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October 1, 2021

Happy Friday and welcome to another edition of “Buckeye Brawl,” a weekly newsletter from the Ohio Democratic Party highlighting the nasty, chaotic, and expensive Republican primary for Senate. This out-of-control primary is making conservatives “deeply worried” about the prospects of Republicans losing this seat.

As the Republican Senate primary continues to sink lower and lower, these GOP candidates are injecting even more nasty personal attacks, more chaos, and more money into this race. We’re here to help you keep track of all of it. Here’s what you may have missed:

NOEM, ON TIMKEN’S BEHALF, CALLED MANDEL A “QUITTER.” Stumping on Timken’s behalf, Noem went after Mandel, saying she doesn’t “want a quitter in the United States Senate” and that “we need leaders that don’t want the job so bad that they don’t do the job.” Noem attacking Mandel continues the Timken trend of enlisting her allies to go directly after Mandel. Last month, Timken ally Bernard Kerik attacked Mandel, tweeting, “Josh Mandel is the definition of a fraud” and didn’t stop there, tweeting, “You [Mandel] were anti-Trump then, and faking it today. You need to stop.” It sure seems like this trend of Timken allies lambasting Mandel isn’t dying any time soon.

MANDEL “LEAVING A TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION.” In a Jewish Insider interview, Dolan took a direct shot at Josh Mandel, saying, “And I have been very successful…without leaving a trail of destruction of personalities behind me.” When asked to clarify if he’s attacking Mandel, he said, “Yeah. I think tone and rhetoric is not a substitute for results and good policy.” Well, then!

FAILING TO PUT OHIO FIRST. In the same Jewish Insider interview, millionaire Matt Dolan took a shot at the rest of the GOP Senate field, saying, “my opponents all failed the very first test — that they’re going to follow politics before they follow what’s in the best interest of Ohio.” Dolan’s comments are just the latest example of Ohio Republicans running for Senate continuing to attack each other at all costs to win this crowded primary.

WHO’S A JOHNNY COME LATELY? On the Ruthless podcast, Timken took a shot at J.D. Vance and Josh Mandel when she said, “I’m not a Johnny come lately, I didn’t just show up.” J.D. Vance had not been involved in politics before his own senate race. And after Josh Mandel questioned Timken’s loyalty to Trump, Timken allies fired back at Mandel saying he “sat on the sidelines throughout the toughest times of Trump’s presidency” and that “like the career politician he is, Mandel only spoke out when it benefited himself – during another run for office.”

MILLIONAIRE FAMILY FEUD, PART TWO. Upon his entry into the Senate primary, Matt Dolan was greeted with a millionaire family feud from Bernie Moreno. Last week, Moreno revealed that he offered $1 billion to Matt Dolan’s family in order to prevent the name change of the family’s baseball team. Dolan fired back and alleged the offer never happened, saying, “It’s not true, so I don’t know why Bernie would decide to say that. You’re going to have to talk to Bernie as to why he thinks he made an offer.” I guess these Republican Senate candidates are so wealthy they forget if they have offered someone $1 billion or not. It’s an honest mistake.

WHO’S REALLY CONSERVATIVE? Mike Gibbons went after J.D. Vance for his showboating Fox News appearance where he called for revoking the tax-exempt status of the Ford Foundation saying, “This isn’t conservative.” Well, as we all know Vance’s political positions change by the day, and this field of Republicans won’t let him get away with it.

THE NEVER TRUMP COASTAL ELITE CANDIDATE. Josh Mandel went after J.D. Vance for his Silicon Valley and Hollywood past, tweeting, “If the election were held today in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Wall Street and DC, Never-Trumper JD Vance would run away with it. If the election were held today in Ohio he’d get crushed.” Mandel is keeping up the Never Trump drumbeat, calling out Vance saying, ”CNN and J.D. Vance are Never-Trumpers of the worst kind.”

Thanks for reading along – that’s all for the Buckeye Brawl this week. If you have questions, my email is [email protected]. Have a great weekend!

Columbus, OH — A new report from Roll Call reveals the Ohio Senate Republican primary field is deeply divided over whether they would accept the endorsement of the senator they’re vying to replace, Senator Rob Portman — underscoring how out of step the GOP Senate field is with the state’s Republican senator. Only Timken answered directly if she would accept the endorsement — while other candidates dodged the question. This approach stands in stark contrast to the field’s single-minded effort to secure Trump’s support. 

“Every Republican Senate candidate is more extreme than Rob Portman and his endorsement would only cause more division in this crowded primary. As these out-of-touch millionaires go all-out for Trump’s endorsement, it’s clear this unruly primary will remain a race to the bottom,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.   

Key points below: 

Roll Call: Retiring GOP senators steer clear of primaries — for now – Roll Call

Bridget Bowman

September 30, 2021

• Ohio Sen. Rob Portman has also not yet decided if he will endorse in the GOP primary to succeed him.
• Although Portman has been known to criticize Trump, at least one Ohio Senate candidate said she would welcome his backing.
• Jane Timken, the former state GOP chairwoman, said in a statement, “I have great respect for Senator Portman and would welcome his endorsement…” […] Portman’s wife, Jane, was listed as one of two dozen supporters hosting a fundraiser for Timken on Wednesday. She also co-hosted a fundraiser for Timken in June.
• Another contender, state Sen. Matt Dolan, said in a statement that he was less concerned with endorsements than with “ensuring that Ohio’s next Senator continues Rob Portman’s record of commonsense, results-driven conservatism.”
• The other GOP Senate candidates in Ohio did not respond to requests for comment.

