Ohio Capital Journal. bsky @ohiocapitaljournal.com
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Connecting Ohioans to our state government and its impact on our lives. Free to republish, we are the Ohio Capital Journal, reporting for the people.
Joined October 2019
Please follow us on Bluesky, where we’re posting our work at the handle @ohiocapitaljournal.com.
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Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan is one of the most visible members of Congress. He's also one of the least active legislatively. Jordan is one of two representatives who didn't introduce a single piece of legislation last year. The other 433 members did.
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Gov. Mike DeWine and his administration played a hands-on role passing an allegedly pay-for-play nuclear bailout and appointing an industry-friendly regulator who has since been accused of taking a $4.3 million bribe, calendars and text messages show.
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Commentary: The GOP campaign to prevent voter fraud — in a state that boasts elections with a 99.98% accuracy rate — and mandate only certain forms of photo ID to stop voter impersonation — in a state that reports zero cases of it — is a partisan hoax.
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Breaking: Both former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former lobbyist and Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges have been found guilty of racketeering in Ohio's $61 million political bribery, $1.3 billion utility bailout racketeering trial.
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Commentary: When history takes a long look at Portman's complicity of silence and careful detachment to wrongdoing on a grand scale, its judgement will be harsh. Portman failed us and the country when it mattered most. Good riddance. By @JohanekMarilou.
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Editor Commentary: Ohio Republicans who indulge all manner of corruption, bribery, and special interest favoritism ooze condescension when they point their fingers at Ohio voters as the ones who can't be trusted to protect Ohio from special interests.
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More people have died of COVID-19 this year than last despite widely available and effective vaccines. The nearly 14,000 Ohioans who have died this year were almost exclusively — about 95% — unvaccinated individuals. By @nckevns .
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Breaking: In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court has ordered redrawing of Statehouse maps approved along partisan lines 5-2 by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, ruling the maps do not meet the voter-approved standards against partisan gerrymandering in the Ohio Constitution.
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Voters in Democratic-stronghold counties are showing up in mass to vote early for the November election on abortion and marijuana, exceeding the already unexpectedly large turnout from the August special election.
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Despite objections from Democrats on Ohio's Redistricting Commission, Republicans have chosen their own plan as the panel's working document. The maps' partisan breakdowns are 62-37 GOP-to-Democratic in the Ohio House and 23-10 in the Senate. By @nckevns.
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BREAKING: A jury on Thursday found former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and state Republican Chairman Matt Borges guilty of felony racketeering charges in connection with a billion-dollar utility bailout that was passed in 2019. By @martyschladen .
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Four bipartisan former Ohio governors — Bob Taft, John Kasich, Dick Celeste, and Ted Strickland — are all against making it harder for Ohio voters to pass constitutional amendments, as well as an August election for the 60% threshold proposal. @nckevns.
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BREAKING: Ohio voters have rejected state Issue 1, which sought to make it harder for voters to pass constitutional amendments, the Associated Press has projected.
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Commentary: The DeWines are gaslighting Ohioans in their dishonest anti-Issue 1 ad. By @JohanekMarilou .
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Editor commentary: Your corrupt, extremist, gerrymandered Ohio Republican lawmakers have called down the thunder, Ohio voters. They've invited you into the street for an August brawl over the authority you've had for nearly 175 years. Now it’s up to you.
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Editor Commentary: If Ohio Republicans are willing to try to erase the trauma of a 10-year-old rape victim, whose pain and suffering will they not try to ignore and erase? They’re disgusting and disgraceful; callous, careless and cruel. By @DC_DeWitt .
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Commentary: The grotesque gaslighting by the DeWines in their anti-Issue 1 ad is, unfortunately, not an anomaly in the disinformation campaign running to deny Ohio women a constitutional right to abortion and other reproductive health care. @JohanekMarilou.
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Happy Labor Day! Today we will be sharing some quotes from labor leaders through American history.
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The Republican majority said in a statement that because they’ve won 13 of 16 statewide elections, they could be entitled to up to 81% of representation of the people, despite them only winning an average of 54% of the votes in those elections.
