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Questions About Jay Edwards’ Involvement With FirstEnergy Scandal “Loom Over Ohio Treasurer Bid”

COLUMBUS, OH – New reporting is further detailing Republican candidate for Ohio Treasurer Jay Edwards’ long record relating to the FirstEnergy scandal, which is raising costs for Ohio families by $663 more a year on their utility bills. In addition to voting for House Bill 6, Edwards was included in reporting from the FirstEnergy trial, and was even asked at the time to step down from House leadership over his connection to Larry Householder.

“Corruption is running rampant in Columbus after decades of Republican control, and right in the center of it all is Jay Edwards, who stood by disgraced former Speaker Householder throughout the FirstEnergy bribery scandal,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “With his strong ties to the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history, Ohioans know they can’t trust Jay Edwards to stand up to corruption and safeguard taxpayer dollars as Ohio Treasurer.”

Read more on Edwards’ record as questions “loom” over his involvement with the FirstEnergy scandal that is raising energy costs for Ohio families:

TiffinOhio: Jay Edwards’ ties to Larry Householder, HB 6 vote, and ethics questions loom over Ohio Treasurer bid

  • Former state Rep. Jay Edwards, the Republican nominee for Ohio treasurer, would manage roughly $280 billion in state assets if elected on Nov. 3. The record he brings to that campaign includes a vote for House Bill 6, an FBI-recorded dinner with former Speaker Larry Householder and an indicted lobbyist, a $200 personal check to the dark money entity at the center of the bribery scheme, a vote against expelling Householder after his racketeering indictment, FBI recordings released in a 2025 documentary, a public records dispute over deleted text messages, a censure from his own state party, and a 2025 financial disclosure listing dozens of gifts the candidate now says he probably never received.

Read more HERE.

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ICYMI: Is Ohio a stepping stone? New York Times lists Ramaswamy as a 2028 presidential prospect

Columbus, Ohio-  New reporting from TiffinOhio.net spotlighted what Ohioans already know: Vivek Ramaswamy is just using his bid for governor of Ohio as a layover on the way to a 2028 presidential run.

TiffinOhio.net: Is Ohio a stepping stone? NYT lists Ramaswamy as a 2028 presidential prospect

  • A New York Times feature this week added Vivek Ramaswamy to its list of potential 2028 presidential candidates — 15 months after the Ohio Republican nominee for governor publicly pledged to serve a full four-year term and rule out a 2028 White House bid.
  • The Times piece, published Wednesday by political reporter Reid J. Epstein, grouped Ramaswamy with Florida Rep. Byron Donalds in a category labeled “The Politicians Who Could Make a Quick Leap.” The Times wrote that the two Republicans “could bounce from running for governor to national campaigns” and noted that Ramaswamy “already ran for president in 2024.”
  • Even before Ramaswamy launched his campaign, members of his own party were warning that his ambitions extended beyond Columbus. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who initially ran for the gubernatorial nomination before dropping out, told NBC News in February 2025 that Ramaswamy had spent the previous year cycling through bigger ambitions.
  • “He has wanted, over the last year, to be president, to have a Cabinet spot, to be co-leader of DOGE,” Yost said. “The governor of Ohio is not a consolation prize … My concern is that what he seems to do best is to quit.”

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Vivek Ramaswamy Can’t Hide From Comments Advocating for “Segregation” Based on COVID Immunity Status 

Ramaswamy: “Could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated to say you can’t go back to a normal life?”

Columbus, Ohio- Over the weekend, Vivek Ramaswamy continued to face scrutiny from his extreme, toxic calls to segregate Americans based on COVID immunity status. NBC4’s Colleen Marshall shined a spotlight on Ramaswamy’s comments.

Reporting from the Associated Press first revealed Ramaswamy wanted to “segregate” Americans based on biomarkers and made over $2 billion in profit from the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Then, unearthed audio reported by NBC4 further showed how Ramaswamy contradicted his own comments on the campaign trail after attacking Dr. Amy Acton on her role as Ohio Department of Health director. 

