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Party poopers: The Ohio Republican Partys financial support of Gov. Mike DeWine is causing headaches for party leadership, Andrew Tobias writes. A small but vocal group of state committee members take issue with the $500,000 the party gave to DeWines re-election campaign, plus $394,000 in in-kind services, and at least some of them are trying to block a party endorsement of DeWine. In an internal note to committee members, Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Paduchik said its typical for the party to support incumbent elected officials, and that doing so doesnt constitute an endorsement. The group of committee members also has raised questions about an ongoing internal party audit, the results of which are expected soon.

Holding off: With less than six months to go before the Feb. 2 primary candidate filing deadline, only one Democrat (the relatively unknown Chelsea Clark of suburban Cincinnati) has launched a campaign for any of the states four down-ticket executive statewide offices. Jeremy Pelzer offers three reasons why so few Dems have announced runs so far for attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, and state auditor in 2022.

On the map: A nonpartisan team of voter advocacy organizations called Fair Districts Ohio launched a remapping contest with cash prizes for creating compact and competitive state legislative districts that focus on keeping communities together instead of protecting particular political parties or legislators, Sabrina Eaton reports. Maps will be evaluated on whether they comply with federal and state laws, are representatively fair, and demonstrate best practices for compactness and respect for local political jurisdictional divides rather than being gerrymandered along partisan lines.

Setting boundaries: The Ohio Redistricting Commission, the panel of Ohio elected officials tasked with redrawing state legislative lines, and possibly state congressional lines, has launched a website Ohioans can use to offer public input into the process. As Tobias writes, the commission also is launching public hearings this week, with stops planned in Cleveland and Youngstown today.

Green-lit: Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday announced he has certified proposed summary language for a measure to legalize marijuana for adults in Ohio. As Pelzer writes, the proposed initiated statute -- which would generally allow adults 21 or older to buy, possess, and grow marijuana -- now goes before the Ohio Ballot Board.

On track: Ohio and the Great Lakes region need more passenger train service. Thats the message that Northeast Ohio passenger rail advocates are sending to Amtrak and other officials as the recently passed Senate infrastructure bill promises $66 billion for rail improvements. Susan Glaser reports on a recent meeting of transportation planners and members of Congress from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with the goal of focusing attention on Great Lakes routes rather than just the East Coast, where passenger rail travel is already well established.

Jobs report: Ohios unemployment rate ticked up to 5.4% in July, up from 5.2% in June, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Still, Mark Williams reports for the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio employers added 19,200 jobs in July.

Ric roll: Ric Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany and director of national intelligence during the Trump administration, will appear in Union County to promote Bernie Morenos U.S. Senate on Sunday. The event will be held at the rabbit and poultry barn at the Union County Fairgrounds in Marysville, according to Moreno.

Water logged: While Lake Erie water levels have receded since the record highs in 2019, they are still well above normal. And what hasnt subsided is a growing fear that climate change will bring more extreme conditions to the Great Lakes beyond simply eroding the shoreline in places and create serious havoc. Peter Krouse has details on how the problem is being studied and what can be done about it.

Capitol crimes? A mother and son were among four Toledo-area residents charged last week in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, John Caniglia reports. Jodi Lynn Wilson and her son, Cole Temple, were charged with knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, demonstrating in a U.S. Capitol building and two counts of disorderly conduct. Authorities also charged a couple, Gabriel Burress and Madison Pettit, with similar offenses.

Making a list: FirstEnergy has made its first round of disclosures as required under the deferred prosecution agreement the company made last month with federal prosecutors. Per the Cincinnati Enquirers Jesse Balmert, FirstEnergy on Friday disclosed $2.2 million it paid to nonprofits and groups benefiting public officials. Nearly all the money was a mandated payment to a nonprofit grid operator. The only Ohio payments were $475 FirstEnergy paid to the Rotary Club of Youngstown, and $135 for training paid to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Northeast Ohio chapter. Notably, the prosecution agreement doesnt require FirstEnergy to disclose political spending from previous years.

Soft landing? MyPillow, the retailer thats become well-known because of its vocally conspiratorial, pro-Trump founder, Mike Lindell, plans to open a storefront in Columbus this fall. Per Columbus Business Firsts Dan Eaton, the location, a rare company-owned store outside of its home state of Minnesota, will be in Clintonville, a Columbus neighborhood known for its residents very liberal political views.

Five things we learned from the May 17, 2021 financial disclosure of state Rep. Monique Smith, a Fairview Park Democrat:

1. Besides her legislative salary, she reported only one other source of income: An amount from $1,000 to $9,999 she made performing general office work for Gibson General Contracting, Inc.

2. She or someone in her immediately family does business through Kiriworks, a company that helps businesses reduce their paper use. Her husband, Dan, works there.

3. Her only investments are through the state employee retirement system.

4. At some point in 2020, she owed at least $1,000 to: ED Financial Services, a student loan servicer, Capital One and Nordstrom.

5. She disclosed no gifts or free travel.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Morgan Harper has been endorsed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of liberal groups.

