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Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Columbus Dispatch today detailed newly-released documents tying yet another major corruption scandal directly to Ohio Republicans. Campaign finance records detailed in the report show that high-level officials connected to the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) made donations to Republican officials who were in a position to help the charter school, which defrauded taxpayers by lying about enrollment numbers and has since failed to pay back the taxpayer money it owes the state.

Ohio Republicans, including Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, Frank LaRose, Dave Yost, Keith Faber and Josh Mandel, all took massive donations from ECOT founder Bill Lager.

“All of the contributions went to Republican party accounts and nearly all of the candidates backed by ECOT were Republicans. And roughly $1.4 million of the candidate contributions went to legislative candidates. Lager and his associates ramped up political giving over the years and strategically donated to politicos who were positioned to help or hurt the online school,” reports Laura Bischoff for the Columbus Dispatch.

The latest ECOT revelations come as we continue to find out more information about the GOP-led public corruption scandal, the largest in state history, in which high-level Republicans took multi-million dollar bribes to raise the cost of energy bills for hardworking Ohioans.

“Every day, we seem to get more and more information about another major ongoing scandal connected to Ohio Republicans. It’s clear these politicians are only looking out for themselves and can’t be trusted. After decades of Republican rule that has seen historic corruption and grift, Ohioans deserve leadership that’s looking out for working families, not special interest donors in Columbus,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

Read more from the Columbus Dispatch HERE and below:

• There were days when Bill Lager wrote check after check to political parties and candidate campaigns, sending tens of thousands of dollars out as he built the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow into the Ohio’s largest online charter school.
• Campaign finance records turned over in response to a federal grand jury subpoena issued in February 2019 show that Lager and his associates contributed $1.66 million to candidate committees and another $300,000 to political parties from 2000 to 2019.
• Lager and his associates ramped up political giving over the years and strategically donated to politicos who were positioned to help or hurt the online school. Recipients included legislative leaders and committee chairs, candidates for governor and state auditor, supreme court justices and state school board candidates.
• The donations hit a crescendo in June 2017 when Lager and ECOT Director of Operations Melissa Vasil each contributed $12,000 to Republican Larry Householder’s campaign committee and each contributed $38,000 to the Ohio Republican Party – $100,000 donated in the span of four days.

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Columbus, OH — In an interview with the Logan Daily News, millionaire J.D. Vance had trouble naming what Our Ohio Renewal, his non-profit organization meant to address the opioid epidemic, has done to help Ohioans struggling with addiction. Vance even seemed to acknowledge the non-profit’s limited impact, citing only “small grants and funds…here and there,” and said that he was “doing less and less with the non-profit” as the Senate campaign ramped up and was instead “focusing more” on his own political career.

These comments follow a Business Insider investigation that found Vance’s non-profit was a “charade” and “superficial,” bolstering himself and his personal ambitions. Business Insider found that in its first year, the group spent more money paying for “management services” provided by Vance’s top political advisor than on programs to fight opioid abuse. Vance’s campaign hasn’t included his experience at Our Ohio Renewal on his campaign website and refused to respond to Business Insider’s questions.

“Silicon Valley millionaire J.D. Vance is struggling to explain what his sham non-profit has actually done to help Ohioans struggling with addiction and he’s already planning to do ‘less and less’ so he can focus on running for office instead. Whatever pathetic excuse he comes up with next, one thing is clear: Vance will do or say anything to further his own self-serving ambition,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

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Columbus, OH — Today, the Sojourner’s Truth published an article featuring Toledo leaders condemning Republican Senate candidates for their opposition to the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In the article, State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson, CWA Local 4319 President Erika White, and UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty slammed Republican Senate candidates for putting politics ahead of good-paying jobs and investments in Ohio’s infrastructure. The article also mentions that GOP Senate candidates are opposed to the bill to curry favor with Donald Trump even though Sen. Portman – who they are all trying to replace – backs the bill.   

Read more at The Sojourner’s Truth.  

The Sojourner’s Truth: Toledo Leaders Slam Republican Senate Candidates for Attacking Infrastructure Bill

On Thursday, August 26, several Toledo leaders held a press conference to condemn Republican Senate candidates’ opposition to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

“Democrats are delivering for working families by creating good-paying jobs and investing in roads, bridges, water pipes, and high-speed internet. But instead of standing up for our state and supporting this commonsense plan Ohio Republicans running for Senate are too busy jockeying for Trump’s endorsement,” said State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson during the event.

The bill will bring a one-time supplemental appropriation of $548 billion to fund everything from major highway projects, to mass transit, to Great Lakes restoration and bringing broadband internet access to areas that don’t have it.

Ironically, the bill is the culmination of a bipartisan effort led, in great part, by Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman who is retiring. The Republicans vying to replace him – Josh Mandel, former Ohio treasurer; Jane Timken, former chair of the Ohio Republican Party; J.D. Vance, author and venture capitalist; Mike Gibbons, Cleveland businessman; Bernie Moreno, Cleveland car dealer – have all issued statements opposing the Portman crafted legislation in order to curry favor from Donald Trump who has stated his own opposition.

