Interesting Ohio politics & November Election

Interesting Ohio politics which might ultimately have a bearing on November Election

Here is the link to the Ohio Dispatch which is covering the issue in detail. However you might find it difficult to deal with their website.

Ohio house speaker arrested in FBI $60M bribery investigation:

Basic facts:

1. Ohio has two nuclear plants along Lake Ohio, one here in Lake County. Both have been taking a  hit from the energy situation and were like to go under.  There were good reasons for  maintaining them. They provide jobs and also tax revenue for local government. The huge tax from our nuclear plant funded things such as our local  mental health levy for not only us but all the surrounding counties served by the plant.  Nuclear is the only present alternative to coal; its advocates see it as a way station toward carbon free energy (e.g. wind and solar).

2. Enter Larry Household a former House Speaker who wanted his job back.

3. Householder through an associate  formed Generation Now to funnel money from Company A to his efforts to regain his leadership post and move a billion-dollar bailout bill. As a 501(c)(4), Generation Now did not have to disclose its donors and was free of regulation by the Federal Election Commission. It was supposed to focus its efforts on social welfare and was not supposed to financially benefit a shareholder or individual or engage primarily in political activities or campaigns, It did none of what it was supposed to do, and much that it was not supposed to do.

4. Company A directed $61 million to the nonprofit over a three-year period. The funds were then used to back Householder-supporting legislative candidates so that he could secure the Speaker’s seat, for advertising to build support for HB 6, and to ensure opponents did not gain sufficient signatures in their attempt to overturn the resulting state law changes.

5. Investigators said Generation Now used funds from the company to support 15 candidates in the 2018 primary (including Householder) and six others in the general election to ensure sufficient votes for Householder to win the Speaker’s seat. According to court documents, Generation Now paid more than $1 million in the fall of 2018 alone “to flood the airways with negative ads against” Householder’s opponents. “All of the individuals in Team Householder that were funded by Company A, via Generation Now, all voted for Larry Householder to be Speaker of the House. Ultimately, only one voted against HB 6.”

6. House Bill 6 Most of the money that was funneled through Generation Now was used for campaign ads and other efforts to ensure passage and ultimate enactment of the nuclear bailout legislation that included “a monthly charge on all Ohioans’ energy bills” to subsidize the company’s two failing nuclear power plants, according to court documents.

My Comments

So all Ohioans basically foot the bill for this elaborate scheme by Householder and his team of  House Republicans. 

Ohio already has Republicans like Kasich, the former governor who are endorsing Biden. They are mostly an elite movement. The Republican legislature (House and Senate) have been at odds with DeWine over the coronavirus. He has had to veto their legislation designed to strip him of his health care emergency powers. There also tensions with Republicans loyal to Trump who have taken over the Republican Party apparatus. So the Republican Party in Ohio is going to have a difficult time getting it all together for November.  Potential advantage for Democrats both nationally and locally.