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Columbus, OH — J.D. Vance’s extreme views on abortion keep making national news. A new report in Axios highlights how Vance’s views are even out of step with Donald Trump, who favored exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.

“J.D. Vance is so far out of the mainstream that he believes Ohio women – even survivors of rape and incest – should not be free to make decisions about their own reproductive health care,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Axios: These GOP Senate candidates oppose most exceptions to abortion bans

Alayna Treene 

May 8, 2022 

• A series of Republican candidates running in crucial Senate battlegrounds hold strict anti-abortion views — including opposing the procedure even in cases of rape and incest.
• Why it matters: The views of these GOP front–runners go far beyond what Republicans have traditionally embraced: exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother. If elected, these candidates — from J.D. Vance in Ohio to Herschel Walker in Georgia — would push the party further right.
• Between the lines: Even former President Trump, whose anti-abortion rights bonafides were a key component of his 2016 and 2020 platforms, favored exceptions to abortion bans.
• In 2019, he tweeted: “As most people know, and for those who would like to know, I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions — Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother — the same position taken by Ronald Reagan.”
• The leaked draft signaling the Supreme Court’s intent to overturn Roe v. Wade has thrust abortion into the forefront of the midterm elections.
• The current candidates’ views are in line with a series of abortion bans recently enacted at the state level in places like Ohio, Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas.

The big picture: The state laws and positions held by the Senate candidates have spurred new questions about whether Republicans — if they regain the majority in the House or Senate — will try to pass a federal abortion ban.

• Such a measure wouldn’t be signed into law while President Biden is in office but would tee up future legislation for when a Republican is back in the White House.

J.D. Vance, the Trump-endorsed author of “Hillbilly Elegy” who was victorious in a crowded Republican primary last week, told Spectrum News he doesn’t think rape and incest exceptions are necessary.

• Vance said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” adding, “The question to me is really about the baby.”
• “It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,” Vance said.

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May 09, 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:

SEEKING JUSTICE. In case you missed it, Mike DeWine now faces a lawsuit from Ohio Democrats over his increasing connections to the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history. Ohio Democrats, on behalf of Ohio voters are demanding answers on what DeWine knew and when about the $60 million bribery scandal. The story has gained traction across the state as Ohioans are demanding answers and transparency from DeWine and many are questioning how deep the scandal goes in the DeWine administration. Bottom line, Democrats are not going to let Mike DeWine stonewall and ‘no comment’ his way out of this scandal.

BAD SIGN FOR DEWINE. More Republicans voted against Mike DeWine than for him. After barely surviving a primary full of weak candidates, Mike DeWine limped across the finish line last week making one thing clear: he’s in real trouble come November. Despite spending $5 million in his own money, DeWine couldn’t even get 50% of Republicans in Ohio to vote for him. It’s a first in nearly 50 years, leaving Ohio political experts to say “without a doubt he’s vulnerable.” Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing: Mike DeWine is the wrong choice for Ohio. Ohioans have paid too high a price for DeWine’s corruption and incompetence over the last four years, it’s time for a new direction.

NO CREDIT IS DUE. DeWine once again is trying to claim credit for critical funding for Ohio law enforcement, but here’s the problem: DeWine opposed the legislation passed by Democrats that made this funding possible. DeWine traveled to the Miami Valley today to talk about funding for law enforcement, funding that comes from the American Rescue Plan, which DeWine said he would have voted against in March 2021. It’s another example of DeWine’s desperation and hypocrisy, using Democratic accomplishments to try to stay relevant politically and using Ohio law enforcement as a political pawn in the process.

DUCKING RESPONSIBILITY. Mike DeWine just admitted he’s given up on doing his job and following the Constitution when it comes to redistricting. In a response filed by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, DeWine says the third GOP-gerrymandered legislative map, rammed through by Republicans again last week after previously being struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court, is the only approach to the 2022 election. DeWine also tried to again duck responsibility by saying the commission should not be blamed. We can’t imagine many hard-working Ohioans get to duck their jobs and then shift the blame to someone else…

Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. If you have questions my email is [email protected]. Have a great week!

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May 9, 2022

Columbus, OH — Cleveland.com’s Brent Larkin takes J.D. Vance to task for being a “willing stooge” for a Silicon Valley billionaire and for revealing he doesn’t care about the “senseless slaughter” in Ukraine. And his candidacy poses a problem for the GOP as the “most unlikable and untrustworthy candidate imaginable.” 

