OHDems

COLUMBUS, OH – In a new ethics complaint filed with the Office of Congressional Conduct, the Chair of the Montgomery County Democrats stated that “the facts strongly suggest that Rep. Turner and his campaign appear to have violated federal law and the Rules of the House of Representatives by filing a false campaign finance report and converting campaign funds to personal use.” This complaint details Turner’s campaign spending of over $55,000 on restaurants and tens of thousands of dollars on lodging, not only to Trump’s defunct “Trump International Hotel DC,” but also in Dayton and Washington, D.C. – both cities where Turner already has a property.

“Ohioans deserve answers from Mike Turner about why he’s using campaign dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle – and why he seemingly lied about it on his campaign finance report,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “At a time when backroom deals in Columbus and Washington have led to a culture of corruption that is hurting hardworking families, Mike Turner has made clear with his repeated campaign finance controversies that he is part of the problem. Ohioans deserve better, and they’ll send Turner packing in November.”

As this most recent ethics complaint emphasizes, “there are no violations that undermine the public’s faith in the election system and in our elected officials more than a candidate using their campaign as a personal ATM and lying to the public about how those funds were actually used.” Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Turner has faced scrutiny over his campaign finances. A nonpartisan watch group has called outTurner as one of the most corrupt members of Congress and in 2020, Turner was hit with complaints with the FEC and Office of Congressional Ethics over misusing campaign funds after it was found that he spent $70,000 in campaign cash on meals.

Read the new ethics complaint facing Mike Turner here.

Background on Turner’s Ethics Violation:

• In 2025 alone, Mike Turner’s “Citizens for Turner” re-election campaign committee reported to the FEC that it spent over $55,000 on restaurants, all with the purpose description of “meeting expense.” This includes expenses at luxury restaurants such as Nobu, and a restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Turner’s campaign also reported spending over $23,000 on lodging expenses — including  over $10,000 for multiple hotels in Washington, D.C. (despite the fact that Turner owns a home near the Capitol), and over $8,000 for lodging expenses in Dayton (despite this being Turner’s hometown). These expenses were not reported as officially-connected expenses for travel for official staff.
• Additionally, Turner’s campaign allegedly spent over $2,500 at the Trump International Hotel DC in the first quarter of 2025 – despite the fact that the hotel has not existed since 2022. With this reporting of a disbursement to a defunct entity, Turner’s campaign appears to have violated the law, lied to the public, and now has called into question the truthfulness of other information reported in campaign finance filings.

###

Reminder: Trump recently admitted that he doesn’t think about the financial pain Americans are feeling under his economy

COLUMBUS, OH – While affordability is a top issue ahead of the November election, Trump has worked to line the pockets of his family and donors. Now, new reporting is continuing to shed light on how Ohio families are suffering under Trump and Washington Republicans’ economic agenda, with Ohio losing nearly one-third of Affordable Care Act enrollees after Washington Republicans refused to extend the ACA premium tax credits and raised healthcare costs. Another new report is slamming the Trump Administration’s approach that is sky-rocketing Ohioans’ energy prices this summer, saying it “will make Ohioan’s energy bills higher long into the future,” and is “the opposite of an affordability strategy.” And when it comes to the SNAP food assistance that Ohio families rely on, President Trump and Washington Republicans’ budget bill, signed into law just over a year ago, made the largest cuts to SNAP in the history of the program, and means “kids are going to have less to eat,” while the state braces to foot the bill for new costs without federal help.

“Trump promised to lower costs on ‘day one’ – Trump and Washington Republicans are breaking that promise every day, and Ohioans are going to hold them accountable for it in November,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem.

This reporting follows previous reporting that further emphasized the stark reality that Ohio families face as they have paid approximately “$2,175 more for gas, utilities and groceries and thousands of dollars more in health insurance premiums for those on the ACA marketplace since January 2025 due to federal policies enacted during President Donald Trump’s second term.” Recent Cook Political Report analysis also emphasized that thanks to Donald Trump’s disastrous economic policies, his political problems could have “metastasized and spread to infect Republican candidates on the November ballot in swing states and districts,” marking a tough reality for Republicans like Max Miller, Mike Turner, and Mike Carey.