“At every turn, Ohioans are seeing more evidence everything Vivek Ramaswamy does is a lie or scam to make money for himself while working families are left behind,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ohioans can’t trust Vivek Ramaswamy.”

See highlights below and watch the clip here: 

  • In 2020, he was talking about stay-at-home mandates and required testing. Critics say that sounds a lot like what Governor DeWine and Doctor Acton were doing back then, the very thing that many Republicans now call government overreach and an infringement on individual freedoms.
  • Ramaswamy’s company made more than $2 billion dollars on vaccines and he even supported government mandated testing to find out the rate of immunity.
  • The scientific distinctions that Ramaswamy is talking about would have required mandatory testing, then a government registry of your antibody status to keep track of who was safe to resume normal life and segregation for those who did not have immunity.

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ICYMI: Ohio Democrats Launch OhioWins Coordinated Campaign

“We are welcoming Republicans, independents, and Democrats to this campaign. Our message is not… a partisan one. We are working to lower costs for Ohio families and get our state turned around.”

COLUMBUS, OH – With all eyes on Ohio and competitive elections in every corner of our state up and down the ballot, Ohioans are reading about how the Ohio Democratic Party launched the historic OhioWins coordinated campaign. This campaign will be mobilizing in all 88 counties to elect Democrats who will lower costs for Ohio families, protect Ohioans’ freedoms, and grow our state, and will also work tirelessly to educate voters and protect Ohioans’ right to vote.

Read more below about the launch of the OhioWins coordinated campaign from Statehouse News Bureau and an opinion piece featured in the Columbus Dispatch penned by Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde:

Columbus Dispatch: Democrats have a solid plan to win Ohio. It has Republicans spending like crazy | Opinion

  • From sky-high costs for nearly every aspect of daily life to the feeling that our freedoms and even our right to vote are more at risk than ever before, Ohioans know that we need to get our state back on track, and they are already turning out at historic rates for our strong Democratic candidates.
  • Ohio Democrats have launched our OhioWins coordinated campaign to build on that momentum, and to connect with Ohioans of all political backgrounds around our mission to elect Democratic leaders who will lower costs, protect our freedoms and improve life for the many families across our state who are struggling.
  • This election will play a critical role in deciding our state’s future, and our country’s future, too – that’s why national Republicans are spending more here than in any other state in the country to try to beat Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who is fighting to reform a rigged system to help hardworking Ohioans.
  • It’s why Vivek Ramaswamy is already spending millions of dollars attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton, a leader with one-of-a-kind bipartisan credentials who knows firsthand what it’s like to grow up under tough circumstances and has the commonsense vision to support Ohio families.
  • We need leaders who will work tirelessly to make things better, not politicians like Republican Sen. Jon Husted who voted nine times against lowering health care costs and put rural hospitals at risk to pay for tax breaks for corporate special interests and billionaires – and who was at the center of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history that has raised utility rates by $663 a year.
  • Not billionaire Washington insiders – like Ramaswamy who flies around on his private jet touting his plans to consolidate Ohio’s incredible colleges and universities, and who called Ohio workers “lazy,” said the Medicare and Medicaid that Ohioans rely on is a “mistake,” and claimed the high “perceived” cost of living is only in Ohioans’ imagination.
  • This OhioWins coordinated campaign isn’t just for Democrats – it’s for Republicans and Independents too. As we’ve seen across the country in recent months, in blue, purple and red communities – even the state House district that’s home to Mar-a-Lago – voters are connecting with our winning message and electing Democratic leaders who are running to lower costs.
  • Ohioans are going to send that message loud and clear come November – because when Ohio elects Democratic leaders who will lower costs and protect our freedoms, OhioWins.

