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Columbus, Ohio- In case you missed it, USA Today’s Erin Mansfield spotlighted stories from just a few of the 8000 Ohio voters who were unable to cast their ballots in recent elections because of the Ohio GOP’s extreme voting laws.

“This latest report just confirms what we already knew-that Republicans are making it harder to vote. While they’re laser-focused on holding on to power, 8000 voters have already paid the price. said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. Ohioans have enough to worry about from decades of failed Republican policies- the last thing they should have to do is jump through hoops to vote them out. 

Read More from USA Today:

• Since the ID law went into effect, thousands of Ohioans have been given provisional ballots because they aren’t showing proper ID. And thousands aren’t showing up to fix the issue.
• More than 1,100 provisional ballots were thrown out because of a failure to show proper ID, more than seven times as high as in the March 2020 primary, a similar presidential year that saw nearly identical turnout.
• Voters don’t always realize that they need photo ID to make their vote count at the polls because they voted for years under the more lenient ID law, and they didn’t receive any outreach explaining the new requirements to them.

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Columbus, OH – It has been another terrible week for Bernie Moreno after recent reporting from the Associated Press revealed Moreno is not the “political outsider” he claims to be – rather, he is “heavily invested” in and profited off of a scheme with his brothers that funneled U.S. taxpayer money into banks that financed projects his family oversaw. From “gross[ly] exaggerat[ing]” his “riches-to-rags-to-riches” origin story which he has made the “signature pitch” of his campaign to using his “deep political connections” to enrich himself, Moreno continues to show Ohioans he is only out for himself.

NEED-TO-KNOW THIS WEEK:

• New reporting from the Associated Press found that Bernie Moreno has “deep political connections” and is “heavily invested” in and profited off of a scheme with his brothers.

• After Bernie Moreno was exposed for involvement in his family’s enrichment scheme, Moreno owes Ohioans answers about the $1.5 million invested in two of the funds associated with the scheme and other ties to the scheme. 

• Ohioans are being reminded that Bernie Moreno thinks the Declaration of Independence was signed by…. Abraham Lincoln?

🤑 MORENO FAMILY ENRICHMENT SCHEME: New reporting from the Associated Press this week exposed that Bernie Moreno is “heavily invested” in and profited off of a scheme with his brothers by funneling U.S. taxpayer money into banks that financed projects his family oversaw. Here’s Moreno’s family enrichment scheme explained:

• From 2005 – 2020, Bernie Moreno’s brother Luis Alberto Moreno served as president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), “the largest source for long-term financing in Latin America and the Caribbean” which is funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars.

• At the same time, Roberto Moreno, another Moreno brother, served as the President and Co-Founder of Amarilo Construction, “one of Colombia’s largest builders of affordable housing.”

• According to the AP, “corporate records show” that under Moreno’s brother’s leadership, the IDB “loaned or underwrote bonds totaling $360 million to two private Colombian banks” that then financed Amarilo development projects overseen by the Moreno family.

• Bernie Moreno’s personal financial disclosure shows he is “heavily invested” in a U.S. affiliate of Amarilo, has up to $1.5 million invested in two funds associated with the scheme, and is a “majority owner” of a parcel of land worth up to $5 million with ties to the scheme.

⁉️ MORE QUESTIONS FOR MORENO: Moreno owes Ohioans answers about his family’s enrichment scheme he was involved in to enrich himself while taxpayers pay the price:

1. How much money do you have invested in Amarilo and the two Yellowstone Capital Partners investment funds?

2. Will you make the details of your investments in Amarilo and Yellowstone Capital Partners available for Ohioans to see?

3. Have you profited off of U.S. taxpayer dollars being funneled towards the property you are a “majority owner” of in Costa Rica?

🎩 FOUR SCORE AND HOW MANY YEARS AGO? On the anniversary of the formal signing of the Declaration of Independence, Ohioans are being reminded that Bernie Moreno thinks the Declaration of Independence was signed by…. Abraham Lincoln? Moreno also incorrectly claims George Washington and Alexander Hamilton signed the Declaration. This is not the only time Moreno has made a claim on the campaign trail that “do[es] not withstand historical scrutiny” – from claims of “escap[ing]” socialism that “do not withstand historical scrutiny” to repeatedly claiming that he “learned English from watching Ronald Reagan’s speeches” at five years old despite the fact that the timeline “doesn’t make sense.”

