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Columbus, OH — Frank LaRose is having a rough week. After LaRose was called out this week for his hypocrisy on election integrity, Howard Wilkinson is out with a new column today exposing LaRose and the Ohio GOP for using a new radical anti-voter bill to help LaRose politically.

LaRose, facing a primary challenger to his right and facing pressure to embrace the Big Lie, is once again using Ohioans’ right to vote to further his own political ambitions. LaRose wants to talk about the success of the 2020 election, but as a Republican in 2021, also needs to be seen casting doubt on the results. So he’s using attacks on Ohioans’ voting rights to do it.

So, LaRose and his buddy Bill Seitz are pushing HB 294, an extreme anti-voter bill that would drastically reduce the ways Ohioans are able to vote and directly attack the methods of voting that made the 2020 elections a success. The bill is a wink and a nod to the Big Lie to shore up LaRose’s political support on the right. But Democrats quickly and loudly fought back against the legislation and put LaRose in a tough spot for attacking Ohioans’ right to vote, and he’s looking for a way out.

Here’s where HB 397 comes into play. As Wilkinson points out in his column, the new legislation goes even further than HB 294, but it’s also gone nowhere in the House. Wilkinson posits that LaRose and Seitz are using the new bill as a way to make their extreme anti-voter bill look moderate by comparison. But Ohio Democrats aren’t going to stand by quietly and Ohio voters won’t be fooled. Enough with LaRose’s political games. Ohioans’ voting rights aren’t tools for Frank LaRose to serve his own political ambitions and he needs to stop with the partisan games and instead do his job and stand up against lies being told within his own party about the 2020 election.

“And it seems to me that the incredibly antediluvian HB 387 could give some political cover to LaRose, a supporter of HB 294 who is running for re-election next year with a primary challenger – former State Rep. John Adams of Shelby County who is coming at him from the Trumpist right. Something tells me that HB 387 is more show business than legislative business,” writes Wilkinson.

Read more from Howard Wilkinson HERE and below:

• We are sitting here wondering if the Republican majority in the Ohio House is trying to pull off an elaborate bait-and-switch game in order to scale back early voting in Ohio.
• The fact of the matter is that voter fraud in Ohio – where no county has its vote tallying system connected to the Internet and where there is a paper back-up for every scanned ballot – is exceedingly rare. About as close to non-existent as you can get.
• According to Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican who is supporting HB 294, there were only 13 cases of non-citizens who cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election in Ohio, along with another 104 who apparently were registered illegally. All were referred to the Ohio attorney general for further investigation.
• By the way, 13 out of 5.794 million votes cast works out to .0002%.
• Democrats may not have the numbers to stop the GOP in the Ohio legislature, but the Ohio Democratic Party will fight any attempt to rollback voter access, said party spokesman Matthew Keyes.
• Seitz said he believes HB 387 has no chance of passing. There seems to be little enthusiasm for that bill, except possibly among the sponsor and six co-sponsors.
• Seems to me that the only purpose of HB 387 is to die on the vine, but not until it makes HB 294 seen like a reasonable alternative.

• And it seems to me that the incredibly antediluvian HB 387 could give some political cover to LaRose, a supporter of HB 294 who is running for re-election next year with a primary challenger – former State Rep. John Adams of Shelby County who is coming at him from the Trumpist right.
• Something tells me that HB 387 is more show business than legislative business.

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Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chair Elizabeth Walters announced the sale of ODP headquarters on E. Fulton St. in Columbus. The building has been sold to Fairfield Homes, a property management company and developer of affordable housing. The sale of the building comes as ODP looks to modernize its campaign operations with a greater focus on grassroots organizing in communities across Ohio rather than a more traditional centralized operation. ODP will maintain a smaller headquarters and will relocate to a different building later in the year.

ODP will use proceeds from the building sale to invest in a modern infrastructure that will help Democrats win up and down the ballot and hold Ohio Republicans responsible for the many ways they’ve betrayed Ohio voters.

“The Ohio Democratic Party has been lucky to call our headquarters on East Fulton Street home for many years, but our focus moving forward is being headquartered in the communities we’re fighting for. ODP is excited to modernize our campaign operations and show voters we’re on their side by showing up in their communities and standing up for their priorities,” said Chair Walters.

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Columbus, OH — Frank LaRose’s partisan political hypocrisy is once more on display for all to see. LaRose continues to try to claim credit for a successful 2020 election while also supporting a bill that would attack the voting methods that made the election a success, including dropboxes, early voting and absentee voting. The bill — HB 294 — is a wink and a nod to the Big Lie, part of a nationwide effort to appease the failed blogger from Florida in a direct attack on Ohioans’ right to vote.