Tristina Allen, legislative aide to state Rep. Dontavius Jarrells

Lisa Harris, Ohio House floor coordinator

Torri Huebner, central regional liaison with State Auditor Keith Fabers office

State Rep. Laura Lanese

State Rep. Jessica Miranda

Justin Nigro, operations and public affairs director for the Ohio Arts Council

No one this side of the Pearly Gates can take the politics out of Ohio politics and that miracle doesnt seem to be on the agenda, least of all with 2022 contests looming for the governorship and the U.S. Senate.

-Thomas Suddes, in a cleveland.com/Plain Dealer column about redistricting.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.

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Ohio Republicans and Democrats dealing with challenges as they look to 2022: Capitol Letter - cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio With just 5 months to go until Ohios primary candidate filing deadline, theres an unusual dearth of Democratic candidates for most statewide offices in 2022.

While there are competitive Democratic primaries on tap for the two top statewide offices U.S. Senate and governor so far the only Democrat to launch a down-ticket statewide campaign is Chelsea Clark, a relatively unknown city council member from suburban Cincinnati, for secretary of state.

No Democrats have announced or are even publicly exploring campaigns for attorney general, state treasurer or state auditor. By comparison, by mid-August 2017, the eventual Democratic nominees for all four executive down-ticket offices had announced their intention to run months earlier.

You would think that things already would be ramping up, particularly in terms of challengers to incumbents, but it just hasnt happened, said Paul Beck, a political scientist at Ohio State University.

Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Matt Keyes said state party leaders are still recruiting candidates ahead of the Feb. 2, 2022 primary filing deadline, and some have expressed interest though he declined to name who those people are.

Weve had some good conversations, and were confident that were going to have a strong, diverse ticket, he said.

According to conversations with Keyes, other Democratic officials and Ohio political observers, here are three reasons that so few Democrats have thrown their hats into the ring for statewide offices so far:

In 2018, in addition to winning the governors race, Republicans swept races for attorney general (Dave Yost), secretary of state (Frank LaRose), state treasurer (Robert Sprague), and state auditor (Keith Faber). Next year, all four are expected to run for re-election, and theyre considered to be even stronger candidates this time around. Not only are they incumbents (which makes it easier for them to raise money and have a name familiar to voters), but conventional political wisdom dictates that the party controlling the White House tends to face problems during midterm elections. In 2018, Republican Donald Trump was president; this cycle, its Democrat Joe Biden. In addition, many Democratic rank-and-file members are paying more attention to the races for governor and U.S. Senate, which they see as more important and potentially more winnable.

Perhaps the biggest factor giving Democrats pause is redistricting. As Ohio like other states is launching its decennial process of redrawing its congressional and legislative districts, many Democrats are waiting to see what the new maps look like before deciding on their 2022 plans. Democrats in the state legislature (a frequent source of statewide candidates for the party) want to see if the redrawn districts put their re-election chances into jeopardy, and Democrats both in and outside of the legislature are keeping open their options of running for Congress or another legislative seat if redistricting gives them a good shot at winning.

For the past decade, Ohio Democrats have faced the same knock on their election chances: with Republicans holding control over all three branches of state government (and dominating Ohios congressional delegation), there arent as many prominent Democratic officeholders rising through the ranks to run a competitive campaign for statewide office. That often means that Democrats who do run have to spend more time introducing themselves to voters, raising money and building a statewide political campaign.

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Here are 3 reasons why there arent more Ohio Democrats running for statewide office in 2022 - cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- While Democrats are planning to run for the U.S. Senate and governor in 2022, no Democrats are publicly exploring campaigns for attorney general, state treasurer or state auditor in 2022.

Were talking about why on This Week in the CLE.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Leila Atassi, Jane Kahoun and me.

Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802.

Here are the questions were answering today:

Why doesnt Ohio have candidates for a whole bunch of statewide races in 2022?

Are the Great Lakes water levels ever going to be anything resembling normal again?

Northeast Ohio saw a huge increase in the number of people classifying themselves as multiracial in the new Census. What do we know about them?

How can the public suggest fair maps for Ohio house and senate districts that are being redrawn over the coming weeks?

What are rail advocates doing to make sure Ohio gets a piece of the big infrastructure package that is dedicated to train service?

What are some of the lessons Cincinnati has for Cleveland lakefront planners, both in what they should do and what they should avoid?

Whats the next step for the people who are trying to legalize marijuana in Ohio?

Why did the Cleveland Planning Commission sign off on a construction training institute on Opportunity Corridor that originally was going to include an asphalt and concrete plant, which had sparked community outrage?

Want more? You can find all our past episodes here.

We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

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Is the Ohio Democratic Party so weak that it cannot find candidates for some statewide offices? This Week in - cleveland.com

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State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, has tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the sixth case among nearly 60 House Democrats who traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to prevent the passage of a GOP election bill at the Texas Legislature.

"Despite following CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines and being fully vaccinated, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday," Howard said in a statement Tuesday, noting that she was "basically asymptomatic except for some minor congestion."

Over the weekend, the Texas House Democratic Caucus said that five of its members had tested positive for the virus. The members who tested positive, including state Reps. Celia Israel, D-Austin, and Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, have been fully vaccinated.

