|
 |
Follow the Money
Ohio Citizen Action today released overviews of campaign contributions to members of the Ohio Supreme Court during the last four election cycles (2000-2006). Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer received $1.5 million (Election 2000), Justice Robert Cupp nearly $1 million (Election 2006), Judith Lanzinger $1.6 million, Maureen O’Connor $1.7 million (Election 2002), Paul E. Pfeifer nearly $80,000 (Election 2004), and Evelyn Lundberg Stratton $1.9 million (Election 2002). In this same time period, Justice Terrence O’Donnell ran for the Supreme Court three times. In 2000, he raised nearly $1 million in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Alice Robie Resnick. O’Donnell was appointed by Governor Bob Taft to fill Deborah Cook’s seat in 2003, when she left the Ohio Supreme Court for the federal bench. He raised $1.6 million to retain this seat in Election 2004. O’Donnell’s seat was up for election again in 2006 and he raised an additional $1 million. In these three elections, O’Donnell raised a combined total of $3,620,782. These campaign finance profiles include an overview of types of donors, large contributors, and money from the political parties. The insurance industry played a prominent role in Supreme Court elections, contributing a total of $1,781,568 to six of the seven Justices. Insurance company Cincinnati Financial Corporation ($312,723) was the top donor to six members of the Ohio Supreme Court: Cupp, Lanzinger, Moyer, O’Connor, O’Donnell, and Stratton. In sharp contrast, Pfeifer did not receive any contributions from the insurance industry.
Methodology
The Money in Politics Project of the Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund analyzed contributions to the Chief Justice and the Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court from Elections 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Totals include contributions from political action committees (PACs), labor unions, and individuals.
The database is based on the filings of candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court, available in computerized form from the Ohio Secretary of State. These filings were submitted electronically by the candidate committees to the Secretary of State and are available on-line at www.sos.state.oh.us. Candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court are permitted to raise money only during the time period that they are on the ballot. The Justices were given an opportunity to review their campaign finance profiles.
To identify the employers of contributors, the Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund used the following:
1. Databases of architects, doctors, dentists, funeral directors, and certified public accountants registered to do business in Ohio from the Ohio Division of Administrative Services,
2. A database from the Ohio Supreme Court of attorneys in Ohio
3. A list of lobbyists in Ohio from the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee,
4. A list of contributors to political action committees in Ohio,
5. Database of physicians provided by the American Medical Association,
6. Database of attorneys provided by Martindale-Hubble.
7. Search engines like Google.
For each candidate the total amount in this campaign finance database includes the following: - Contributions received
- Contributions received at a social or fundraising event
- In-kind contributions received
- Contributions the candidate gave to his own campaign
The campaign finance profiles do not include Statement of Other Income, which includes interest, refunds, returns, and other non-contribution income. |
|
|
Overviews:
|
