Ohio’s New Congressional Districts Map Gets First Legal Challenge from Eric Holder-Affiliated Group

A national liberal organization has challeged Ohio’s recently approved congressional redistricting maps in a lawsuit filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, contending the new “gerrymandered” maps violate redistricting reforms added to the Ohio Constitution in 2018.

The National Redistricting Action Fund affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee said the map passed last week in the Ohio General Assembly “undluly favors the Ohio Republican Party” and minimized the political power of Democrats, particularly minorities.

Read the full story

Congressional Redistricting in Ohio Stalls as Committee Risks Clock Running Out Again

The Ohio Redistricting Commission faces yet another deadline regarding the redrawing new congressional districts as members wait on Ohio House Speaker Robert Cupp bides his time on moving forward on a process that could have ended Sept. 30.

The commission has not met since the Ohio General Assembly failed to consider, let along pass, options for redistricas the state prepares to lose one congressional district following the reapportionment of congressional representation among the states sparked by the 2020 U.S. census.

Read the full story

Renacci Calls for Full Investigation of All Sources of FirstEnergy Contributions to DeWine Campaign, Including Ohio Republican Party

  MEDINA, Ohio – Republican gubernatorial challenger Jim Renacci has asked for a full investigation of the flow of FirstEnergy Corp.’s political contributions into the 2018 campaign of Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) in the wake of the Akron-based electric utility’s $230 million settlement of public bribery charges with the Department of Justice last week. That probe, he said, should include a full investigation of the financial records of the Ohio Republican Party. Renacci held a press conference early Tuesday afternoon on the public square in Medina to call for DeWine to fully disclose any direct and indirect contributions made to his campaign by FirstEnergy as part of the electric utility’s bid to get the House Bill 6 legislation DeWine signed two years ago. That legislation, now mostly rescinded, would have charged electric utility customers statewide for the upkeep of the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants along the Lake Erie shoreline owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary. Renacci charged DeWine’s campaign coffers may have benefitted as much as $5 million from FirstEnergy, which was named as the central player in the $60 million bribery case still under investigation. “DeWine has contributed to a culture of corruption where sweetheart deals and…

Read the full story

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

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 Senate Candidates Pummel Biden on Inflation, Infrastructure in Wake of ‘Town Hall’ Talk

Biden Town Hall

  President Joe Biden took to the stage at Mount St. Joseph University at 8 p.m. Wednesday before an intimate audience comprised of hand-selected, loyal Democrats and disgruntled Republicans to run the gamut of issues from the surge of the Delta strain of COVID-19 and the proposed federal infrastructure bill to economic issues such as inflation concerns and one restaurant owners’ inability to find workers. Biden singled out those in their 20s and 30s as well as skeptics in poor, minority communities to get immunized. “We have a pandemic (among) those who haven’t gotten the vaccine,” He noted his administration has stepped up efforts with ads featuring prominent athletes and entertainers urging reluctant Americans to get jabbed. The President downplayed the risk that massive federal spending has played in igniting inflation. “The good news is the economy is picking up significantly,” he said. “… Prices are up now but it will not be long term.” Mike Gibbons, a Cleveland businessman and GOP candidate to running to replace retiring U.S. Senator Rob Portman, said unchecked federal spending from Congress and Biden has fueled inflation, which he called a “hidden tax” on Ohioans. “Families and businesses alike are negatively impacted by rising…

Read the full story

U.S. House Hopeful Carey Sets Tele-Rally with Trump, Fairs as GOP Primary Hits Final Stretch

Mike Carey

U.S. House of Representatives candidate Mike Carey enters the last two weeks of his campaign for the GOP nomination to represent Ohio’s 15th congressional district playing his Trump card in a telephonic rally set for the early evening of July 20.

Carey, a leading contender to replace retired U.S. Representative Steve Stivers, will feature President Donald Trump as the headliner for the hour-long telephonic rally 14 days before the Aug. 3 special election. Those wishing to listen in to the call can sign up and receive instructions to access the rally at https://careyforcongress.com/trumpcall/.

Read the full story

Ohio Restaurant Association to Laud Husted for COVID Work at Virtual Awards Ceremony

Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted

The trade association representing Ohio’s restaurant industry will recognize Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted as its Outstanding Public Official in fashioning COVID-19 policy at the onslaught of the pandemic 16 months ago.

Ohio Restaurant Association President and CEO John Barker credited Husted for working with an industry group formed to create an effective response to the  crisis with state  health advisers and others that maximized the flow of food to the public in the initial weeks and formulating a policy allowing further opening two months later.

Read the full story