Read more on how Trump and Washington Republicans’ economic agenda is continuing to wreak havoc on Ohio families – raising energy costs for Ohioans, ripping away healthcare, and taking away SNAP food assistance:

Ohio Capital Journal: One year after biggest SNAP cuts ever, 100,000 Ohioans without help, state bracing for costs

• One year ago, the Republican “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” made the largest cuts to food stamps in the history of the program. Now 100,000 Ohioans are going without help and the state is bracing for enormous new costs without federal help.
• The Trump/Republican spending law made the largest cuts ever to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is largely used by children, older adults, and those with disabilities.
• The cuts to SNAP have impacted millions of in-need Americans.
• Not only did the spending law cause major damage, but the longest-ever federal shutdown that followed it meant even those who were able to get benefits couldn’t get them in a timely fashion, according to Gina Plata-Nino, director of SNAP policy and advocacy at the national Food Research & Action Center.
• “It means that kids are going to have less to eat,” Plata-Nino said. “For families, it might mean that there’s just no food on the table, and they may not be able to pay rent because they have to pay for this.”
• Ohio saw a 7% drop in SNAP since the cuts, amounting to about 100,000 people.

AP: Obamacare rolls shrank dramatically in many states over the past year, new federal data shows

• States across the country saw steep drops in the number of people covered by the Affordable Care Act over the past year, with Ohio and Oklahoma each losing nearly one-third of enrollees, according to new federal data that provides the first complete 50-state breakdown of sharp enrollment declines following the January expiration of enhanced subsidies.
• Health insurance costs have been rising across ACA and other health insurance programs at a time when voters in the approaching November elections say affordability is among their top concerns.
• An AP analysis of the data finds that Ohio and Oklahoma each saw a more than 32% decline in ACA enrollment over the past year. They lost larger shares of their covered populations than any other state.

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio ratepayers’ summer electric bills could top $800, report says

• Average Ohio residential utility bills are now projected to be about $800 for the summer, a new report says. That’s a 17% increase over the $682 Ohioans paid last summer, said the report, by Washington, D.C.-based Third Way.
• Francesca Hsie, Deputy Director of Electricity for Third Way, said Trump’s approach is only increasing Ohioans’ electric bills.
• “Ohioans are staring down electricity bills that could cost more than $800 this summer,” she said in an email.
• “Instead of working to lower those costs, the Trump administration is attacking the very clean energy generation that could help meet the state’s record electricity demand and forcing aging coal plants to stay open long after their scheduled closure.”
• She added, “That’s the opposite of an affordability strategy — it will make Ohioan’s energy bills higher long into the future. At a time when families across Ohio and the U.S. are struggling with rising costs, federal, state, and local governments must work together to lower electricity prices by expanding clean energy and modernizing our grid.”

###

“Democratic turnout surged despite there being no competitive races at the top of the ticket, a sign of high enthusiasm among these voters” 

COLUMBUS, OH – Ohioans are turning out in record numbers to vote for Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections with not only Republican turnout down in Ohio and Democratic turnout up, but unaffiliated voters also choosing Democratic ballots far more often than Republican ones, according to recent reporting. While Democratic turnout surged in the May primary election despite there being no competitive races at the top of the ticket, Ohio Republicans saw glaring warning signs with turnout down as they are forced to defend their devastating economic policies like the reckless war with Iran, gutting healthcare to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and corporate special interests, and raising grocery prices.

This comes as Democratic turnout increased throughout the state as “the number of Democratic votes cast exceeded the number of previously registered Democrats in 49 of Ohio’s 88 counties,” while “Republican votes didn’t exceed the number of previously registered Republicans in any county.” Cuyahoga County also emphasized a stark reality for Republicans as “Democratic turnout was up in 56 of 59 of the county’s communities compared to the 2022 primary election,” while “Republican turnout fell in all but three Cuyahoga County communities.”​​

Read more about the warning signs for Republicans in Ohio and the great energy around Ohio Democrats this year: 

Signal Ohio: Why Ohio Democrats nearly caught Republicans in primary election turnout 