 🗞️ WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING THIS WEEK:

• Associated Press: “If elected, he would be among the top eight wealthiest senators… Bernie Moreno’s immigrant origin tale [is] a ‘gross exaggeration.’”

• Ohio Capital Journal: “However, Moreno’s depiction of his family as a poor one is misleading. [Moreno’s family members] were wealthy and politically connected, and while the family lived in straitened circumstances the first years they were in the states, things quickly got better.”

• Cleveland.com: “[Moreno] comes from a family with deep political connections in both the U.S. and Columbia.”

🐤 TWEET OF THE WEEK:

🎶 CODA: “Those ties [Moreno’s deep political connections], combined with his family’s considerable wealth in their home country, are the backdrop to Moreno’s journey…”

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Columbus, OH – On the anniversary of the formal signing of the Declaration of Independence, Ohioans are being reminded that Bernie Moreno thinks the Declaration of Independence was signed by…. Abraham Lincoln? Moreno also incorrectly claims George Washington and Alexander Hamilton signed the Declaration.

WATCH HERE

This is not the only time Moreno has made a claim on the campaign trail that “do[es] not withstand historical scrutiny”:

• Bernie Moreno claims that he moved to the United States to “escape” socialism, but reporting from The Guardian found that his statements “do not withstand historical scrutiny.”

• Bernie Moreno repeatedly claimed that he “learned English from watching Ronald Reagan’s speeches” at five years old, but reporting found that the timeline “doesn’t make sense.”

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Columbus, OH – In the month following the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Bernie Moreno quadrupled down in support for a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans who voted overwhelmingly to protect abortion rights last year.

Moreno has made it clear “he still believes in national legislation” to ban abortion, and affirmed his stance on abortion is “crystal, crystal clear” and “has not changed.” Moreno has previously said he is “100% pro-life with no exceptions” and “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.”

Four Times In One Month, Moreno Says He Supports A National Abortion Ban:

On July 10th, Moreno confirmed “he still believes in national legislation” to ban abortion.

The next day on July 11th, Moreno said his stance on abortion is “crystal, crystal clear” and “has not changed.” Moreno has previously said he is “100% pro-life with no exceptions” and “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.” 

WATCH HERE

On July 16th, Moreno said “there’s some things we can do federally” to ban abortion – marking the third time in under a week that Moreno has reiterated his support for a national abortion ban.

WATCH HERE

And on July 20th, reporting noted that when asked if he would vote for a national abortion ban, Moreno “left the door open to supporting further federal restrictions.”

Bottom line: Bernie Moreno would overturn the will of Ohio voters by voting for a national abortion ban.

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Columbus, Ohio- Today, Governor DeWine endorsed a redistricting plan similar to the one in Iowa, where politicians have the final say. 

It’s a sudden switch coming from a governor who previously said that he would be “very happy not to be involved in the future” and said today that we should remove politics from redistricting.

“Governor DeWine’s redistricting flip-flop reveals a man no longer in charge of his administration and it begs the question if he ever actually was,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. “Either Governor DeWine suddenly believes politicians actually should be drawing maps for Ohioans despite countless examples of him professing the opposite position, or he knows that future administrations will have a harder time passing the extremist agenda we see coming out of Columbus with a balanced legislature.”

DeWine on Redistricting, in his own words: 

 I don’t think the legislature should be involved in redistricting. I don’t think the governor should be involved. I would be very happy not to be involved in that in the future… I think that the real question is — somebody’s gonna make these decisions, so how do you get people who are, in fact, impartial and who people can have trust in? And that, to me, is the real concern. –  ABC5 Cleveland, 01/07/2024

I’ve been very clear in saying that I don’t think the governor should be involved. I don’t want to be involved. I don’t think the legislature should be involved. And we need to come up with a new way.”- WTAP, 01/07/2024.

“It’s my personal choice to never be involved in that again, so maybe I have a little bias and don’t want elected officials involved, because I sure don’t want to be involved in it again. And we need not to have elected officials directly involved in it,” he said. Ohio Capital Journal, 5/13/2024

 “The system we have today doesn’t work very well,” the governor said “[It’s] no great revelation to anyone in this room who watched this unfold — it just didn’t work very well.” Ohio Capitol Journal– 8/23/2023