Firstenergy gave $1M donation to back Husted, records show
As Akron-based Firstenergy was shoring up political support to bail out two nuclear plants, it gave $1 million through a dark money group to back Jon Husted, a Republican running for governor in 2017, according to an internal Firstenergy email.
The $1 million flowed from Firstenergy through Freedom Frontier, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that does not disclose its donors, according to an email detailing Firstenergy’s 2017 political contributions released via a public records request. The money was earmarked for the “Husted campaign,” according to the spreadsheet of donations.
A Husted spokeswoman responded: “The Husted campaign never received this donation and is not affiliated with any of these groups.”
Freedom Frontier is a dark money group connected to a former Vice President Mike Pence aide that spent money in multiple political campaigns, according to dark money watchdog Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington or CREW.
Freedom Frontier reported giving $121,109 to Ohio Conservatives
for a Change, a federal super PAC backing Husted’s bid for governor, on its 2017 tax forms; it did not file a 2018 form. Ohio Conservatives for a Change reported it received $1.08 million in donations from Freedom Frontier between January 2018 and October 2018, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Firstenergy, through a spokeswoman, declined to answer questions about the donation “due to ongoing litigation.”
Husted ultimately dropped out of the governor’s race and joined challenger Mike Dewine’s
ticket in November 2017. Together, they won the GOP primary and later the November 2018 election.
Around this time, Firstenergy was trying to bail out two nuclear plants it owned in northern Ohio. But the company kept hitting brick walls at the Ohio Statehouse and in Washington, D.C.
At the time, Gov. John Kasich and House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, both Republicans, weren’t fond of charging Ohio’s electric customers to subsidize the plants.
Firstenergy needed new leadership to accomplish its goals. So the company contributed $1 million in 2017 to Generation Now, a dark money group backing Rep. Larry Householder’s bid to replace Rosenberger as Ohio speaker of the House. The money started flowing after Householder met with Firstenergy executives in Washington, D.C., for then-president Donald Trump’s inauguration in early 2017.
Firstenergy dramatically increased its spending on “dark money groups” between 2016 and 2017, according to the spreadsheet. These groups don’t have to disclose their donors. In addition to the $1 million each earmarked to support Householder and Husted, there was a $5 million donation to America First Policy, which backed former President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Firstenergy leaders also asked candidates for governor to commit to keeping the nuclear plants open. An email from Firstenergy’s Senior Vice President of External Affairs Michael Dowling indicates Dewine and Husted’s 2018 primary challengers Mary Taylor, then-lieutenant governor, and Jim Renacci, a former congressman, supported the plants.