Rotunda Rumblings
Indicting the dead: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost recently trumpeted the indictments of six people who legally and permanently moved to the U.S. and, according to Yost, voted in Ohio elections. But there’s one problem, Jake Zuckerman reports. At least one of them is dead. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said Ramesh Patel, who Yost identified as a 68-year-old green card holder who voted in multiple elections, died nearly two years ago. A spokeswoman said the charges would be dropped.
Talking abortion: Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bernie Moreno, in an interview with the Washington Times, was part remorseful and part defiant about his comments last month questioning why suburban and older women should vote based on the issue of abortion. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, Moreno also sought to rebut Democratic attempts to portray him as an anti-abortion extremist (he says he, in principle, supports 15-week federal restrictions on abortion with exceptions) and called for ensuring women have as much access to contraception as men.
Am I saying meow? The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that Ohio’s enhanced animal cruelty penalties for crimes against companion animals also apply to stray cats and dogs with no owner. As Zuckerman reports, the matter stems from a Cleveland man accused of soaking a stray cat in bleach.
Minority report: Several Ohio Legislative Black Caucus members voiced strong support for Issue 1 on Tuesday, pushing back on criticism from some other Black political figures that the proposed restricting reform measure would result in fewer Black lawmakers in the state. As Robert Higgs reports, the OLBC members – all Democrats – argued that Issue 1 is needed to topple Ohio’s current redistricting system, which they said allows the Republican majority to gerrymander huge supermajorities that squelch the voice of Black voters. State Sen. Michele Reynolds, a Black Columbus-area Republican and Issue 1 opponent who’s not an OLBC member, replied that the press conference was held out of “pure panic from the Issue 1 campaign.”
Different story: Ohio Green Party leader Philena Farley testified Tuesday in federal court that Anita Rios, presidential hopeful Jill Stein’s running mate, didn’t know that Farley wrote and submitted a letter to withdraw Rios from this year’s statewide ballot until it was too late. As Pelzer reports, Farley previously told Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office (as well as cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer) that Rios knew about and supported Farley’s actions, which were part of a misguided attempt to swap in the name of Butch Ware, the national Green Party’s VP pick. The letter led LaRose’s office to order elections officials not to count any votes cast this year for Stein or Rios; a federal judge says he’ll soon rule on a request from the two would-be candidates for him to overturn that order.
Breathing easier: House Democrats’ top super PAC is slashing millions in TV ad reservations in the final weeks before November’s election because several districts look safer than expected, Politico reports. House Majority PAC cancelled nearly $1 million it reserved to help Cincinnati Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman. His GOP opponent, Orlando Sonza, is spending less than $20,000 on ads.
What’s his name again? A new political mailer from Americans for Prosperity Action seeks to warn voters in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District about Landsman’s “dangerous” policies. But as Scott Wartman of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports, the mailer has a pretty glaring typo: it repeatedly refers to him as “Tim Landsman.” Asked to comment, Greg Landsman replied, “I don’t like this Tim guy.”
Getting schooled: Children who come into the United States illegally and don’t speak English are ruining the quality of American education, Republican vice-presidential hopeful JD Vance claimed Tuesday during a campaign rally in Peoria, Arizona, despite a state law that eliminated bilingual education in public schools more than 20 years ago, The Arizona Republic reports. “In Arizona schools right now, we have got thousands upon thousands of children who can’t even speak the native, the local language in Arizona. Sometimes they don’t even speak Spanish, of course, because we’ve got illegal immigrants coming from all over,” Vance said. “What does that do to the education of American children when their teachers aren’t teaching them, but they’re focused on kids who don’t have the legal right to be here?” In Arizona, English-speaking students learn in separate classrooms from those who have limited proficiency in English, including students who recently arrived in the country.
Credit payment: Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and top city staffers spent $11,500 in taxpayer money to add Kamala Harris’ name to signs near road construction work that credit her and President Joe Biden for securing the federal funding for the roadwork, according to Sharon Coolidge of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Pureval, a Democrat, and other city officials began working on the signs earlier this year at the White House’s request, but they redesigned them to also mention Harris after Biden dropped his reelection bid in July and she became the Democratic presidential nominee. Ohio Republican Party Chair Alex Triantafilou criticized the city for deploying what he called “taxpayer-funded political yard sign(s),” though Pureval said that Harris’ name was added solely to “provide the proper recognition and information to residents.”
Full Disclosure
Here are five things we learned from the Oct. 8, 2024, ethics disclosure form filed by Karen Brownlee of Cincinnati, the 2024 Democratic nominee for Ohio House District 28, about her 2023 finances:
1. Brownlee earned $44,490.46 last year working as a clinical training and development manager for the Childrens Home of Cincinnati.
2. Her investments exceeding $1,000 included a Charles Schwab brokerage account; a Blackstone real estate investment trust; stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and a 403b retirement account with TD Ameritrade; and a health savings account with HSA Bank/Schwab.
3. She owns the house she lives in.
4. Brownlee is recognized by the State of Ohio as a licensed independent social worker with supervision designation. The supervision designation aspect of her license allows her to supervise other licensed social workers.
5. She neither owed nor was owed more than $1,000 at any point in 2023.
Tick Tock
The 2024 election is approaching, where Ohioans will help decide the presidential race, control of the U.S. Senate, how the state draws state legislative and congressional lines and many other down-ballot races. Here are some key dates in the election countdown:
Deadline to request an absentee ballot… 5 days (Oct. 29)
Final day of early voting… 10 days (Nov. 3)
Last day to postmark an absentee ballot… 11 days (Nov. 4)
Election Day… 12 days (Nov. 5)
Also, make sure to check out our Ohio guide to the 2024 November election
Birthdays
Lily Bohler-Brewer, legislative aide to state Rep. Michele Grim
Sean McCann, policy strategist, ACLU of Ohio
Straight From The Source
“He’s just kind of a wang, you know?”
– U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, when television host Stephen Colbert asked how he feels about the prospect of U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, being vice-president.
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