• In the May 5 primary election, 907,273 Ohioans requested Republican ballots while 815,922 requested Democratic ballots, according to the official count from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. 
• This was a dramatic change from the 2022 primary election, when Ohioans cast roughly 1.1 million Republican ballots, double the roughly 540,000 ballots that Democrats cast that year. 
• A Signal Statewide analysis found the shift was driven by two main forces: Republican-affiliated voters turning out at lower rates than their Democratic counterparts, and previously unaffiliated voters choosing Democratic ballots far more often than Republican ones.
• Democratic turnout surged despite there being no competitive races at the top of the ticket, a sign of high enthusiasm among these voters. Governor candidate Dr. Amy Acton had no primary opponent while Senate candidate Sherrod Brown only had a nominal one. There were similarly no competitive races at the top of the Republican ticket, which was a sharp contrast from 2022, when GOP voters decided a hotly contested U.S. Senate primary and a crowded governor’s race. 
• Political analysts traditionally caution against reading too much into primary election turnout. But there are other signs Democrats are highly engaged in what could be a good political year for their party, if for no other reason than the traditional backlash that occurs against the party that controls the White House. 
• “It’s one signal in part of a greater trend that we’re seeing,” said Alex Lisner, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. “And it’s something that I hope we can carry over into November.”
• First, on the Republican side: the main reason for the drop in turnout compared to the 2022 primary is the larger share of registered Republicans who opted to stay home. 
• Republican turnout also was soft in Ohio’s largest counties, which are home to many GOP voters even though Democrats regularly win them comfortably overall. Cuyahoga, Summit and Franklin all fell in the bottom half of Republican turnout rates.
• Meanwhile, voters cast 815,922 Democratic ballots in May – which is nearly 36,000 more ballots than there were registered Democrats heading into the election. 
• The reason? The support Democrats got from the pool of 5.7 million unaffiliated voters. These voters are a mix of people who’d previously voted in a partisan primary but not recently, and those who have never voted in a partisan primary election at all. 
• These new – or at least previously unengaged – Democrats were especially concentrated in some key areas for the party: the Cleveland/Akron area (Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, Portage and Summit counties), Cincinnati (Hamilton County) and Columbus (Franklin and Fairfield counties). 
• As a result, the number of Democratic votes cast exceeded the number of previously registered Democrats in 49 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Republican votes didn’t exceed the number of previously registered Republicans in any county.  
• Cuyahoga County, a Democratic Party stronghold that has seen a long-term trend of falling voter turnout, shows how the statewide pattern played out on a community level.
• Democratic turnout was up in 56 of 59 of the county’s communities compared to the 2022 primary election. The three where it fell were eastern suburbs: Highland Hills (down four votes), University Heights (down 50 votes) and Beachwood (down 231 votes).
• Republican turnout fell in all but three Cuyahoga County communities – Independence voters cast 601 more Republican ballots than four years before, and voters in Newburgh Heights cast four additional votes while GOP voting in Linndale was unchanged.
• Overall, 40,262 more Democratic ballots were cast in Cuyahoga County compared to four years earlier, while voters cast 17,729 fewer Republican ones.
• All told, the county saw the number of registered Democrats rise from 137,865 to 182,112. The 44,003-voter registration increase was the largest Cuyahoga County Democrats have seen for a primary midterm election since at least 2014.
• David Brock, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, said this was the first time that the party saw increased registration for years. He also said more Democrats voted in the May primary in Cuyahoga County than in the primary elections in 2018, 2022 or 2024. (Records show Democratic turnout in May was about 300 votes higher than in 2018, and well above those other years.)
• The increase in turnout came as the local party emphasized getting out the vote, Brock said, which included following up with voters who requested mail-in ballots to make sure they submitted them.
• “I think this bodes well for November in this county,” Brock said.

###

COLUMBUS, OH – Ahead of the one year anniversary of President Trump signing Washington Republicans’ budget bill into law, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde issued the following statement on the devastating impact this bill continues to have on Ohio families:

“Donald Trump promised Ohioans that he would lower costs on ‘day one,’ and while he breaks that promise every day, perhaps no example of this is more clear than with his signing of Washington Republicans’ budget bill which ripped healthcare and SNAP food assistance from Ohio families and raised costs for everyone.

