General Assembly Races: News and Notes

Items of interest in races for the state legislature:

3rd Senate District: Emily Kreider (D-Westerville), fighting back against $1 million in attack ads on behalf of opponent David Goodman (R-New Albany), will be on cable TV with a new ad Thursday, November 2nd, and her old ad is running again. I hope to have the new ad posted soon.

7th Senate District: Saying that State Sen. Bob Schuler (R-Sycamore Township) is "financially tied to inaction," the campaign of challenger Rick Smith (D-Cincinnati) has issued a press release detailing sources of Schuler's campaign contributions. “I am continually appalled at the source of Senator Schuler’s campaign contributions and I am especially disturbed by his willingness to take contributions from industries he directly oversees. If elected, I pledge to not take contributions from any company, or person working for a company, in an industry over which I have oversight authority through my committee assignments.” Contributions Schuler has received include:

* $10,000 from David Brennan, CEO of White Hat Management, the largest operator of charter schools in Ohio. "Between 1990 and 2005, Brennan and his family gave $3.8 million to Republican lawmakers to establish, then loosen controls on, Ohio’s charter school system. That investment netted White Hat Management $15.4 million in profit in 2005.

* $23,672 from the builder/developer lobby, which opposes impact fees on new residential construction and other measures to help control the effect of urban sprawl. “I support these changes”, said Smith. “However, the builder/developer lobby opposes this effort, and they clearly expect support from Senator Schuler, as they provided 21% of the Senator’s growing contributions in 2006.”

* $20,870 from energy and utility companies, which supported legislation like Senate Bill 134 which loosens Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) regulations on the pricing of basic phone service. Smith said he is outraged by “the enormous potential for conflict of interest that these contributions represent, especially in light of the fact that Mr. Schuler is Chairman of the Energy and Public Utilities Committee.”

* $5,780 from corporations which contribute to poor health and financial ruin, including the Wholesale Beer & Wine Association of Ohio, Altria Group Inc. Ohio PAC (America’s largest cigarette manufacturer), and payday/title loan companies. As to the latter, Smith comments: “With predatory lending such a problem in Ohio, how can Senator Schuler sanction the behavior of some of the most reprehensible lenders, the PayDay loan industry, by taking their contributions?”

19th District: Marian Harris (D-Columbus) has produced the following ad for her campaign against Larry Flowers (R-Canal Winchester). She is asking supporters to forward the link to everyone they know in her district (Westerville, New Albany, Jefferson Township, Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Groveport, Madison Township, Obetz, and parts of Columbus bordering these communities):

[NOTE: I have removed the embedded link, but the video is available here.]

18th House District: John Celebrezze (D-North Royalton) told me in an interview in August that if incumbent Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) went negative, Celebrezze would fight back. Patton did, and Celebrezze is:

[NOTE: I have removed the embedded link, but the video is available here.]

20th House District: Five voters are filing complaints with the Ohio Election Commission challenging false statements in GOP TV ads and mailings attacking Bev Campbell (D-Gahanna) on behalf of incumbent Jim McGregor (R-Gahanna). Campbell and the complainants will hold a press conference today, Novemebr 1st, at 10:00 a.m. at the Ohio Democratic Party 2nd floor conference room in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. “I have no objection to a tough, hard-nosed fight,” says Campbell, “but the distorted, dishonest personal attacks by Jim McGregor and his GOP backers have gone far over the line in misstating the facts in their desperate efforts to discredit me. We’ve had enough. I don’t have the fortune it would take to compete with their barrage of TV ads and mailings, but 20th District voters have a right to know the truth. This election is too important to be decided by the GOP’s phony mudslinging. That’s why my supporters and I are taking this fight to the Ohio Elections Commission.”