Uncategorized

In Case You Missed It, Cleveland.com’s Brent Larkin laid it all out there in a weekend editorial, calling out each of the candidates in the GOP Senate primary individually and previewing the dumpster fire Ohioans will have to endure for the next year. Larkin rightfully points out that the candidates are so busy attacking one another — spewing lies and accusations in the hope of winning Donald Trump’s endorsement — that they’re embarrassing the state while doing absolutely nothing to promote the interests of Ohio voters.

“Before it’s over – the date of the spring 2022 primary is not yet set – it will be a nasty affair filled with wild accusations, crazed conspiracy theories and enough nauseating and disqualifying embraces of Donald Trump’s lies to make millions of rational Ohioans reach for a barf bag,” writes Larkin.

In his editorial, Larkin doesn’t pull any punches, calling out ‘trained seal’ J.D. Vance for his total flip-flop on his criticism of Trump, labeling Jane Timken an ‘opportunist’ for reversing her stance on Anthony Gonzalez’ vote to impeach Trump and naming Mandel the ‘most repulsive of the lot,’ as he doubles down on his lies about the 2020 election.

Read the editorial from Cleveland.com HERE and more below:

• In the months ahead, Ohio will be home to what might be a reputation-ruining event for the ages, otherwise known as the Republican Party primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Rob Portman.
• Before it’s over – the date of the spring 2022 primary is not yet set – it will be a nasty affair filled with wild accusations, crazed conspiracy theories and enough nauseating and disqualifying embraces of Donald Trump’s lies to make millions of rational Ohioans reach for a barf bag.
• Now comes a Senate primary where the candidates will spend the next year repeatedly proving that they think the views of a 74-year-old Florida resident matter infinitely more than what might be best for the 11.8 million Ohioans they want to “represent.”
• Nevertheless, on March 24, four of the five likely leading contenders for the GOP Senate nomination put to rest any doubts about their willingness to shed every ounce of shame in pursuit of Trump’s support.
• In his meeting with Trump, it’s unlikely Vance reminded the former president that, in August 2016, Vance had told NPR’s Terry Gross that, if he thought Trump might win the presidency, “I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton …. I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.”
• As for Moreno, NBC News obtained emails with an abundance of 2016 truth-telling by Moreno about Trump. Moreno referred to Trump as a “maniac” and “lunatic,” writing to someone in 2016 that, “If Donald Trump is nominated, I will consider that a hostile take over and no longer associate with THAT, new GOP.”

• After U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a Rocky River Republican, voted in favor of Trump’s second impeachment, Timken had said she thought he had “a rational reason” for his vote and called Gonzalez (her congressman) “a very effective legislator.” Trump didn’t like that, so a few weeks later, Timken said Gonzalez should resign. It was the act of a principle-free opportunist.
• Mandel is easily the most repulsive of the lot. Only Mandel enthusiastically embraces the Big Lie, willing to blabber on without evidence that the 2020 election was stolen.

###

In Case You Missed It, Cleveland Browns Offensive Tackle Chris Hubbard wrote an op-ed for Cleveland.com today to blast anti-voter legislation recently introduced by statehouse Republicans. In his op-ed, Hubbard points out that the current anti-voter is just the latest effort by Republicans to chip away at Ohioans’ right to vote and includes provisions that are especially harmful to voters of color. Hubbard also points out that the legislation is a solution in search of a problem as even Republicans have admitted that there is no extensive evidence of widespread voter fraud in Ohio.   

“Ohio lawmakers who are promoting HB 294 are not trying to change the state’s elections system because it is broken. They are trying to rig it so that they can win future elections and hold onto power. We need to take a stand and protect what we have fought so hard to achieve — our right to be heard; our right to be counted; our right to the full privileges of citizenship in our democracy,” writes Hubbard. 

The GOP anti-voter bill includes a number of provisions that take Ohio backward in the fight for voting rights, including the elimination of a day of early voting, severe restrictions on dropboxes and a requirement for two forms of ID to request an absentee ballot. Read more HERE. 