And LaRose will always put his political ambitions above the needs of Ohio voters. He is pushing this bill to shore up his political support, especially now that he has a primary challenger. It was never about election integrity at all, and Ohio media is starting to call him out on it.

As LaRose tried to brag yesterday once again about the success of the 2020 election, Darrel Rowland from the Columbus Dispatch tweeted: “Guess that means we should rip it up and add a bunch of new restrictions, huh?”

LaRose cannot continue to try to spin both the 2020 election and the harmful GOP anti-voter bill in his favor, he must be forced to answer how future elections will be made more secure by directly attacking Ohioans’ right to vote. And he must be held accountable for continuing to talk about election integrity while sharing a stage with Jim Jordan, one of the leading proponents of the Big Lie, and sitting by silently as his fellow Republicans like Josh Mandel and Jane Timken call the results of the 2020 election into question and promote false claims.

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Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Ohio Capital Journal wrote today about more shady dealings involving Mike DeWine, even as he finds himself embroiled in the biggest public corruption scandal in state history.

Marty Schalden writes about DeWine’s recent move to restart a major contract with Centene — a company responsible for defrauding Ohio taxpayers out of millions of dollars — after the company hired one of DeWine’s buddies to lobby for them. Earlier this year, Centene paid a more than $80 million settlement over claims the company defrauded the state’s Medicaid program out of tens of millions of dollars. But once the company hired DeWine’s longtime friend, the company once again secured a lucrative state contract.

“So you might think — especially heading into a tough election year — that DeWine would want to avoid any appearance of impropriety or special dealing. But it turns out that Centene hired an old friend of the governor to lobby on its behalf just as Yost’s lawsuit was about to be filed,” writes Schalden.

And, as is par for the course for DeWine and his Administration, they’re not answering any questions about the shady dealings, thinking that if they just continue to ignore these scandals, they’ll go away on their own. But Ohio voters deserve answers and Ohio Democrats are going to continue to push for them.

“It’s hard to keep up with all of the corruption scandals Mike DeWine finds himself at the center of. DeWine’s statehouse is mired in bribery schemes, shady dealings involving multi-million dollar contracts for friends of the governor and the biggest public corruption scandal in state history. Ohioans deserve answers, and while DeWine seems to believe he’s above the rules, Ohio Democrats won’t stop pushing for them until DeWine is held accountable,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

Read more from Ohio Capital Journal HERE and below:

• The administration of Gov. Mike DeWine had just restarted a massive contract with Centene Corp. Only six months earlier, Attorney General Dave Yost agreed to accept $88.3 million from the company to settle claims that it had defrauded the state’s Medicaid program of tens of millions of dollars. 
• DeWine was already embroiled in a historic energy scandal in which his appointee to the state’s utility regulator took what Yost called a $4.3 million bribe and did favors worth hundreds of millions to FirstEnergy, the company that paid it, the company and federal prosecutors said in a deferred prosecution agreement. It was part of a broader conspiracy to pass a $1.3 billion bailout law that DeWine signed.
• So you might think — especially heading into a tough election year — that DeWine would want to avoid any appearance of impropriety or special dealing.
• But it turns out that Centene hired an old friend of the governor to lobby on its behalf just as Yost’s lawsuit was about to be filed.
• Kiggin and DeWine’s spokesman didn’t respond to questions for this story — including whether it’s proper for an old, close friend of DeWine to hire himself out to big corporations to lobby the governor on their behalf. But it’s clear that Kiggin  and DeWine go back.
• As with Kiggin and DeWine, Centene won’t say what DeWine’s friend did on the corporate dime. But Kiggin was on the Centene payroll during the critical period in March when, just after Yost accused the company of massive fraud, the state Medicaid department suspended a contract it was negotiating with Centene’s subsidiary for 2022.
• In addition to Kiggin, Neidorff and Centene have paid some others connected to DeWine.

• They include Dan McCarthy, who is now DeWine’s legislative affairs director. In 2018, while he was still president of the lobbying firm the Success Group, McCarthy was registered to represent Centene.
• Now two of McCarthy’s former Success Group colleagues — Mike Toman and Anthony Aquillo — continue to lobby the DeWine administration on Centene’s behalf. 

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Columbus, OH — New reports from the Columbus Dispatch and Cleveland.com reveal Republican U.S. Senate candidates’ “eye-popping” financial disclosures from a field full of out-of-touch multi-millionaires. 