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Democrats in Congress reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would guarantee access to birth control regardless of any future Supreme Court rulings.
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A September report estimates 1 million Ohioans have suspended licenses because of debts. Now that Ohio has "the nation’s strictest voter ID law," advocates fear large numbers of voters in poor communities will be disenfranchised. By @martyschladen.
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Commentary: Ohio Issue 1 would ban gerrymandering and replace politicians on the redistricting commission with citizens from all parties. But GOP politicians are desperately trying to dupe voters into letting them continue to rig the game. @JohanekMarilou.
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A September report estimates 1 million Ohioans have suspended licenses because of debts. Now that Ohio has "the nation’s strictest voter ID law," advocates fear large numbers of voters in poor communities will be disenfranchised. By @martyschladen.
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Editor Commentary: Three generations of my family have called Springfield, Ohio home, and my partner's family is Haitian. Both the Haitian community and Springfield community live in my heart, and I’m disgusted by the politics being played on both of them.
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ICYMI: Gov. Mike DeWine is being accused of pulling “a switcheroo” on Ohio’s retired teachers by terminating a change-minded member of the pension board just as that faction was achieving a majority.
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Editor Commentary: Public education is not failing. Ohio politicians are failing to prioritize and invest in public education. By @DC_DeWitt .
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Editor Commentary: Many Ohioans pay taxes for schools but don’t have school-age kids. Their taxes are meant to fund quality public schools bc having educated citizens is a public good. Giving it to unaccountable private and religious schools is an abuse.
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The Ohio Ballot Board has passed controversial language written by Sec. of State Frank LaRose as the ballot summary that will explain to voters November’s anti-gerrymandering amendment. Supporters of the amendment say it's deceptive and unconstitutional.
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Voters in Democratic-stronghold counties are showing up in mass to vote early for the November election on abortion and marijuana, exceeding the already unexpectedly large turnout from the August special election. By @MorganTrau.
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Editor Commentary: Ohio Gov. DeWine lost all credibility when he repeatedly voted for illegally gerrymandered maps. Now he's pitching a proposal to have lawmakers draft redistricting reform based on an "Iowa plan" that leaves lawmakers with final authority.
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Editor Commentary: No matter how I slice it on Gov. DeWine's role in the biggest public corruption scandal in Ohio history, he's either knee-deep in it, or he's so wildly incompetent he let it all happen under his nose without suspecting a thing.@DC_DeWitt.
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JUST IN: A lawsuit has been filed challenging the state's legally questionable August election meant to stop abortion from becoming legal. By @MorganTrau .
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Frank LaRose said it's important to make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution to keep out-of-state special interests from meddling. But his office wouldn't respond when asked about the support of an Illinois billionaire. By @martyschladen .
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NEW: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Friday said he “certainly wouldn’t oppose it” if the legislature impeached Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor over redistricting rulings in the state. By @martyschladen .
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FBI agent testimony in Ohio's bribery and billion dollar bailout racketeering trial showed former House Speaker Larry Householder using FirstEnergy dark money to run an attack ad against his 2018 opponent slamming the use of dark money. By @martyschladen.
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The claim U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno held an MBA from Michigan appeared in both a car dealership application and a short bio for the Cleveland Foundation board. But the university said Monday all Moreno has is a bachelor's degree. @martyschladen.
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Nearly 90,000 people have registered to vote in the Buckeye State after the Dobbs decision overturning national abortion rights, according to data from Ohio’s Secretary of State.
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A social media post by Ohio Lt Gov Jon Husted on Friday appeared to joke about a racist conspiracy theory that continues to rock the community of Springfield, which has had to evacuate elementary schools the last two days due to bomb threats.@martyschladen.
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Editor Commentary: These gerrymandered, corrupt Republican lawmakers want to roll back Ohio history and bring us back to 1850 purely out of their own selfish, narrow-minded, thoughtless, destructive lust for power.
