Tag: Joe Blystone

Ohio Election Commission Does Not Believe Blystone Agreement Honored, Questions ‘Good Faith,’ Calls Another Hearing

Admin

Tuesday night Ohio Elections Commission (OEC) Executive Director Philip Richter notified attorneys involved in the Joe Blystone election law violation cases that “the Commission does not believe all … expectations have been met, has questions concerning whether good faith has been shown as required,” and set another hearing scheduled for February 23 to reconsider matters and the agreement Blystone struck with the watchdog group just last month.

Read the full story

Republican Think Tank Leader Matt Mayer Announces Exploratory Campaign for Ohio Governor in 2026

Hannah Poling

Republicans swept the statewide positions, beginning with the governor, in the November general election. However, a probable Republican candidate for the upcoming 2026 election for governor has already been identified.

Former president of the conservative policy organization Buckeye Institute, Matt Mayer now serves as president of Opportunity Ohio. Due to the time and resources required to create that campaign, he has decided to launch an exploratory campaign for the Republican nomination for governor in 2026.

Read the full story

Blystone to Surrender $105,000, Admit Violations, Not Run Again for Five Years

Admin
Joe Blystone

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Election Commission had a full hearing scheduled for today and tomorrow to investigate multiple election law violation complaints filed by three separate parties against former gubernatorial candidate Joe Blystone. Instead of a hearing, the session turned into a settlement conference that resulted in an agreement.

That agreement orders Blystone to surrender his campaign cash of approximately $105,000 and shut down his campaign fund.  The funds are to be distributed by paying $75,000 to an escrow account for a case Blystone started in Delaware County against his former campaign co-manager; turning over the remaining balance to the Ohio Election Commission in the form of a fine.  Additionally, Blystone stipulates that the allegations made in the complaints are fact and commits to not seek office for five years.

Read the full story

Ahead of Forum Series, Renacci Sees Opportunities for Conservative Ascendancy in Ohio

Bradley Vasoli

Former Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Renacci has a hopeful outlook for conservatism in the Buckeye-State, though he expects progress to require serious toil and soul-searching as well as new leadership.

Renacci, who represented the 16th U.S. House District southwest of Cleveland and now chairs American Greatness PAC, spoke with The Ohio Star recently about the forum series his organization is commencing on September 15 in the Akron area and about other upcoming milestones for Ohio’s center-right movement.

Read the full story

Ohio Republican Primary Was Dominated by Non-Republican Voters

Bradley Vasoli

Figures from the Republican Party’s voter database indicate many voters who traditionally have aligned with the Democrats voted in Ohio’s Republican primary on May 3 in which Gov. Mike DeWine handily won nomination for another term.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) database rates voters on a scale of one to five in terms of their allegiance to either the Republican or the Democratic Party. Mainly, the GOP takes into account which party’s primaries Ohioans have voted in historically, though other data are weighed as well.

Read the full story

Ohio Attorney: Ohio Elections Commission ‘Hamstrung Voters’ by Delaying Investigation into Blystone’s Campaign Finances

Peter D'Abrosca

The attorney representing the Ohio woman who filed a campaign finance complaint against businessman Joe Blystone’s gubernatorial campaign blasted the Ohio Elections Commission (OEC), saying the government organization has done a disservice to voters by failing to take action against Blystone’s campaign for alleged financial mismanagement. 

“They hamstrung the voters,” Curt Hartman, attorney for complainant Mary Cappellan, told The Star Friday. “The heart of campaign finance is full disclosure and information available to the voting public. It’s disappointing in the Elections Commission’s initial delay that they didn’t appreciate that that’s why they exist.” 

Read the full story

Probable Cause Found in Blystone Financial-Reporting Probe; Election Commission Books Expedited Hearing One Day Before Election

Admin
Joe Blystone

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Elections Commission (OEC) found probable cause to further investigate and decide two complaints filed against Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Blystone’s campaign and booked a full-panel hearing for May 2, one day before the primary election.

