaign donations. In fact, he was forced to donate contributions linked to FirstEnergy and the largest public corruption scandal in state history. Ohio Democrats are calling on DeWine to finally put the needs of his constituents – rather than the gun lobby – first and return the campaign donations he’s taken.

“DeWine can send a clear message to Ohioans right now by donating all of the money he’s taken from the gun lobby. The thousands of dollars in campaign cash is not worth the lives of Ohioans lost to gun violence. DeWine should donate this money, and more importantly, stop doing the gun lobby’s bidding in Columbus,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters.

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For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Columbus, OH — Once again, Mike DeWine has a choice to make: Will he ‘do something’ and stand with Ohio teachers and law enforcement officers to veto an extreme bill that would create more armed teachers in the classroom? Or will he once again cave to radical members of the legislature and the gun lobby to put more Ohio students at risk?

House Bill 99, which would cut the training time required for school employees to carry a gun around students, has been opposed by the Fraternal Order of Police and Ohio teachers for the risks it carries to Ohio law enforcement officers and students. The bill has already passed the Ohio House and is likely to pass the Ohio Senate and head to DeWine’s desk. But DeWine, after promising to ‘do something’ after the Dayton mass shooting in 2019 to curb violence, has instead consistently signed bills that put Ohio families and police officers at greater risk for gun violence. And it’s easy to see why, a new Cleveland.com report shows DeWine took the most gun lobby money of any Ohio politician since 2010.

Today, Ohio Democrats are calling on Mike DeWine to grow a spine.

“Mike DeWine has a choice to make in the coming days: stand with Ohio students, teachers and police officers or cave once again to the gun lobby and extremists in the legislature. If DeWine really wanted to ‘do something’ to keep Ohio students safe from gun violence, he would veto this bill,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

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For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

“People are tired of politicians making their own rules.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Toledo Blade editorial board took Jon Husted to task for his unprecedented move to take a paid corporate job while also collecting a six-figure taxpayer-funded salary. The editorial board points out that taxpayers don’t know how much Husted is making at his second job, raising questions about why Husted needs to hide that fact. The Blade calls on Husted to decide what’s more important: his own personal financial interests or the interests of the Ohioans he was elected to serve.

The Ohio Democratic Party has called on Husted to answer key questions about his move to take a paid corporate gig while in office.

“Jon Husted and Republicans aren’t even trying to hide it anymore: they’re just openly lining their own pockets from special interest buddies rather than doing the jobs they were elected to do. Ohio deserves transparency and accountability from leaders, something we are sure to keep losing if Mike DeWine and Jon Husted remain in office,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

You can read more from the Toledo Blade here and below:

• Jon Husted is taking state politics into groundbreaking new territory. It’s ground better left unbroken.
• The lieutenant governor joined the Board of Directors of Columbus area–based Heartland Bank in March. The bank job is a paid position. His job with the state pays $176,000.
• Mr. Husted won’t say how much the bank is paying him. The required paperwork revealing that isn’t due until after the November election. Taking the job isn’t a violation of state ethics laws. That is extraordinary and disturbing. Public officials in the executive branch shouldn’t be taking two paychecks, one from the taxpayers and another from a private entity.
• Mr. Husted’s decision to join the bank board shows pathetic judgment and is tone deaf to the concerns of the people of Ohio. People are tired of politicians making their own rules.
• Ohio’s weak ethics laws and financial reporting laws create an ethics-be-damned atmosphere in Columbus. Any elected official undertaking new private employment should be required to disclose their compensation immediately.
• That the lieutenant governor thinks this is OK stinks. It’s not OK. It’s not that he plans to do anything wrong. It’s the appearance of impropriety.
• It’s become commonplace in Columbus and Washington for public officials to spin through the revolving door into lucrative private sector opportunities after leaving office.
• But Mr. Husted is the first in Ohio with the gall to do it while holding office. If this sort of thing continues, you can be sure Mr. Husted won’t be the last dual payroll Ohio lieutenant governor.
• The lieutenant governor’s decision shows poor judgment. First, he should tell Ohioans what he’s being paid by the bank. Then he must decide whether he wants to serve the people or devote his time to private employment.

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For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Columbus, OH — It’s now been more than three weeks since Ohio Democrats sued Mike DeWine over his refusal to turn over records connected to the largest public corruption scandal in state history and resubmitted public records requests to get to the bottom of what DeWine knew and when. None of those records requests has been fulfilled despite empty claims from the DeWine team about the governor’s commitment to “transparency and accountability.” The lack of answers from DeWine leads to even more questions about what DeWine is hiding, especially as the scandal inches closer and closer to DeWine and his inner circle.

“Ohio Democrats are demanding answers from DeWine on behalf of Ohio voters. Ohioans are being saddled with a $287,000 bill every single day because of the Republican-led scandal, and we can’t even get answers from DeWine about what he knew and when. Enough with the stall tactics, Ohioans deserve answers,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

Since October, Ohio Democrats have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal – which Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration. The lack of accountability from DeWine is leading Ohioans in all corners of the state to wonder what he’s hiding and why.

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