Read Chris Hubbard’s op-ed in Cleveland.com HERE and more below: 

• For some people, the only way to win is to change the rules of the game.
• This tactic is not new in the world of politics, either, when it comes to the right to vote. Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill to roll back the tide of 2020′s high voter turnout: House Bill 294. The bill targets early voting and voting by mail.
• HB 294 would dramatically shrink the number of early and vote-by-mail voters by shortening the window for requesting absentee ballots; limiting the number of drop boxes for these ballots to just one location per county; reducing the amount of time to access drop boxes from 30 to 10 days; and eliminating in-person voting on the day before the election.
•  Of course, a disproportionate number of people who experience these multiple and intersecting barriers are people of color.
• Ohio lawmakers seeking to restrict early and absentee voting will not admit that they are trying to disenfranchise Black and brown voters. Just like lawmakers in some states in 1896, 1940 and 1965 would not say that the grandfather clauses, literacy tests, poll taxes, armed patrols, and snarling dogs were intended to disenfranchise Black voters. They will say that these rule changes are meant to protect the integrity of the elections process. The rationale would be more convincing if there were actually a problem with the security of elections that needed solving.
• We know today that this justification is just a thinly veiled guise to keep Black people away from the ballot box. Absentee voting poses no credible threat to the integrity of Ohio’s elections. In fact, according to the state’s elections chief, Ohio’s mail-voting system operated successfully in 2020, with no evidence of widespread election fraud.
• Ohio lawmakers who are promoting HB 294 are not trying to change the state’s elections system because it is broken. They are trying to rig it so that they can win future elections and hold onto power. We need to take a stand and protect what we have fought so hard to achieve — our right to be heard; our right to be counted; our right to the full privileges of citizenship in our democracy.

###

In Case You Missed It, Cleveland.com today reported on repeated refusals by House Speaker Bob Cupp and Republican politicians to comment on Larry Householder’s expulsion from the Ohio House as Ohioans remain on the hook for his $60,000 salary. Householder was arrested more than 300 days ago amid allegations he took a $60 million bribe in exchange for raising the cost of energy bills for Ohioans. 

“Since the beginning of this year’s legislative session, reporters have asked House Speaker Bob Cupp on a regular basis about whether GOP lawmakers will expel state Rep. Larry Householder, who’s charged with overseeing the largest bribery scheme in state history. Every week, Cupp offers an (non-)answer similar to the one he gave Wednesday: ‘I have nothing further to report,’” writes Jeremy Pelzer for Cleveland.com.  

Despite his arrest, the federal charges against him and Republican claims they’d like to see Householder expelled, the former Speaker remains in office with no efforts taken to remove him from office.

Read the story from Cleveland.com HERE and more below: 

• Since the beginning of this year’s legislative session, reporters have asked House Speaker Bob Cupp on a regular basis about whether GOP lawmakers will expel state Rep. Larry Householder, who’s charged with overseeing the largest bribery scheme in state history.
• Every week, Cupp offers an (non-)answer similar to the one he gave Wednesday: “I have nothing further to report.”
• It’s not because Householder’s fate isn’t on lawmakers’ minds, as Cupp said when pressed by a reporter. “Members talk about it a lot to each other,” he said. “But there’s nothing further to report.”
• If there’s all this talk among lawmakers, is there any consensus emerging about Householder’s fate?
• “I have nothing further to report,” Cupp said.
• When asked why he has nothing further to report, and why he’s withholding such information from the public, Cupp replied: “I’m not withholding anything from the public. I don’t have anything to report.”
• The House speaker was similarly tight-lipped when asked whether he saw any issue with Householder continuing to draw a legislative salary of more than $60,000 per year.
• Householder was arrested last July and accused of using more than $60 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy Corp. entities to secure passage of House Bill 6, which included a $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout for two Northern Ohio nuclear power plants.