Thursday, a Probable Cause panel comprised of commissioners D. Michael Crites (R), Charleta B. Tavares (D) and Ernest C. Knight (I) voted unanimously on an expedited investigation into cases that allege the Canal Winchester farmer and restauranteur improperly reported campaign contributions and expenditures and spent campaign funds for personal use.

Read the full story

Ohio Elections Commission Books Blystone Campaign ‘Probable Cause’ Hearing Thursday

Neil W. McCabe

The Ohio Elections Commission executive director informed attorney Curt C. Hartman that the commission’s Probable Cause Panel scheduled a hearing Thursday to address two complaints his client, Butler County resident Mary Capella, filed April 7 against GOP gubernatorial candidate Joe Blystone.

“After further consideration, I have determined that the matters at issue in these cases will be expedited for consideration pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §3517.154(A)(2)(b) and placed before a Probable Cause Panel of the Commission,” wrote Philip C. Richter, who also works as the commission’s staff attorney.

Read the full story

Voter Files Mandamus Suit with State Supreme Court After Ohio Election Commission Blows Off Her Blystone Complaints

Neil W. McCabe

An Ohio voter filed a writ of mandamus petition with the state’s Supreme Court Monday, asking the high court to order the Ohio Elections Commission to hold an expedited hearing on her two complaints filed April 7 against gubernatorial candidate Joe Blystone and his campaign committee.

“It was filed on behalf of Mary Capella, who’s a voter in Butler County, and it’s a challenge to the inaction and the avoidance responsibility by the Ohio Elections Commission to enforce the campaign finance laws of the state of Ohio,” said Curt C. Hartman, the Cincinnati elections attorney.

Read the full story

Renacci Tops DeWine, Others in New Ohio Gubernatorial GOP Nomination Poll

Neil W. McCabe
Jim Renacci

The campaign manager for former congressman James B. “Jim” Renacci told The Star News Network that the March 28-conducted Harris poll of 1,342 Ohio Republican voters showed Renacci leading Gov. R. Michael DeWine with 46 percent support compared to the governor’s 30 percent, just over a month before the May 3 GOP primary.

“That recent Harris poll actually corroborates some massive internal data that we’ve collected over the last week or so with our phone banking operations,” said Tom Weyand, who is helming the former congressman’s campaign.

Read the full story

Renacci: Blystone’s Inability to Run His Campaign Exposes His Inability to Run Ohio

Admin

Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed former congressman and Ohio Republican gubernatorial hopeful James B. Renacci about the March 4 letter to rival candidate Joe Blystone from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s director of the campaign finance office, Brian Katz.

Both Renacci and Blystone are primary challenging Ohio Gov. R. Michael DeWine to keep him from winning a second term.

Read the full story

Blystone Gubernatorial Campaign ‘Imploding Because Things Aren’t Being Done Right,’ Says Former Co-Campaign Manager; ‘Disrespectful’ Candidate, Disorganization Prompt Staff Departures

Brian Ball
Joe Blystone

The campaign of Joe Blystone to take the GOP gubernatorial nomination from incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine has lost at least 15 county and regional leaders and a couple of headquarters staff since early July, many due to a what those leaving describe as a disorganized campaign and a disrespect candidate.

Read the full story

Ohio Republican Party Has Given DeWine Re-election Campaign $870k Since January 1, Despite Two Announced Gubernatorial Primary Challengers

Brian Ball

The Ohio Republican Party (ORP) has given the 2022 re-election campaign of Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) $870,968 since January 1, 2021, despite the fact that DeWine has two announced primary challengers for the Republican gubernatorial nomination–former Congressman Jim Renacci (R-OH) and Joe Blystone.

Recent filings by the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee State Candidate Fund with the campaign finance division of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office show the party gave the 2022 re-election campaign of Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted a $500,000 payment on July 30 without the approval of the party’s fiscal review committee or a formal endorsement of the governor’s campaign against rivals for the GOP nomination.