Cleveland.com: With J.D. Vance at the lead, the political cheapening of Ohio continues: Brent Larkin

May 8, 2022

• The putrefaction of Ohio politics is one election away from completion.
• By nominating J.D. Vance as the Republican nominee for Rob Portman’s U.S. Senate seat, Donald Trump’s legions of unquestioning followers have embraced the most unlikable and untrustworthy candidate imaginable. The darling of the GOP’s affection has already revealed that he doesn’t give one bit about the senseless slaughter in the Ukraine. He’s a willing stooge for a Silicon Valley billionaire, a self-described hillbilly turned venture capitalist who shamefully imported congressional trash like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene to assist in his intellectually bankrupt campaign.
• Not content to merely parade around the state with these vermin, Vance told Ohioans Greene “did nothing wrong” by speaking at a white nationalist conference in February, a conference where attendees lovingly chanted Vladimir Putin’s name. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell disagreed, saying of Greene’s appearance, “There’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism.”
• Vance must think there’s plenty of places for them in Ohio.
• The night before Tuesday’s Ohio primary, the U.S. Supreme Court may have changed the general election subject, sending a mid-term election campaign on a trajectory of obliterating any hope of a national reconciliation. In Ohio, it’s far less certain whether the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion repealing abortion protections guaranteed in Roe v. Wade will change the outcome of the election for Senate and governor.
• …it’s worth clinging to a hope the majority of Ohio’s sensible voters will come to understand that the book-banning policies of Vance’s “America First” crowd are also designed to strip women, minorities and gays of their freedoms. And Vance’s history as a reckless, at times cruel, loose cannon might cause voters to conclude he is indeed “a fraud,” as one woman in a television ad promoting Mandel asserted.
• Ryan told me Wednesday that Vance has said things that are “absolutely disqualifying.” He may be right, but that verdict rests with voters.
• Early this year, when a reporter asked Vance about his propensity to say and write things people find offensive, he answered, “People may not always agree with my rhetoric, but, I think, unfortunately, our country is kind of a joke. And we should be able to tell jokes about it.”
• If he wins, the joke’s on us.

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Dayton, OH — Today, Mike DeWine is coming to the Miami Valley to tout grants for Ohio law enforcement. The problem? Mike DeWine opposed the legislation passed by Democrats that made this funding possible. The funding for Miami Valley law enforcement comes from the American Rescue Plan, legislation that was passed by Ohio Democrats and that Mike DeWine said he would have voted against in March 2021. It’s another example of DeWine’s desperation and hypocrisy, using Democratic accomplishments to try to stay relevant politically and using Ohio law enforcement as a political pawn in the process.

“If it were up to Mike DeWine, the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab would not be seeing one cent of this grant funding. DeWine opposed the legislation that makes this funding possible, and his efforts to claim credit for the work of Ohio Democrats to secure critical resources for Ohio law enforcement is shameful,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

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ICYMI: Ohio Democrats Sue DeWine over FirstEnergy Scandal

“We’re not going to let DeWine stonewall his way out of responsibility for this scandal.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Ohio Democratic Party this week announced a lawsuit against Mike DeWine and his office to get answers about what DeWine knew and when about the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history. Since October, Ohio Democrats have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal, a scandal Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for, but have been stonewalled by DeWine at every turn.

“We’re not going to let Mike DeWine stonewall his way out of responsibility for this scandal. Ohioans are looking for justice, and we’ll work to get it for them however we can. We’re also offering a better way forward: cleaning up corruption and putting working families first,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters.

The lawsuit is gaining traction across Ohio, making news across the state. Read more below:

Cleveland.com: Ohio Democratic Party sues Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration over redacted records

“The Ohio Democratic Party announced Thursday it is suing Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration, claiming a copy of the governor’s schedule it received via a public-records request was full of illegal redactions.

…

“The Democratic Party’s lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, questions the DeWine administration’s reasoning for redacting parts, and, in some cases, entire entries, of the governor’s schedule from January 2019 until the present.

“The redacted schedule, among other things, shows that DeWine met on June 10, 2019 with Mike Dowling, who then led FirstEnergy’s lobbying efforts, for half an hour at the governor’s mansion in suburban Columbus. The calendar entry doesn’t say what the meeting was about, though DeWine signed HB6 the following month.”

Cleveland.com: ‘Today in Ohio’ Podcast: What do Ohio Democrats think Gov. Mike DeWine is hiding by blacking out parts of his calendar?

“This is the biggest corruption scandal in the state’s history. $60 million in bribes, billions of dollars at stake of our money in our pocket. And it does point to the governor’s office.”

WKYC-TV: Ohio Democratic Party sues Gov. Mike DeWine for redacted records in FirstEnergy HB6 investigation

“In January of this year, the Ohio Democratic Party submitted an extensive public records request to the governor’s office for documents ranging from communications between DeWine and FirstEnergy executives, to DeWine’s daily calendar. Many of the dates and events that DeWine sent back were redacted.”

WJW-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“The party says that Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for over a hundred days.” 

WEWS-TV – Ohio Democratic Party Sues Governor Over Records

“It’s been almost two years since the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history was brought to light, and the state’s Democratic Party says it still has not received all the answers it’s looking for, so it’s suing Governor Mike DeWine.

…

“The party says it wants to know what the governor knew about the $60 million bribery scandal over Ohio’s nuclear bailout bill and when he knew it.” 

WTAM Radio: Ohio Democrats Taking Governor Mike DeWine To Court  

“Ohio Democrats taking Governor Mike DeWine to court.

…

“The party requested the governor’s calendar from that year, and when they received the calendar, most of the names and information about the meetings were crossed out and blacked out.” 