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The Cavs' Larry Nance Jr. @Larrydn22 is advocating for legislation that would give discrimination protection to LGBTQ people, which Ohio law doesn't now. "It was appalling to me that as a society we’re not past that and better than this," he said.
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Commentary: Save the date, Ohio voters. Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. Put it in your phone. Circle it on your calendar. Tell everyone you know. Nearly 175 years of our majority voter authority is on the line. By @JohanekMarilou.
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Two former Ohio Supreme Court justices — one Republican and one Democrat — have joined together to fight for anti-gerrymandering reform that would replace politicians on the state's redistricting commission with a citizen-led commission. By @susantebben.
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Commentary: Ohio House Bill 103 is a shameful attempt to micromanage Ohio K-12 social studies and history educational curriculum based on extremist ideology that is rooted in the politically motivated culture wars, writes longtime educator Jeanne Melvin.
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Commentary: Despite claiming the burden was on him, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine never did show “a real need” to fix what, by his own admission, ain’t broke. He rubber-stamped an attack on voters citing election integrity concerns manufactured by his own party.
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A judge in a federal class-action case is again ordering Ohio's former chief utility regulator to fork over documents addressing how he spent the $4.3 million he got from FirstEnergy in 2019 that the company has admitted was a bribe. By @martyschladen.
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BREAKING: Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted in the largest bribery scheme in state history. By @MorganTrau.
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New Editor Commentary: If Ohio politicians planned to show exactly why they deserve to be kicked out of the redistricting process entirely, they couldn’t have done a better job than the shameful display they put on Wednesday morning. By @DC_DeWitt .
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Emails and texts between Republican state Rep. Brian Stewart and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose shed light on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to advance a resolution to make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution. By @nckevns .
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Gov. Mike DeWine is being accused of pulling “a switcheroo” on Ohio’s retired teachers by terminating a change-minded member of the pension board just as that faction was achieving a majority. By @martyschladen.
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Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges will both be sentenced to prison in late June. By @MorganTrau .
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ICYMI: A lawsuit has been filed challenging the state’s legally questionable August election meant to stop abortion from becoming legal.
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Editor Commentary: These Ohio Republican lawmakers who live with such contempt, such loathing, such a lack of empathy, and such bottomless cruelty for anyone unlike them, are defiling both themselves and their positions of public trust. By @DC_DeWitt.
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The U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Bernie Moreno took to X last week to claim migrants have "destroyed" Ohio communities. However, his campaign didn't respond when asked which Ohio communities had been destroyed and how. By @martyschladen.
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Many of Ohio's K-12 students are going hungry. After being turned away due to debt, some stop coming to the lunch room. Universal school lunch and breakfast is supported by a majority of Ohioans, and advocates are calling on lawmakers to act. @susantebben.
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Ohio Issue 1 and Issue 2 results as of 8:23 p.m.
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January 6 Police Officer Michael Fanone warns November election could bring violence: The 20-year Metro DC police veteran argues violence didn't stop after January 6, and voters should prioritize candidates who respect rule of law. By @nckevns.
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ICYMI: While he accused his opponents of “hysterical hyperbole” as he tries to make it 20% harder for voters to succeed in the already difficult process to amend the Ohio Constitution, there were some important things LaRose didn’t say in his Op-Ed.
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A federal judge on Thursday struck down Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s order barring county boards of election from setting up multiple ballot drop box sites, saying the order unfairly burdens large counties. By @clevelanddotcom's @AndrewJTobias .
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Whether it’s been Coingate, an investment scandal that led to a money laundering conviction; ECOT, a charter school that allegedly defrauded the state and still owes $117 million; or now the HB6 bribery bailout scandal, Ohio is no stranger to corruption.
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The FBI has requested that former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder face 16-20 years in prison for “causing immeasurable damage to the institution of democracy,” according to a newly-released court filing.
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Commentary: US House Speaker Mike Johnson is coming to Ohio tonight to raise money in support of continued gerrymandering. He's joining Gov. DeWine at a swanky Cleveland fundraiser to try to defeat an anti-gerrymandering amendment signed by 535,000 Ohioans.
