Influence always up for grabs in auditor’s race
Term limits mean Ohio House Speaker Clifford A. Rosenberger, a Clarksville Republican, must leave the House in 14 months. It’s entirely possible Rosenberger won’t run for another office next year, although he acknowledged last week he’s considered a run for commissioner in his home county, Clinton (an hour northeast of Cincinnati) or a statewide run, for state auditor.
If Rosenberger, 36, did opt to run for auditor, he’d be taking on a fellow Republican who’s been running for auditor since early this year, former Senate President Keith Faber, 51, of Celina. Faber is now a state representative — that is, a member of Rosenberger’s Ohio House GOP caucus. If two of its members oppose each other, that could liven up caucus meetings.
Former U.S. Rep. Zack Space, age 56, a Tuscarawas County Democrat, is seeking his party’s nomination for auditor. He served in Congress from 2007 to 2010, when he lost a bid for a third term.
It’s hard to imagine Rosenberger, an Air Force veteran and one of the youngest people elected Ohio House speaker, stepping away from Statehouse politics.
If a Faber-Rosenberger contest did emerge, that could test some Statehouse friendships — and lobbies — with this additional twist: Rosenberger, as speaker throughout 2018, will have enormous power to determine what the House passes. Or doesn’t pass.
Becoming state auditor has been a path to political power in Ohio. Columbus Republican James A. Rhodes’ 10 years as auditor positioned him to become governor. The same went for Democrat A. Victor (Vic) Donahey, like Space, from Tuscarawas County. The auditor’s office was Donahey’s launching pad to the governorship, then to the U.S. Senate.
Republican Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, now running for governor, was state auditor before she became John Kasich’s running mate. Other top Republicans who’ve been auditor are Greater Cleveland’s Jim Petro and suburban Toledo’s Betty D. Montgomery. And the GOP incumbent, State Auditor David Yost, who earlier served as Delaware County prosecuting attorney, is now running for Ohio attorney general. Greater Cleveland Democrat Steve Dettelbach, former U.S. attorney for Northern Ohio (40 of the state’s 88 counties) will compete with Yost for the attorney general’s office.
Then there’s the Ferguson dynasty, Democrats with roots in the Perry County village of Shawnee. Patriarch Joseph T. (“Jumpin’ Joe”) Ferguson and son Thomas E. Ferguson held the auditorship for 40 of the 58 years that began in 1937. And Joe Ferguson got himself elected state treasurer in 1958, after Rhodes unseated him as auditor. Then the elder Ferguson landed the auditorship again in 1970.
According to Yost’s Web site, “the Auditor of State’s office is responsible for auditing all public offices in Ohio — more than 5,900 entities — including cities, counties, villages, townships, schools, state universities and public libraries as well as all state agencies, boards and commissions.”
That is, the auditor gets a look-see at every public agency’s books — what’s in them, how they’re kept, who keeps them. That’s a powerful check-and-balance for taxpayers. And it’s also a fact-of-life bonus for state auditors: Knowledge really is power. And audits get read — not just by public officials, but by those who want to unseat them.
The auditor also has a seat on the Apportionment Board (which will become the Redistricting Commission in 2021). It draws General Assembly districts after each Census. The Redistricting Commission will, to a degree, dial down the Apportionment Board’s blatant partisanship.
And a Redistricting Commission seat will guarantee, during the 2019-22 auditor’s term that’ll span the next Census, that the next auditors calls, whether his name is Faber, Rosenberger or Space, will get returned.