[…]

CWA Local 4319 President Erika White: “Clearly, the Ohio Republican Senate candidates who are opposed to this funding don’t care about helping working families or growing jobs in Ohio – or else they would support the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Instead, they only care about looking out for themselves and their political ambitions. Ohioans deserve leaders focused on Ohio. It’s time for the House to pass this vital bill so we can make meaningful investments in our infrastructure and build our economy.”

Mandel, the polling leader in the race, has made it clear that his primary concern is more about the fact that the Republicans in the Senate who have supported the bill – 19 of 50 senators – should not have embraced the spirit of bipartisanship. […]

UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty would disagree with such sentiments: “It’s past time for us to make upgrades to our roads, bridges, public transit, and water pipes. It’s shameful leading Ohio GOP Senate candidates have decided they would block progress for all of our families to put their corporate special interest donors first.”

Parts of the infrastructure bill will be paid for by redirecting money from previously awarded coronavirus relief funds and enhanced unemployment funds that states rejected. The Congressional Budget Office has said the bill will add $256 billion to the federal deficit over 10 years.

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Shapiro: “I think that they [Mandel and Vance] are doing a lot of stuff to win the primaries that could damage them in the general” 

Columbus, OH —  Yesterday, on his radio show, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro lamented the current state of the Ohio GOP Senate field and said that he is “deeply worried” about the prospect of Republicans losing the race because of the weak field of candidates. He called out Senate candidates Josh Seth Mandel and J.D. Vance specifically for their pandering that he believes could damage them in the general election. 

Shapiro said he has “significant doubts” about the race and that Republicans need to get behind someone “legit” – something he apparently doesn’t see in the current GOP field. This comes after a report from The Hill of Republicans worrying that the GOP Senate candidates are putting themselves on a “collision course” that could hobble the party’s chances in the 2022 midterm elections.

“Even Republicans like Ben Shapiro know that these attention-seeking millionaires are fueling a destructive primary fight and setting Republicans up to lose the Ohio Senate race next November. Shapiro is ringing the alarm bells about the GOP Senate field because he knows Ohioans won’t take these clowns seriously,” said Michael Beyer, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Listen to the audio here or a transcript below:

• Ben Shapiro: “I’m deeply worried about that Ohio Senate race. So the Ohio Senate Republican candidates range from Seth Mandel who has run in the past and fallen short, to JD Vance who’s getting a lot of publicity but doesn’t seem to be polling particularly well at this time. Those are the ones who are getting all the publicity. You’ve seen some other people who have talked about running – throwing their hat into the ring – until this develops a little bit more it’s hard for me to say who I think is going to win. But all I will say is the Republicans better mobilize behind somebody who is legit pretty quickly because if we lose that Ohio Senate seat it’s going to be very difficult to take back the Senate in general. I have significant doubts about that race. I think that some of the pandering from Mandel and Vance is not going to be particularly effective. I think that they are doing a lot of stuff to win the primaries that could damage them in the general.” 

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Columbus, OH — According to a new report in the Sandusky Register, the rivalry between out-of-touch millionaires Josh Mandel and J.D. Vance is heating up as the Republican primary for U.S. Senate gets messier and messier. 

In what’s only the latest in a “nasty, brutal” GOP primary process, Mandel’s latest attack on Vance is focused on Vance’s sham non-profit. Mandel went after Vance for the “charade” and “superficial” non-profit, calling out Vance for using the non-profit to bolster himself and his personal ambitions. Mandel accused Vance of taking the money from his sham non-profit and using it for his political campaign. 

“Republican Senate candidates are sharpening their knives and the attacks are getting nastier and deeply personal. With these escalating attacks, it’s clear these GOP Senate candidates are more focused on attacking each other than the needs of Ohio voters, no surprise from a bunch of out-of-touch millionaires,” said Michael Beyer, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Key points below:

Sandusky Register: Rivalry heats up between Mandel and Vance

Tom Jackson

September 1, 2021

• The Democratic race for Senate isn’t very exciting so far, but Republicans are engaged in a lively contest.
• For example, despite Ronald Reagan’s “11th commandment” not to speak ill of fellow Republicans, it looks like at least one GOP candidate is trimming the 11 commandments to the original 10.
• The candidate who leads in the polls, former state treasurer Josh Mandel, launched a strident personal attack on Twitter against J.D. Vance, one his challengers.
• Describing Vance’s career, Mandel wrote on Twitter on Aug. 30, “Step 1: Abandon hometown. “Step 2: Profit off of crapping on hometown and calling people from there racists. “Step 3: Return from silicon valley to start nonprofit to ‘save’ hometown from opioids. “Step 4: Take the money from the nonprofit and use it for political campaign.”
• Mandel then linked to a tweet from Toledo Blade political reporter Liz Skalka criticizing Vance’s Our Ohio Renewal nonprofit.
• While Vance’s nonprofit apparently isn’t above criticism, Mandel’s tweet appears to be mocking Vance […]. 
• Vance’s spokesman, Taylor Van Kirk, had no comment on Mandel’s tweet […]. 
• Ronald Reagan, the main Republican icon before Trump, popularized the “11th Commandment,” “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican” during his 1966 campaign for governor, although the Gipper was not always able to live up to that ideal.
• Mandel may be targeting Vance because he appears to be the biggest threat to Mandel’s frontrunner status.

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