Commission to review elections complaint

BY DOUG OPLINGER
Beacon Journal staff writer

COLUMBUS: The Ohio Elections Commission today is to consider a complaint by a campaign reform group charging that election laws have been broken in the hotly contested race for the Ohio Supreme Court.

Common Cause of Ohio, a nonpartisan group that monitors campaign activity and contributions, alleges that a nonprofit organization called Citizens for a Strong Ohio, which operates out of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce in Columbus, plans to influence the election of two candidates for Supreme Court.

Nonprofit groups are prohibited by law from engaging in partisan politics.

Common Cause has introduced an April 20 letter from the Ohio Contractors Association to its members urging them to contribute to Citizens for a Strong Ohio and the campaigns of Republican Deborah Cook, who is running for re-election, and appeals Judge Terrence O'Donnell, who is attempting to unseat Justice Alice Robie Resnick, a Democrat.

Although the letter states that Citizens for a Strong Ohio plans to educate voters on the importance of the Supreme Court race and will not advocate for any of the candidates, Common Cause says the letter is clear evidence that Citizens for a Strong Ohio has a political agenda.

``Even if Citizens for a Strong Ohio does not in express terms urge voters to support or oppose a specific candidate at an election, its purpose is still to provide support or opposition to a candidate,'' the complaint says.

Common Cause says that Citizens for a Strong Ohio should be classified as a political action committee, which would require disclosure of its donor list, rather than as a nonprofit education organization.

``We are not involved in any kind of campaign activity,'' said Charles McConville, vice president of Citizens for a Strong Ohio.

``We do economic advocacy work, telling citizens how government decisions affect the state of the economy of Ohio,'' he said. ``We're not set up as a PAC, and we do not tell people who to vote for or who to vote against.''

Andrew Doehrel, president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber has contributed $200,000 to Citizens for a Strong Ohio.

McConville also has run the chamber's Political and Candidate Education Program, described as helping business leaders ``target political resources into races that will make a difference for your business and the entire business community.''

PACE studies voting records of candidates and suggests to business leaders which politicians are more sympathetic to business interests.

McConville's PACE reports have identified Resnick as the most anti-business justice on the court.

Doug Oplinger can be reached at 330-996-3750 or doplinger@thebeaconjournal.com