Republican billionaire says he’s leaving party
After former COLUMBUS — Democratic President Barack Obama made a stop in Columbus, L Brands CEO Leslie H. Wexner, the wealthiest Republican supporter in the state, told a small audience at a Downtown event that he is fed up and has quit the Republican Party.
After former Democratic President Barack Obama made a quiet stop in Columbus on Thursday night, the wealthiest Republican supporter in the state told a small audience at a Downtown event that he is fed up and has quit the Republican Party.
“I just decided I’m no longer a Republican,” said L Brands CEO Leslie H. Wexner, at a panel discussion about civility at Miranova’s Ivory Room billed as a “Columbus Partnership and YPO Leadership Summit.”
“I’m an independent,” he said. “I won’t support this nonsense in the Republican Party. I’ve been a Republican since college, joined the Young Republican Club at Ohio State.
“I haven’t run an ad in the newspaper that said, ‘I quit,’” he told the gathering. Instead, he’s been writing notes to his friends in elective office who are Republicans, telling them, “I’m an independent.”
The event was jointly sponsored by the Columbus Partnership, a group of central Ohio’s most influential business leaders that Wexner chairs, and YPO (formerly Young Presidents’ Organization), a group of under45 business leaders.
Obama stopped in Columbus before a rally in Cleveland Thursday night to support Democrat Richard Cordray’s run for governor.
The former president spoke on stage in Columbus with Alex Fischer, president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership.
The panel on which Wexner later spoke was moderated by political commentator David Gergen, a former adviser to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. Panelists also included Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and Nancy Kramer, chief evangelist at IBM iX.When asked for her reaction to Wexner’s statement after the event, Kramer, a member of the Partnership, cited Obama’s comments.
The former president urged listeners, she said, to focus on what they will do rather than who they are. Wexner, she said, was “making a statement about his belief systems.”
“He’s a man who’s focused on what he wants to do rather than what he wants to be,” she said. “We are so fortunate to have someone like Les care that deeply and lead with such conviction and generosity.”
During the past year, Wexner has poured money into bipartisan civility. In late 2017, he made a $300,000 donation to With Honor, a PAC that supports military veterans from both parties who are running for office and who agree to a pledge not only to conduct themselves with civility but also to meet one-on-one with a member of the opposing party once a month.
In February 2018, Abigail Wexner, a Democrat, followed up her husband’s gift with a $2.5 million gift to With Honor.