###

Columbus, OH — Yesterday, the U.S. House passed legislation establishing an independent, nonpartisan commission to investigate the January 6 terror attack, with only two of 11 Ohio Republicans voting in favor of the commission and the other nine voting to sweep the attack under the rug. 

Despite Republicans trying to look the other way, Ohioans deserve to know what happened on January 6th and why. Keeping Ohioans and Americans safe shouldn’t be political. Any Republicans opposing this commonsense, independent commission are further perpetuating the Big Lie and are also playing politics with our national security.  

• Now that the legislation heads to the Senate, Ohio Republican candidates for Senate should be on the record: Are you for or against the January 6th commission?

On Wednesday, a U.S. Capitol Police officer wrote a letter expressing disappointment with Republican leadership for opposing the nonpartisan commission and earlier this week, the family of a fallen officer released a statement in support of the commission. Republican candidates have employed a lot of rhetoric around their support of law enforcement, but their position on the January 6 commission will speak louder than their words ever could. 

The January 6 commission was established following a bipartisan compromise between House Democrats and Republicans. The commission would be modeled after the successful 9/11 Commission and would comprise five Republicans and five Democrats. 

###

In Case You Missed It, Julie Carr Smyth and Dan Sewell of the AP reported today on the increasingly desperate and embarrassing battle in Ohio’s Republican Senate primary for the support of one Florida resident. Instead of fighting for the support of Ohio voters and running campaigns based on the needs and interests of Ohioans, Republican candidates are instead speaking to an audience of one: Donald Trump. 

While these candidates trip all over themselves for Trump’s endorsement, increasingly making their campaigns about personal attacks on fellow Republicans and issues way outside the mainstream for Ohio voters, Trump refuses to endorse any of them despite several desperate public pleas from each candidate. 

“While Ohioans are worried about taking care of their families, making ends meet and keeping themselves healthy amid a global pandemic, Republican Senate candidates are playing out their fantasies of appearing on the Apprentice. Democrats are laser focused on the issues that matter to Ohioans and creating a fairer, more prosperous state. Republicans are chasing the approval of a Florida resident who’s just not that into them,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Meanwhile, as Smyth and Sewell point out in their story, no one is seeking the endorsement of embattled Gov. Mike DeWine, who sees himself increasingly weakened by the intra-party fighting within his own party. Trump seems more concerned with securing a primary challenge to DeWine than any of the Republicans running for Senate. 

Read the story from AP HERE and more below: 

• One candidate has been circulating a who’s-done-more-for-Donald Trump scorecard. Footage of a waving Trump was dropped without context into a TV ad for another. A photo posted to Twitter gushes over the ex-president and his wife stopping by a third candidate’s fundraiser just to say hello.
• The U.S. Senate primary in Ohio is still a year away, but Republican contenders already are working furiously to cast themselves as Trump’s favorite in the open race. That work can be awkward and far from subtle. 
• But despite all his pride in playing kingmaker, Trump has been reticent in his endorsements — in some cases even waiting until after the primary to give his approval. That leaves the field in Ohio positioning frantically in hopes of being deemed the Trumpiest of them all.
• But no endorsement has followed and the campaigning for Trump’s affection has continued. Earlier this month, an outside group, the USA Freedom Fund, linked Mandel to Trump in a TV commercial aired during Kentucky Derby coverage. It showed Trump speaking at a pre-2016 rally, even though Mandel was nowhere in sight. The spot also attacked Vance for past criticisms of Trump.
• However, Gary Abernathy, a former newspaper publisher in southern Ohio who had worked for the state GOP and for Portman, sees peril in that GOP strategy.
• “The danger is painting yourself into all-in on Trump right now and then you have to sell yourself in the general election,” Abernathy said. “How much of how you tie yourself to Trump now are you going to to wish you could untie a little bit? The general election is a different story.”
• Notably, the candidates don’t appear to be hustling for an endorsement from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has bipartisan popularity. The governor has led the state’s response to the pandemic more aggressively than Trump did nationally as president, drawing backlash in his own party.

###