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Editor Commentary: Don’t lie and claim we can’t afford it: Ohioans watch our government hand out billions to wealthy corporations with sweetheart lawmaking and economic policy year after year; we can afford to feed hungry children. So do it. @DC_DeWitt.
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Editor Commentary: Ohio lawmakers are currently occupying unconstitutionally gerrymandered seats. This isn't a matter of opinion. It was adjudicated by the Ohio Supreme Court five times. It's a fact. And it's why Issue 1 is now on the ballot. By @DC_DeWitt.
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Editor Commentary: Ohio Republicans have given up all claim on any “freedom” rhetoric. They are now firmly a party of telling women, minorities, doctors, teachers, and young people what they can and can not do, and will stop at nothing to be able to do so.
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State politicians advanced an effort Tuesday to place anti-vaccination language onto a general election ballot likely next year. If passed, Ohio would become the only state in the nation with an explicit ban of vaccine mandates in its constitution.
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Commentary: Save the date, Ohio voters. Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. Put it in your phone. Circle it on your calendar. Tell everyone you know. Nearly 175 years of our majority voter authority is on the line. By @JohanekMarilou.
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Ultraconservative donor Richard Uihlein of Illinois donated more than $1 million to the Save Our Constitution PAC in support of the effort to, ironically, dramatically alter what it takes for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution. LaRose refuses comment.
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Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose is again raising the alarm about noncitizens on the state voter rolls. A Capital Journal investigation last year found a single legitimate case of noncitizen voter fraud among 521 cases of alleged fraud by LaRose's office.
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In his hunt for unsubstantiated widespread voter fraud, SoS LaRose has accused prosecutors of ignoring his referrals of election rigging. Law enforcement officials explain the secretary's "cases" of fraud have no merit. By @MorganTrau.
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Commentary: Ohio Senate Republicans' planned demolition of the state's new recreational marijuana law is an insult to voters. With redistricting reform around the corner, these Ohio politicians ignore the will of voters at their own peril. By @gdanielsohio.
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Plaintiffs in a civil suit related to a massive bribery and money-laundering scandal have subpoenaed documents from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and they’re scheduling a sworn deposition with Lt. Gov. Jon Husted. By @martyschladen.
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After the major decision to reinstate August special elections in an attempt to thwart a possible abortion ballot, leading constitutional law experts have weighed in that the resolution is illegal. By @MorganTrau.
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Ohio Issue 1 and Issue 2 election results as of 9:02 p.m.
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Commentary: Do not fall for the Great Election Integrity Hoax: GOP politicians keep the myth alive that massive voting fraud is real. Then they cite (unfounded) mistrust in the election system — that they themselves created. By @JohanekMarilou.
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Ohio AG Dave Yost has agreed to settle the largest bribery and money laundering scandal in state history with the massive utility that funded it. At just $20 million, the settlement amounts less than a third of the bribes FirstEnergy paid. @martyschladen.
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Editor Commentary: Ohio Republicans claiming to be “protecting the Ohio Constitution” is ridiculous. They have flagrantly violated the Constitution, the rule of law, the orders of the Supreme Court, and the will of Ohio voters, with staggering contempt.
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Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose rejected dozens of submissions of old absentee ballot forms printed in a Cleveland newspaper, but when Issue 1 supporters sent out an old form, within hours he issued guidance saying the old forms are OK. By @MorganTrau.
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Ohio AG Dave Yost on Wednesday amplified a conspiracy theory that legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield are stealing and eating pets, ducks and geese. The conspiracy has been debunked by Springfield city and police officials, as well as Gov. Mike DeWine.
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A nonpartisan coalition called Citizens Not Politicians has collected more than the 1,000 signatures they need to start the process of putting an anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment on the November 2024 ballot. By @MorganTrau.
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A proposed anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio that would remove politicians from the redistricting process in favor of a citizens commission has gathered enough signatures to proceed to voters on the November ballot.