Statehouse News Bureau: Forward to fall: Democrats investing in new voter outreach as Republicans work to hold Ohio

  • Democrats in Ohio think this year they will turn the state from red to blue…or at least to purple. And part of that effort is a new coordinated campaign the state party is pursing. But they’ll be fighting Republicans who will be working to hang onto control of the state.
  • “We saw a historic turnout on the Democratic gubernatorial primary, higher voter turnout,” Clyde said in an interview. “The highest voter turnout that we’ve seen since 2006, which was a strong year for Democrats, winning all of the statewide offices except for one.”
  • Clyde said the “Ohio Wins” campaign will use a state-of-the-art data and analytics team to ensure voter contact efforts are microtargeted to specific voters, along with a website to keep voters informed and allow them to volunteer to be part of the process. Clyde said the party has been out talking to voters in all 88 counties, including in areas where it hasn’t been strong, including rural areas and cities where support has dropped off in recent years.
  • “We are staffing up, we have staff deployed around the state, and we’ll be increasing that presence, doing a strong field operation, voter protection, data and operations, and doing the work to get our message out to voters all across the state,” Clyde said, noting 20 staff members have been hired—most from Ohio—and more will be. “We are welcoming Republicans, independents, and Democrats, to, this campaign. Our message is not a necessarily a partisan one. We are working to lower costs for Ohio families and get our state turned around.”
  • Clyde said there will be a record-setting investment in infrastructure to protect ballot access, including the hiring of a voter access director.

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OHIO CAPITAL JOURNAL: ‘Top Husted aide lobbied for Ohio utility that profited from corrupt law’

COLUMBUS, OHIO — New reporting shows that Jon Husted hired an opioid and utilities lobbyist as a “senior advisor” in his office. The report reveals that before joining Husted’s office, the lobbyist’s clients “made millions” off the House Bill 6 scandal, which resulted in a billion dollar bailout for utilities that’s contributing to families paying thousands of dollars more on their energy bills.

As a reminder, Jon Husted remains at the center of the massive FirstEnergy corruption scandal, with new reporting from the Associated Press revealing Husted’s ties to be much deeper than previously known.

See For Yourself: 

Ohio Capital Journal: Top Husted aide lobbied for Ohio utility that profited from corrupt law

  • When Husted reached the Senate five years later, one of his first moves was to hire as a top advisor a longtime utility lobbyist. 
  • The lobbyist’s client made millions off the scheme at the heart of the 2020 utility scandal. The same lobbyist had also represented a massive drug wholesaler that had paid out millions to settle claims that it had negligently distributed vast amounts of opioids in addiction-ravaged Ohio.
  • Husted’s decision to hire the lobbyist, Sean Dunn, has some questioning whether average Ohioans’ welfare is Husted’s top priority.
  • “It’s tone deaf because he’s an elected official who doesn’t see how cozy relationships can compromise his decision making,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, which advocates for accountable government. “Or he sees a benefit to these very cozy relationships.”
  • According to disclosures filed with the Ohio Lobbying Activity Center, Dunn began lobbying for AES in 2009 and did so until February 2025.
  • During that time, Dunn lobbied the state legislature and the executive branch on numerous measures relating to Ohio House Bill 6, the 2019 law that was the product of what one federal prosecutor said was “likely the largest bribery and money-laundering scheme ever in the state of Ohio.”
  • In addition to Dunn’s ties to AES, he also lobbied on behalf of Dublin-based Cardinal Health, one of the three largest prescription-drug wholesalers in the United States. Dunn’s engagement with the company ran from 2009 to 2019.
  • Federal enforcement actions and government lawsuits against the drug wholesaler alleged that Cardinal frequently ignored “blatantly suspicious orders” as it shipped billions of opioid pills into Ohio and other U.S. states.
  • Disclosures also show that Dunn made $895,000 in the 15 months before he joined Husted’s team and was owed between $1 million and $5 million by his old firm. 
  • Husted’s office was asked what the senator was doing to relieve the affordability crisis, and to explain his decision to hire as a top advisor someone who’d grown wealthy lobbying on behalf of some of the industries driving the crisis.
  • It didn’t answer.

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