The caucus, which has said it plans to not identify lawmakers who test positive, has started additional precautionary measures, such as providing daily rapid tests.

News of Howard's positive test was first reported Tuesday by the Austin American-Statesman. The Dallas Morning News first reported news of a sixth case Monday night.

A small percentage of vaccine breakthrough cases, which involve a fully-vaccinated person testing positive for the virus, have been expected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but they do not discount the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

In her statement, Howard said she will continue to work virtually and urged people to continue to get vaccinated.

"The delta variant [of the coronavirus] seems to be much more contagious, even for those vaccinated, than initially thought," she said. "Vaccines work."

The caucus in recent days has met with Vice President Kamala Harris and other lawmakers on Capitol Hill in an effort to push Congress to pass federal voting laws, though the confirmed cases have prompted the delegation to make adjustments for how to continue having such conversations.

Harris has since tested negative for the virus, though others, including a White House official and staffer for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have tested positive after the staff member helped the delegation around the Capitol last week, according to Axios.

At a news conference later Tuesday, state Rep. Chris Turner, who chairs the caucus, said the group likely would not be aware of the confirmed cases had members not been proactively testing for the virus.

"If we were not proactively testing, we probably would not even know about it," he said.

Turner also said there was not an update yet on a potential meeting with President Joe Biden or whether the confirmed cases had dimmed the caucus' chances of meeting with the president in-person.

"Obviously we would welcome the opportunity to visit with the president virtually," Turner said.

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Sixth Texas Democrat in Washington, D.C., tests positive for COVID-19 - The Texas Tribune

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The spotlight wont shine for long on the story of Texas flyaway Democrats. The novelty will wear off. The cable TV networks will have other top stories before you know it, and this will become another of those insider fights of only passing interest to Texans who dont have regular business in the state Capitol.

Voting rights are important to voters, but most people only pay attention to the particulars at election time. Where do I go? What do I have to do? Who and what is on the ballot? Who are all of these people, and which ones are in my way and which ones can I ignore?

But the next big elections in Texas arent until March at the earliest and those, the party primaries, could easily be delayed until May or later because of delays in the 2020 U.S. census, and the resulting delays in drawing new political maps to fit new details of where Texans live and how many of them live there.

For now, its enough to know that the state government in Texas is dysfunctional, but not in a way that has any immediate effect on the lives of everyday Texans.

Thats a particular problem for the wandering Democrats whose political play depends, to some extent, on public attention. They decamped on Monday, faced with the prospect of showing up to watch Republicans approve a bill with new restrictions on voting that they cannot abide.

The Republicans call it an election integrity bill and say its needed to bar practices they fear leave elections open to fraud, though there is no evidence of the kind of widespread chicanery that would change election results. Democrats say the changes would amount to voter suppression, making it harder for people of color and Democrats to vote.

The political lines had hardened even before the special legislative session that has now been interrupted by the Democrats flight to Washington, D.C. The Texas House cant conduct business unless at least 100 of its 150 members are present, and enough Democrats left the state to bust that quorum requirement.

Their aim is to change the voting bill, kill it or preempt it. Maybe the Republicans left behind will soften their stand, a prospect that seemed unlikely even before Gov. Greg Abbott told public radios Texas Standard that, because of the quorum bust, Republicans are in no mood for additional compromise.

The reason most of the decamped Democrats are in Washington is to try to get a voting bill they like one that would preempt state law from Congress. That requires some public attention, too, to get enough voters interested to draw members of Congress away from what they were doing to what the Texans hope theyll do.

But the Texas Democrats arent the only politicians looking for public attention and support. Texas Republicans are promoting other legislation on the special session agenda that might get more public interest.

An example: Abbott put a 13th check for retired teachers on the list a move to give a bonus check to teachers who get monthly retirement payments, because their retirement fund is relatively flush right now. Those teachers are an important constituency for Democrats, and getting them a check, the Republicans hope, is a way to lure the Democrats back to Austin.

The governor, in that same radio interview, was pushing his overhaul of the bail bond system in a way that might appeal to voters, or at least spook them.

There are dead people today because the Democrats have refused to step up and reform our broken bail system that lets very dangerous criminals back out on the streets, Abbott said. So the Democrats have blood on their hands for failing to step up and do their job. We dont know how many Texans may lose their lives until the Democrats finally return to the Capitol and step up and pass bail reform policies in the state of Texas that do not let dangerous criminals back out onto the street.

The first week of this legislative drama got a lot of attention from the news media and from voters. Everyone in the fight grabbed for it, because theyre playing for public favor and also working to prevent their foes from gaining public support.

Barring some new drama, the spotlight wont last for long. Eighteen years ago this month, Texas Senate Democrats were bivouacked in Albuquerque, New Mexico, trying to use a quorum break to stop Republican redistricting plans. It lasted long enough to fall off the front pages of the papers, and they eventually decided to come home to Texas.

And the Republicans in the Legislature got the maps they wanted.

Continued here:
Analysis: Texas Democrats race against time, and flagging public attention - The Texas Tribune