Hannah Report 10/17/12
Indicted Rep. Clayton Luckie (D-Dayton) was stripped of his committee assignments Tuesday, a move that had been pushed for by House Democratic Leader Armond Budish (D-Beachwood.)
The non-voting House session included a message from House Speaker William Batchelder (R-Medina) that Luckie was removed from the House Education and Insurance committees, leaving him with no committees left to serve on.
Luckie was indicted last week on 49 charges including money laundering, theft in office and tampering with evidence. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and the FBI alleged Luckie had diverted $130,000 from his campaign committee for personal use. Luckie has pleaded not guilty to the charges. (See The Hannah Report, 10/10/12.)
Sarah Bender, a spokeswoman for Budish, said the Democratic leader sent a letter to Batchelder last week requesting Luckie’s removal from the committees.
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Politics Notebook: Johnson Says Wilson Violated Financial Disclosure Requirements; House GOP Ads Irk Issue 2 Backers
Gongwer 10/16/12
Ad Flap: What's been a common practice for years during Statehouse elections has triggered criticism from a group looking to amend the state constitution with a new redistricting system.
Voters First, the group backing Issue 2, is crying foul over the use of legislative staffers in campaign ads. While partisan staff members have often appeared in brochures and even TV spots over the years during leaves of absence around campaign season to help their caucus's cause, this time around it is coming across like salt in the wound for some advocates.
That's because the ads in question involve two top staff members closely involved in the GOP's process of redrawing legislative districts, which resulted in mostly lopsided, Republican-leaning territories designed to maintain the majority for the next decade: Legal Counsel Mike Lenzo and Deputy Policy Director Heather Mann.
"It's bad enough that Ohio taxpayers had to foot the bill for one of the worst partisan gerrymanders in modern memory," Voters First spokeswoman Sandy Theis said in a release. "Now, these same state employees are appearing in partisan political advertisements in the very districts they helped rig."
Both employees appear in ads for House candidates including 20th District hopeful Nathan Burd. (Mailer; TV Spot)
"Ohio taxpayers don't deserve to have this despicable partisan activity thrown in their face, especially if they have to pay for it," Ms. Theis said. "Speaker Batchelder should apologize to taxpayers, stop all political advertisements that include state employees who gerrymandered Ohio's state legislative districts and stop standing in the way of this citizens reform effort."
Mike Dittoe, spokesman for the Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee, dismissed the Voters First complaint as a "distraction."
"Today's press release from Voters First Ohio is a sad attempt at distraction from their failing campaign to corrupt Ohio's constitution," he said in an email.
"As the Columbus Dispatch eloquently stated yesterday in its editorial opposing Issue 2, the Voters First proposal is 'one of the most poorly conceived ideas ever put before Ohio voters.' No doubt that they have no other choice but to try and distract the voters at this point."
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