“At a time when families are struggling in every corner of our state, Ohioans deserve leaders who will make their lives better, not worse – and Republicans are showing every day that they aren’t those leaders. While Ohio Republicans are left to own the President’s broken promises and their continued championing of a deeply unpopular economic agenda, Ohio Democrats are running on creating a government that delivers for working families. In November, Ohioans of all political backgrounds are going to hold Ohio Republicans in Washington and Columbus accountable for raising costs by electing Ohio Democrats up and down the ballot who will get our state and country back on track.”

Ohioans are continuing to speak out against Republicans in Washington – like Mike Turner, Mike Carey, and Max Miller – for voting to gut the Medicaid and SNAP food assistance that Ohio families rely on. New analysis emphasized recently that under Republicans’ spending bill, Ohio will lose more than 50,000 jobs – the eighth most jobs lost of any state in the country – and more than $5B from the state economy by 2029. This analysis also made clear that while Trump and Washington Republicans are implementing massive cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food assistance, and costing Ohio billions in federal funding, “Trump’s signature law gave huge tax cuts to the richest Americans.” Additional reporting has emphasized the strain this bill will have on Ohioans’ healthcare specifically, stating that, “recent cuts in funding from Ohio’s Medicaid budget will force more than a half a million Ohioans off the program in the next decade and threaten the closure of 31 hospitals and clinics in Ohio.” 

###

COLUMBUS, OH – New reporting is once again detailing the stark reality facing Ohio families as they have paid approximately “$2,175 more for gas, utilities and groceries and thousands of dollars more in health insurance premiums for those on the ACA marketplace since January 2025 due to federal policies enacted during President Donald Trump’s second term.” This new analysis from the Center for American Progress Action Fund is also slamming Republicans in Washington, like Max Miller, Mike Turner and Mike Carey, saying “Congress voted to let the costs fall on their constituents.”

“This report highlights what Ohio families already know: Trump has not only failed to bring down prices for Ohioans, he has made essentials like food, utilities, and healthcare more expensive,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “While Trump and his friends keep lining their own pockets and pushing for deeply unpopular policies, like their tariffs, reckless war with Iran, and devastating healthcare cuts, Ohioans are fed up – and they’re going to hold Republicans accountable for it in November.” 

While Trump has admitted that he doesn’t think about the financial pain Americans are feeling under his economy, read more about how Trump and Washington Republicans’ economic policies are hurting Ohio families:

Cleveland.com: Trump policies have cost Ohio households thousands since January 2025, report finds

• Ohio families have paid approximately $2,175 more for gas, utilities and groceries and thousands of dollars more in health insurance premiums for those on the ACA marketplace since January 2025 due to federal policies enacted during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a report released Wednesday by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
• The analysis places Ohio 13th among all states for increases in total household costs, with the higher end of the range applying to families who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
• The report attributes the cost increases to four key policy decisions: the war with Iran that drove up gas prices, cuts to clean energy investments, which led to higher utility bills, blanket tariffs that increased prices on imported goods, and the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits.
• Ohio households have spent an additional $270 on gasoline through June 30 since the U.S. began military action against Iran on Feb. 28, according to data from Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab, cited in the report.
• Ohioans are also paying hundreds more in higher utility costs, with households in the top ten states paying an additional $395 on average through June, the report found. That figure could increase by more than 25% by year’s end.
• The average American household paid approximately $1,574 more through June for goods affected by Trump administration tariffs, according to the report’s analysis of U.S. Customs data and estimates from the Yale Budget Lab.
• For the millions of Americans who purchase health insurance through ACA marketplaces, premiums increased sharply after enhanced premium tax credits expired on Dec. 31, 2025.
• In Ohio, a family of four with two 45-year-old adults and two children earning $66,000 annually now pays approximately $3,688 more for coverage through June, with that figure projected to reach more than $6,000 for the full year.
• By the end of 2026, the report projects Ohio households will have paid $3,300 in additional costs for gas, utilities and tariffs. For families purchasing ACA marketplace coverage, the total reaches $6,325 when increased premiums are included.
• The rising costs borne by Ohio families and Americans nationwide stand in sharp contrast to President Trump’s personal financial fortunes during the same period. 
• Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure forms, released in May 2026, showed his reported income soared to more than $2.2 billion in 2025—nearly four times his reported income the previous year, according to The Washington Post.
   

###