Read the full story

GOP Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Renacci Blasts Gov. DeWine in Expanding FirstEnergy Scandal

Brian Ball
Jim Renacci

  COLUMBUS, Ohio – FirstEnergy Corp.’s agreement this week to pay a $230 million fine in the ongoing federal investigation into an Ohio Statehouse bribery scheme has generated more criticism from GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci who is seeking to take the 2022 Republican nomination from incumbent Governor Mike DeWine. The Akron-based electric utility on Thursday agreed to the massive fine after admitting it paid an energy consultant – who DeWine later selected to be chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio – $4.3 million to help formulate House Bill 6, a 2019 piece of legislation supporting a $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout of two nuclear power plants a FirstEnergy spinoff owns. That legislation passed after an alleged $60 million bribery scheme that funneled cash to the election campaigns of various state legislators through a so-called “dark money” political action committee, or PAC. FirstEnergy has now claimed it paid consultant Sam Randazzo the money for helping craft the legislation and in anticipation of further assistance when he took over as PUCO chair in February 2019. Former Congressman Jim Renacci, one of two announced opponents for the GOP nomination, on Friday said the unwinding scandal implicates DeWine for “helping create a…

Read the full story

GOP Gubernatorial Challengers Blast President’s Cincinnati Visit- Renacci Says Biden ‘Has a Close Friend in Mike DeWine,’ Blystone Says ‘Infrastructure Bill Is a Joke’

Brian Ball

  The two challengers to incumbent Governor Mike DeWine’s bid for the GOP nomination in 2022 had harsh words in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s ‘town hall’ political event in Cincinnati Wednesday night. But it wasn’t just complaints about Biden and his left-of-center agenda. Biden covered familiar territory during the 75-minute show hosted by CNN, touching on the renewed vigor of the Delta strain of the COVID-19 virus, economic issues, and whether the U.S. Senate should dump the procedural filibuster rule that requires a super-majority of votes before a bill can move to final debate and vote. The inability of Democrats to gain cloture on several Biden-backed legislation – in particular the $1.2 trillion transportation, utilities and broadband infrastructure bill – came up yesterday at the forum and on the Senate floor as Republicans narrowly blocked the bill as work continues on how to pay for the bridges, roads, public transit, and other projects. A separate $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” that adds child care, Medicare expansion, and climate change funding to the mix also has stalled because of what conservatives have branded pork-barrel spending and programs advancing left-wing programs. One project Biden identified as a potential beneficiary of the…

Read the full story

Exclusive: One-on-One with Ohio Congressman Mulling Bid to Be Ohio’s Next Governor

Jack Windsor

COLUMBUS, Ohio – U.S. Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH-08)  said in early March that he was leaning more toward a run for governor than a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2022– that’s if he chooses to surrender his seat in the U.S. Congress.

Davidson won a seat in the U.S. House in 2016, winning his first bid for public office.  He was an underdog that year in a special election called after then-Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner (R-OH-08) announced his resignation.

The Sidney, Ohio native took on a handful of notable elected officials yet ended up winning the 15-person race by eight points to secure the Republican nomination. He went on to win the special general election.  Later in the year he won the traditional general election to keep the seat.

Read the full story

Election Board Says Gubernatorial Candidate’s 2020 Presidential Election Vote Cast, but Not Recorded in His History

Jack Windsor

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Last week a Republican primary candidate for the 2022 Ohio gubernatorial race uncovered that his vote in the 2020 Presidential Election was not reflected in his voter history on the Franklin County Board of Elections (FCBOE) website.

Joe Blystone, a Canal Winchester rancher and first-time political candidate, requested FCBOE investigate the matter.  FCBOE later determined that Blystone’s vote was cast but not recorded in his voter history. 

Read the full story

Ohio’s Joe Blystone Determined to Take on Establishment in Bid for Governor

Jack Windsor

In February, Franklin County farmer Joe Blystone announced his GOP candidacy for Governor of the State of Ohio.

Like South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem, Blystone is a rancher and small business owner who believes in medical freedom and opposed mandatory mask orders during Ohio’s COVID response. Unlike Noem, his bid for governor is his first political contest.

Blystone has given himself the moniker “Constitutional Republican” and calls himself “a man of the people who don’t have a voice anymore.”

Read the full story