Following donations, checking high stakes
Barack Obama, to the intense irritation of those who dislike him, once said “elections have consequences.” Sure do: Just keep an eye on Twitter for Donald Trump’s tweets.
Ohio corollary: Campaign donations also have consequences. That’s why last week’s Ohio campaign finance filings are revealing. A General Assembly member who wants to become (or stay) president of the Ohio Senate or speaker of Ohio’s House can donate some of her or his dosh to fellow legislators. In turn, those pals are expected to thank donation-dispensing benefactors by electing them Senate president or House speaker. Finance filings are one barometer of who has a campaign treasury that can help keep or land those leadership jobs.
For example, it’s likely that Sen. Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, will become the Senate’s next president, in 2021. Incumbent President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican, must leave the Senate in December 2020 because of term limits. The Matt Huffman for Ohio committee reported last week it has more than $446,000 on hand. (Among Huffman’s top donors: Jimmy and Dee Haslam, at $13,250 each. They own the Cleveland Browns and are among co-owners of the Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew.)
Meanwhile, the Friends of Larry Householder committee, of Republican House Speaker House- holder, of Perry County’s Glenford, reported it had just over $1.4 million on hand. Among 16 contributions of $13,292 (Ohio’s annual contribution limit for donations by an individual to a General Assembly candidate) to Householder’s committee were donations from PACs for health insurer Anthem; the Ohio State Medical Association; associations of Ohio contractors, CPAs, hospitals and Realtors; and members of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, and Cleveland-based Local 18 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, which include workers who operate heavy equipment on highway projects – which Ohio’s recently boosted gas tax should increase.
Big-check donations shouldn’t be a shock. The legendary Democratic speaker of the California Assembly, Jesse (“Big Daddy”) Unruh said, “’Money is the mother’s milk of politics.” (Unruh, a rootin’ tootin’ liberal also said this, biographer James R. Mills wrote: “The biggest difference between the zealots on the left and those on the right is that the ones on the right smell better.” Too bad Unruh isn’t around now to say that to one of today’s holier-than-thou politicians, especially in Washington.)
Campaign money will be more important than ever in Ohio in 2020. Voter turnout is bigger in presidential election years; that’s assured in 2020 because of emotions, pro or con, stoked by Trump’s presidency. But also on 2020’s ballot are Ohio’s 16 (for now) U.S. House seats; 99 Ohio House seats; and half of the state Senate’s 33 seats. And those Ohio General Assembly campaigns will determine who becomes will remain or become House speaker and Senate president in 2021.
Also on next year’s ballot: Two of the Ohio Supreme Court’s seven seats, seats held by Republican Justices Judith L. French, of suburban Columbus, and Sharon L. Kennedy, of Butler County. Including French
and Kennedy, the court now has five Republican justices and two Democrats ( Justices Michael Donnelly and Melody J. Stewart, both Greater Clevelanders). If Democrats unseated French and Kennedy, the court, now 5-2 Republican, would be 4-3 Democratic.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that federal courts may not block gerrymandering. That suggests state courts could intervene in states’ gerrymanders. And Ohio will redraw congressional and Statehouse districts after 2020’s Census. That’s why, amid the shrieks and yelps of Ohio’s 2020 presidential ballyhoo, there may be two far less visible – but high stakes – Supreme Court campaigns.
Thomas Suddes is an expert on Ohio politics who has written for 35 years. Send email to tsuddes@gmail.com.
Voter turnout is bigger in presidential election years; that’s assured in 2020 because of emotions, pro or con, stoked by Trump’s presidency. But also on 2020’s ballot are Ohio’s 16 (for now) U.S. House seats; 99 Ohio House seats; and half of the state Senate’s 33 seats.