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Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Dems file complaint against Husted; GOP calls it “publicity stunt”
Ohio Democrats have followed through on a threat to file a complaint against state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, with the Ohio Elections Commission.
The complaint, filed on Wednesday, Aug. 3, said that Husted carried over more money than state law permits to his current campaign for secretary of state.
“This is nothing but a publicity stunt and a willful abuse of tax dollars,” Jason Mauk, Ohio Republican Party executive director, said in an e-mail.
Last week, two county Republican parties filed a complaint against Democratic incumbent Attorney General Richard Cordray, charging that Cordray shuffled hundreds of thousands of dollars in his campaign account in an attempt to hold on to $765,000.
Ohio law prohibits candidates from carrying over more than $200,000 from a previous election cycle and requires the candidate to donate excess money to charity, give it to the state or refund the donations, according to the GOP complaint.
After the complaint against Cordray was filed, Democrats promised to file their own complaint against Husted.
That complaint against Husted said that on Nov. 5, 2008 he made a contribution of $384,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
The state GOP reported receiving the contribution 75 days later on Jan. 19, 2009. On a later campaign finance report, Husted reported as “other income” a refund from the Ohio Republican Party on March 19, 2009, in the amount of $384,000, the same amount Husted had contributed to the state GOP, according to the complaint.
“According to our calculations, as of Feb. 18, 2010, the filing deadline, Husted had approximately $206,594.58 in funds that exceeded the amount he was allowed to carry-in to his campaign for secretary of state,” the Democrats said in a press release.
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TweetRedistricting reform won’t be on Nov. 2 ballot
There won’t be a proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot to change how Ohio draws state legislative districts.
“The corpse is definitely in the coffin,” Richard Gunther, Ohio State University professor of political science, said on Wednesday, Aug. 3. The issue is dead, at least for this year, Gunther added.
Gunther, House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, and state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, were among those seeking to reach a compromise. The deadline for getting a proposed amendment to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is Wednesday, Aug. 4,
Because there is no agreement, neither Budish nor Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, plans to call lawmakers back to Columbus in time to meet the deadline.
The House and Senate previously had passed different versions of a proposed amendment to change the current system, criticized as a winner-take-all process that produces uncompetitive districts.
The current system will stay in place with the five-member Apportionment Board drawing new districts next year based on the 2010 census. The board includes: the governor, secretary of state, auditor and a member of the legislature from each party. The party that controls two of the three statewide offices controls the board.
The Senate proposal also would have changed how U.S. House districts are drawn. Now the legislature and governor draw those districts based on the new census and that’s the system that will stay in place.
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TweetDayton birthday bash set Wednesday for Obama, Strickland; one of more than 70 statewide
Ohio Democrats on Wednesday, Aug. 4, will celebrate the birthdays of Gov. Ted Strickland and President Barack Obama with political bashes around the state, including in Dayton.
Strickland, up for re-election this year against Republican John Kasich, turns 69; Obama turns 49.
Ohio volunteers from Organizing for America, the Democrats’ grassroots organization, are planning party-theme phone banks and canvasses to get ready for the November elections. More than 70 events are planned around the state, a press release said.
Similar events are scheduled around the country, although other states don’t have governors who share birthdays with the president.
The Dayton event is from 5 - 7 p.m. at Montgomery County Democratic Headquarters, 131 S. Wilkinson St. For details, click here.
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