ICYMI: Toledo Blade Editorial: “Husted’s Other Job”
May 31, 2022

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
“People are tired of politicians making their own rules.”
Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Toledo Blade editorial board took Jon Husted to task for his unprecedented move to take a paid corporate job while also collecting a six-figure taxpayer-funded salary. The editorial board points out that taxpayers don’t know how much Husted is making at his second job, raising questions about why Husted needs to hide that fact. The Blade calls on Husted to decide what’s more important: his own personal financial interests or the interests of the Ohioans he was elected to serve.
The Ohio Democratic Party has called on Husted to answer key questions about his move to take a paid corporate gig while in office.
“Jon Husted and Republicans aren’t even trying to hide it anymore: they’re just openly lining their own pockets from special interest buddies rather than doing the jobs they were elected to do. Ohio deserves transparency and accountability from leaders, something we are sure to keep losing if Mike DeWine and Jon Husted remain in office,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.
You can read more from the Toledo Blade here and below:
- Jon Husted is taking state politics into groundbreaking new territory. It’s ground better left unbroken.
- The lieutenant governor joined the Board of Directors of Columbus area–based Heartland Bank in March. The bank job is a paid position. His job with the state pays $176,000.
- Mr. Husted won’t say how much the bank is paying him. The required paperwork revealing that isn’t due until after the November election. Taking the job isn’t a violation of state ethics laws. That is extraordinary and disturbing. Public officials in the executive branch shouldn’t be taking two paychecks, one from the taxpayers and another from a private entity.
- Mr. Husted’s decision to join the bank board shows pathetic judgment and is tone deaf to the concerns of the people of Ohio. People are tired of politicians making their own rules.
- Ohio’s weak ethics laws and financial reporting laws create an ethics-be-damned atmosphere in Columbus. Any elected official undertaking new private employment should be required to disclose their compensation immediately.
- That the lieutenant governor thinks this is OK stinks. It’s not OK. It’s not that he plans to do anything wrong. It’s the appearance of impropriety.
- It’s become commonplace in Columbus and Washington for public officials to spin through the revolving door into lucrative private sector opportunities after leaving office.
- But Mr. Husted is the first in Ohio with the gall to do it while holding office. If this sort of thing continues, you can be sure Mr. Husted won’t be the last dual payroll Ohio lieutenant governor.
- The lieutenant governor’s decision shows poor judgment. First, he should tell Ohioans what he’s being paid by the bank. Then he must decide whether he wants to serve the people or devote his time to private employment.
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