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Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Brunner trails Portman, Fisher in U.S. Senate campaign cash
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner continues to finish a distant third in the race for campaign cash among the major party candidates for the U.S. Senate.
Brunner’s campaign finance report for the first three months of 2010, available on Monday, April 19 with the Secretary of the Senate, showed that she raised $144,025 and had $79,131 on hand as the campaign heads toward the May 4 primary.
Brunner is running against Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for the Democratic nomination. Fisher raised $551,000 during the first quarter and had $1.8 million on hand.
Republican Rob Portman, who has no primary challenger, was way ahead of both of them. Portman, from suburban Cincinnati, raised $2.35 million during the quarter and had $7.6 million on hand. Portman also was budget director and U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush.
The winner will replace Republican U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, who is retiring.
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TweetMarc Dann’s wife faces ethics charge
Alyssa Lenhoff, the soon-to-be ex-wife of former Ohio attorney general Marc Dann, is due in court next week to answer to an ethics charge.
The Ohio Ethics Commission says Lenhoff, director of Youngstown State University’s journalism program, had an unlawful interest in a public contract. The charge relates to a $6,500 grant from the attorney general’s office to the YSU journalism program to fund a course with Lenhoff as the instructor. The grant was approved but payment was canceled.
Lenhoff said she plans to plead guilty but declined further comment.
The charge is a first degree misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of $1,000 fine and six months in jail.
Ohio Ethics Commission Director David Freel said Lenhoff has been cooperating with investigators.
Lenhoff, 47, filed for divorce last week in Trumbull County, citing incompatibility. Lenhoff and Dann, who have two children, married in 1987. In May 2008, Dann publicly admitted to an affair with a junior staff member while attorney general. He resigned under pressure a short time later and returned to Youngstown.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien has prosecuted three former Dann administration officials based on investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission. Former general services director Tony Gutierrez pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor theft and ethics charges; former communications director Leo Jennings III was found guilty of ethics charges; and former chief of staff Edgar Simpson was found guilty of not disclosing outside income.
Simpson and Lenhoff were colleagues at a Mahoning Valley newspaper while Jennings and Gutierrez had been friends and roommates with Dann. Gutierrez behavior with two young female employees triggered a sexual harassment scandal in the Dann administration.
A state inspector general investigation sent to the Ohio Elections Commission regarding Dann’s use of his campaign and transition accounts led to a $2,000 fine but no referral for criminal prosecution.
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TweetFisher to hold tele-conference in Dayton
Democrat Lee Fisher plans to hold a “tele-town hall” with likely voters in Dayton on Wednesday, April 21 at 8:10 p.m.
It works like a conference call for thousands. The Fisher campaign auto-dials about 20,000 likely voters and asks if they’d like to participate. Voters can hang up or hang on and listen to Fisher give his pitch. Voters will be given a chance to ask questions during the hour-long call.
The Fisher campaign said about 2,800 people usually participate and 50 questions are answered.
Fisher is running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on May 4.
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