WSYX-TV: Democrats sue Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine hoping to link him to House Bill 6 scandal

“Democrats are working to link Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to the scandal, which toppled former House Speaker Larry Householder. On Thursday they launched an opening volley, suing DeWine for the release of more official records.

…

“The controversial House Bill 6 provided taxpayer bailouts for utility company FirstEnergy to shore up its aging nuclear power plants. Federal investigators said it also led to what they called the state’s largest corruption case, alleging the utility bribed state officials to get the bill passed. 

“Thursday the Ohio Democratic Party sued DeWine, demanding access to an unredacted version of DeWine’s official calendar. The party is looking to see if it can link DeWine to meetings with FirstEnergy officials. 

Statehouse News Bureau: Ohio Democratic Party sues DeWine over FirstEnergy, nuclear bailout law records

“The Ohio Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration, saying they’re breaking the state’s public records law in turning over documents with information blacked out.

…

“Facing public pressure, DeWine released redacted documents that didn’t follow the law and refused to release the rest,” Walters said. “We’re not going to let DeWine stonewall his way out of responsibility for this scandal.”

WCMH-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“Attorney General candidate Jeff Crossman and Auditor candidate Taylor Sappington say they plan on releasing records that were finally secured from DeWine, and Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters will announce legal action against the governor for illegally rejecting records requests filed by the Party.” 

WBNS-TV: Ohio Democratic Party sues DeWine over redacted records in connection to FirstEnergy scandal

“‘Frustrated by what it calls ‘stonewalling’ tactics from Gov. Mike DeWine, the Ohio Democratic Party announced that it has filed a lawsuit seeking redacted records from the governor’s office regarding the FirstEnergy House Bill 6 bribery scandal.

“According to a statement by the party, Democrats in Ohio have been working since October to get ‘answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal – which Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for.’”

Spectrum News: ODP sues Gov. Mike DeWine over HB6 scandal“The Ohio Democratic Party is suing Republican Governor Mike DeWine. The lawsuit claims that a copy of the governor’s schedule was full of illegal redactions. 

“This lawsuit stems from the House Bill 6 investigation. Frankly, we don’t know what’s been redacted on the governor’s schedule and that is what the Ohio Democratic Party is basically saying that they want the full unredacted schedule so that they can see who the governor is meeting with and when.” 

WTVN Radio: Ohio Democratic Party Suing Governor’s Administration

“Democrats say a copy of the governor’s public schedule from a public records request had multiple redactions, redactions Democrats claim are illegal. 

“Cleveland.com reports one was a meeting the governor had months before he signed the $2 billion HB 6 bailout bill into law, with a man FirstEnergy has named one of the people who paid millions in bribes to get the law passed.” 

Toledo Blade: Democrats sue for DeWine records

“Ohio Democrats on Thursday announced the filing of a lawsuit to force Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to release records they contend could show what he may have known about the bribery scheme that led to the enactment of a consumer-financed $1 billion nuclear plant bailout.

“State party Chairman Liz Walters said they are frustrated that they received highly redacted copies of the governor’s meeting schedule in response to their public records requests. One thing they did receive, however, was what they characterized as hundreds of letters warning Mr. DeWine not to appoint former utilities consultant Sam Randazzo as chairman of the powerful Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

“‘We deserve to know what did Mike DeWine know and when did he know it,’ said state Rep. Jeff Crossman (D., Parma), Democratic challenger to Republican Attorney General Dave Yost.”

WTVG-TV: Democrats sue DeWine 

“They [Democrats] want to know if the Governor had any knowledge of what was happening behind the scenes when this scandal was unfolding…That scandal surrounded House Bill 6 which bailed out struggling nuclear power plants including the Davis-Besse plant in Ottawa county. 

…

“Democrats want to know if Governor DeWine was involved. Last year they sued him for various public records. They say the records they received were incomplete and highly redacted. They are going back to court to get the unredacted documents.” 

WTOL-TV: Ohio Dems sue over HB6

“The Ohio Democratic Party is suing Governor Mike DeWine — seeking redacted records from the governor’s office about the FirstEnergy HB6 bribery scandal. according to the lawsuit — democrats have been working since October to get answers. 

“The $60 million dollar scandal came to light in July 2020 when then-Ohio House speaker Larry Householder, was indicted on racketeering charges.”

WNWO-TV: Ohio Democrats suing Governor Mike DeWine

“Ohio Democrats have asked for the governor’s calendar but are not happy with the redacted versions they got back.” 

WDTN-TV: Ohio Democratic Party sues Gov. Mike DeWine

“The party says that Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for the FirstEnergy scandal – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for over a hundred days.”

WRGT-TV: Ohio Democrats sue Governor DeWine over First Energy Bribery Scandal

“The Ohio Democratic Party announced Thursday a lawsuit against Governor Mike DeWine and his office in what Democrats claim is the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio’s history.

…

“The party says this marks the next steps in the ongoing battle with DeWine and his administration.” 

WKBN-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“Ohio Democrats say they have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal.”

WTRF-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“Ohio Democrats said they took the next steps in the ongoing battle with Mike DeWine and his administration in what they call the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history.” 

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