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A coalition of reproductive rights groups, along with the ACLU of Ohio say they plan to have a pro-abortion ballot initiative on the Ohio Attorney General’s desk by February. By @susantebben .
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An Illinois billionaire who wants to make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution has a history of supporting candidates who falsely deny the 2020 election results, and he's a major supporter of groups that organized Jan. 6. By @martyschladen.
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Editor Commentary: Decades of rampant pay-to-play political corruption in Ohio has summoned a breed of public officials who treat state government like a personal playground of private profiteering for themselves and their moneyed friends. By @DC_DeWitt.
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Editor Commentary: By enshrining 41% minority rule and mandating the near-impossible task of gathering signatures from every Ohio county, State Issue 1 would guarantee that only the most wealthy special interests would have influence on Ohio government.
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Breaking: An end to the Ohio Biden Ballot Debacle is in sight. National Democrats will be nominating President Joe Biden as their presidential candidate in a virtual roll call ahead of the DNC convention because the Ohio GOP "failed to act.".By @MorganTrau.
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Looking for someone to blame for increased costs in the grocery aisle? You might not need to look any further than three retail giants, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report last week.
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Every single time Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose has been asked if Issue 1 was related to an abortion vote, he has denied it. But that's not what he told a group of Republicans recently. By @MorganTrau.
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Breaking: Former Ohio Republican Party Chair and lobbyist Matt Borges has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the state's historic political bribery/utility bailout corruption scandal.
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Editor Commentary: We aren't living in the Ohio that most Ohioans want. We are living in the Ohio that corrupt politicians obsessed only with maximizing their power and enriching themselves and their donor friends want us to live in. By @DC_DeWitt .
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Editor Commentary: Ohio GOP lawmakers and Gov. DeWine were warned time and again that their abortion ban was cruel and would lead to heartbreaking situations of unimaginable pain and anguish for many people. They didn't care. And now it is. By @DC_DeWitt.
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The topic of parental rights does not appear in Ohio Issue 1 on the ballot Nov. 7. There is no mention of denying any rights to parents in the amendment for reproductive rights like abortion, contraception, miscarriage care and infertility treatment.
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After slamming Trump's New York verdict as "weaponizing justice," Ohio Atty Gen. Dave Yost's office wouldn't answer if he thinks it's OK for Ohioans to engage in filing wildly false financial documents repeatedly and for over a decade. By @martyschladen.
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Editor Commentary: What happened in Ohio Tuesday? Voters refused to be suckered, and stood up for themselves. But Ohio Republicans seem unwilling to learn the lessons they should. By @DC_DeWitt .
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Commentary: You and I can’t ignore the law without consequence. If we break the law, we are held accountable. Ohio Republicans are ignoring their own laws and the constitution whenever they wish and facing no accountability for any of it. @JohanekMarilou.
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A nonpartisan coalition called Citizens Not Politicians has collected more than the 1,000 signatures they need to start the process of putting an anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment on the November 2024 ballot. By @MorganTrau.
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Commentary: Ohio Senate Republicans aren't working to fairly fund public schools and make education better for 90% of students. They aim to undercut public education in every way possible to give handouts to private, religious institutions.@JohanekMarilou.
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Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose’s fledgling U.S. Senate campaign is facing a complaint filed with the FEC alleging LaRose violated campaign finance law by delaying his official filing and coordinating with an outside political group. By @nckevns.
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Commentary: The most powerful elected politicians in Ohio are morally bankrupt. They’ve spit in the face of voters, disgraced themselves, debased the Ohio Constitution, mocked the state’s highest court, and made a farce of Ohio’s elections. By @DC_DeWitt.
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During a news conference Wednesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine repeatedly ignored questions about gun safety, which came on a day a 7-year-old was shot in the head in Cleveland, and as the state is suing Columbus over a safe gun storage law. By @MorganTrau.
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During a news conference Wednesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine repeatedly ignored questions about gun safety, which came on a day a 7-year-old was shot in the head in Cleveland, and as the state is suing Columbus over a safe gun storage law. By @MorganTrau .
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