O’Neill under fire as he enters governor’s race
The state’s longwaiting Democrats finally met up with their Godot last week: Suburban Columbus Democrat Richard Cordray announced he’s running for governor. Cordray, once state treasurer and attorney general, was most recently director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Other Democrats running for governor are former Rep. Connie Pillich of Cincinnati; Sen. Joe Schiavoni of suburban Youngstown; former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of suburban Akron; Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and, as of Friday morning, state Supreme Court Justice William O’Neill of Chagrin Falls. O’Neill’s platform includes legalizing marijuana and taxing it to provide recovery programs for opioid addicts.
O’Neill, best known recently for self-revelations about his romantic life, said he’ll resign from the high court on Jan. 26. But setting a retirement date likely won’t douse GOP demands that he step down immediately, or face removal.
At issue: Ohio’s rule that judges must resign if they run for nonjudicial offices. Legislative Republicans’ interpretation of the required timing of such resignations, and O’Neill’s interpretation … vary.
The removal mechanism in a removal resolution proposed by Rep. Niraj J. Antani, a Miamisburg Republican, dates to 1851, and has never been used. The procedure (some other states’ versions are called “removal by address”) originated in England in 1701, and, in America, in the Massachusetts Constitution, scholars found. In Ohio, it’s supposed to work like this: The General Assembly can remove a judge if two-thirds of each chamber (22 of 33 senators, 66 of 99 House members) vote to do that — provided “the party charged shall have had notice thereof, and an opportunity to be heard.”
Procedurally, removal is less complicated than impeachment. But while removal requires 66 House votes, impeachment requires 50. Still, it appears the only time the legislature ever tried to impeach a justice was 208 years ago, in 1809, when George Tod, a Supreme Court justice from Youngstown, was acquitted by one vote. His “crime” was to rule unconstitutional a law legislators had passed.
Back in the center ring, Campaign ’18 looks more and more like a Columbus remake of “Groundhog Day.” Example: in 2010, Democrat Cordray was unseated as Ohio’s AG by Republican Mike DeWine — who likely will win the GOP’s 2018 GOP nomination for governor.
Then, too, former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra (Sandy) O’Brien has announced she’s seeking the GOP nomination for state treasurer. State Rep. Robert Sprague, a Findlay Republican, announced earlier that he’s running. (Democrats’ nominee for treasurer is expected to be Cincinnati lawyer Rob Richardson.) O’Brien shouldn’t be underestimated. She pried 2006’s GOP nomination for treasurer away from party backed incumbent Jennette Bradley, who earlier was Bob Taft’s lieutenant governor.
As for the main event — governor — what 2018 debate there will be in Ohio might boil down to James A. Rhodes’ “jobs and progress” formula, and a perennial issue, Ohio taxes. Republicans claim tax cuts could make Ohio a Garden of Eden. Evidence suggests otherwise.
In 1984, Republicans regained a state Senate majority by vowing to cut Ohio’s income tax. In 1985, they did. And then Republicans “reformed” Ohio taxes last decade. An interesting metric: In 1985, Ohio’s per capita personal income was $14,097. That was 95.77 percent of national per capita. By 2016, Ohio’s per capita was $44,593 – 90.55 percent of the nation’s.
If tax cuts were the key to prosperity for ordinary Ohioans, most people in the state would be sitting pretty. But they’re not. So, from now till next November, Ohio pols who frankly address that economic disconnect are being honest with voters. But pols who duck the issue? They’re ham actors, auditioning for just another show.