“No matter which country club elitist emerges from this nasty primary, the Ohio GOP will be stuck with an out-of-touch multi-millionaire who puts their wealthy self-interest ahead of working Ohioans. Instead of focusing on building good-paying jobs and fixing our infrastructure, all of the Ohio GOP Senate candidates have made it clear their priorities are lining their pockets and not Ohio families said Michael Beyer, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Read more below:

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Republicans running for U.S. Senate are millionaires, disclosures show

• The real estate, business assets, investment portfolios and paychecks of Republicans who want to represent Ohioans in the U.S. Senate are nothing short of eye-popping.
• Bernie Moreno has a place in the Bahamas worth between $5 million and $25 million. He also has a yacht worth between $500,000 and $1 million, condos in Washington, D.C. and New York and houses in Columbus and Florida, according to Moreno’s financial disclosure statement.
• Jane Timken and her husband own a 699-acre farm near Canton and have vast stock and bond holdings, Timken’s 65-page report shows. Jane Timken’s investments are worth between $2 million and $4.8 million while her husband’s holdings are valued between $30.3 million and $55.8 million and the couple has between $5.1 million and $10.8 million invested on behalf of their two adult children. Timken reported no liabilities.
• Former state treasurer Josh Mandel reported he made $839,571 between Jan. 1, 2020 and May 15, 2021, plus he cashed out his Ohio Public Employees Retirement System account for a $205,413 windfall. He also liquidated stock holdings and poured more than $1 million into his bank accounts. Mandel paid off his only liability – a self-issued loan for the purchase of his home – in March 2021.
• Mike Gibbons’ financial holdings are so complex that he had to hire an accounting firm to prepare the report, according to his campaign. Gibbons’ attorneys told the Senate Ethics Committee that the campaign of the Cleveland businessman expects to file the report within 30 days.

Cleveland.com: Ohio U.S. Senate candidates disclose personal net worth, and most are millionaires

• All three candidates seeking the Republican nomination who filed financial disclosure statements this week — former Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel, former Ohio Republican Party chairman Jane Timken and Cleveland luxury car dealer Bernie Moreno — are millionaires, the disclosures show.
• This week’s filings offered the first detailed look at the personal finances of Moreno and Timken, who both are wealthy first-time candidates and are capable of self-funding a campaign. Each disclosed tens of millions of dollars in household assets, as well as millions in household income during the most recent filing period. The vast majority of Timken’s assets are owned by her husband, Tim Timken, whose family founded prominent manufacturing businesses that carry the family name. Moreno’s assets, which included commercial real estate, a boat and a vacation home in the Bahamas, were partially offset by at least $13 million in business loans.
• Mandel, meanwhile, disclosed at least $2.2 million in assets, although that number was boosted by at least $775,000 in three 529 college savings accounts for his children. Mandel, who left the public sector at the end of 2018 after eight years as state treasurer, disclosed more than $1 million in income, which includes a $205,000 cash-out of state pension, with the rest coming from corporate board positions.
• Mike Gibbons, a Cleveland investment banker who is funding his campaign through a $5.7 million personal loan, still hasn’t filed a required financial disclosure form that was due in May. And, unlike other candidates in the race, he hasn’t formally requested an extension. The campaign recently paid a $200 late fine and plans to compile something within the next 30 days, David Warrington, Gibbons’ attorney, said in an Aug. 12 letter to the Senate ethics committee.
• Timken reported one source of personal income last year: the $189,615 she made running the Ohio Republican Party, a job she quit to run for the U.S. Senate earlier this year. But her financial disclosure was much more voluminous, totaling dozens of pages detailing hundreds of holdings in cash, as well as stocks, bonds and other business interests. Timken’s household assets ranged in value from about $40 million to about $72 million. Of that, $2.2 million to $5.2 million in assets were held by her personally.
• Moreno reported household assets worth $20.3 million to $93.1 million, a wide range attributable to several commercial real estate developments he owns in the Cleveland area, each worth $1 million to $5 million, as well as a home in the Bahamas worth $5 million to $25 million.
• Moreno and his wife, Bridget, also reported owning condos in Washington, D.C., New York City and Columbus. Bernie Moreno, an enthusiast of the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrency, reported from $100,000 to $250,000 of bitcoin. And, Moreno owns a boat worth $500,000 to $1 million.
• He [Mandel] reported owning assets worth $2.1 million to $7.5 million, most of which was contained in several brokerage accounts, and at least $750,000 of which was split between three college-savings accounts for his children. Mandel also reported owning an interest in LiftCamp, a Beachwood technology company where he serves as CEO, worth $100,000 to $250,000.

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