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Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Ohio Democratic lawmakers demanded far more accountability over the largest public corruption scandal in state history. Following their successful calls for the removal of Dan McCarthy from the governor’s office, State Representatives Jeffrey Crossman and Casey Weinstein reiterated calls for Mike DeWine to continue to clean house and get rid of other staff with deep ties to the scandal. The representatives also called for DeWine to give a full accounting of what he knew and when about the $60 million bribery scheme.

“The bottom line is the public deserves answers on what happened here because it continues to cost people money. It’s going to cost us jobs here in Ohio, ” said Rep. Crossman.

SpectrumNews1’s Josh Rultenberg said it best, Democrats want action. You can read more from Rultenberg here and below:  

• When Democrats asked Governor Mike DeWine’s office to produce documents about communication surrounding the passage of the $1 billion dollar nuclear bailout to FirstEnergy, they were told by DeWine’s office there were none. 

• Lawmakers flat-out reject that response and promise further action on behalf of Ohioans. Rep. Crossman went on to indicate “lawsuits are on the table.” 

Meanwhile, WCMH-TV in Columbus shows just how unseriously Republicans are taking these renewed calls for action, highlighting how Mike Dewine’s staff is simply dismissing a state investigation into naming rights on FirstEnergy Stadium, by calling it a “fishing expedition.” 

“As much as Mike DeWine wants to news dump his way out of the largest public corruption scandal in state history, Ohio Democrats aren’t going to stop until we have answers. As Ohioans continue to bear the cost of the GOP’s $60 million bribery scheme, the time for transparency and accountability is far past due. Ohioans deserve to know what Mike DeWine knew and when he knew it. Anything short is unacceptable,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

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COLUMBUS, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party released the following statement as Ohio Republicans are once again set to ignore the will of Ohio voters and flout yet another constitutional deadline by failing to produce congressional maps by today’s deadline. This week, Democratic lawmakers produced a map ahead of the constitutional deadline, once again proving that there’s no reason for Republican politicians to be dragging their feet and failing to live up to the standards passed overwhelmingly by Ohio voters. 

“While hard-working Ohioans are showing up every day to do their jobs, Ohio Republicans can’t seem to be bothered to do theirs. Republican politicians at the statehouse are once again leaving the interests of Ohio voters behind as they undoubtedly work behind closed doors to produce yet another unconstitutional map that will move our state further backward. There’s too much at stake — from education to the economy to healthcare — for Republicans to once again play by their own rules,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

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COLUMBUS, OH — In case you missed it, the Columbus Dispatch today featured an op-ed from Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters setting the record straight on Allison Russo’s track record of fighting for working families and lobbyist Mike Carey’s record of fighting for Big Energy and special interests.

“Allison has a record of standing up for working families and is an independent voice in the Statehouse for her constituents: taking on corruption, fighting for women and families, and pushing to lower the cost of healthcare. Allison will always fight for what’s right for Ohioans, and she will work with anyone if they have good ideas to create good jobs in Ohio,” writes Chair Walters.

The Chair continues to outline the various ways Mike Carey is connected to the largest public corruption scandal in state history and details his long career lobbying for Big Energy.

“Carey’s a career lobbyist and political insider. Lying is like breathing for him. Mike Carey lied about his involvement with Householder’s HB6 scandal and is the wrong choice for Ohio’s 15th Congressional District,” writes Chair Walters.

Read the full op-ed here and more below:

• Allison Russo was raised in a small, working-class town by a single mom. She was the first in her family to go to college and spent her career helping folks get access to healthcare. Now, Allison’s a working mom of three, wife of a combat veteran, a State Representative, and most importantly — a good person. 
• Allison has a record of standing up for working families and is an independent voice in the Statehouse for her constituents: taking on corruption, fighting for women and families, and pushing to lower the cost of healthcare.
• Allison will always fight for what’s right for Ohioans, and she will work with anyone if they have good ideas to create good jobs in Ohio.
• Here’s the truth about Mike Carey.
• Carey spent decades as the top lobbyist for the infamous Murray Energy company, which was named as “Company B” in federal court documents in Larry Householder’s House Bill 6 (HB6) scandal — the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history. 
• Federal investigators recently found that Murray Energy and other Ohio energy companies created a dark money slush fund to pass HB6 that would give them $150 million in taxpayer dollars each year.
• And as The Dispatch uncovered, Carey’s company “stood to benefit from” the passage of Householder’s corrupt House Bill and gave $100,000 to the dark money slush fund. 
• Carey initially denied any involvement in HB6, but an investigation caught Carey on emails discussing lobbyists’ plans to influence the bill.
• Mike Carey lied about his involvement with Householder’s HB6 scandal and is the wrong choice for Ohio’s 15th Congressional District. 

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