COLUMBUS | Ohio Democrats continued to push
for campaign finance reforms Monday, including a better tracking of
campaign contributions from county parties to statewide candidates.
State Rep. Bryan Flannery, D-Lakewood, the Democratic candidate
for secretary of state, asked his Republican opponent, Secretary of
State J. Kenneth Blackwell, to investigate contributions from county
and state political parties to statewide candidates for the 2002
election.
The five Republicans running for statewide offices received a
combined $2.3 million from the Ohio Republican Party and various
county GOPs between mid-September and late January.
Political parties are funneling money to candidates from donors
who want to remain anonymous or who have already hit their campaign
contribution limit of $2,500 per candidate, Flannery said. The
practice is legal but unethical, he said.
Blackwell’s spokesman, Carlo LoParo, said the secretary of
state’s office thoroughly audits all campaign finance reports.
"If Mr. Flannery has any specific knowledge of any violation of
Ohio campaign finance law, it would be highly unethical for him to
not report that information to the secretary of state immediately,"
LoParo said.
Flannery said he plans to introduce a bill that would require the
secretary of state to develop a tracking system to show exactly
where donor money is spent or passed on to other candidates. Right
now, money from parties is bundled and then given to candidates,
which Flannery said he doesn’t consider full disclosure.
Flannery used oversized, blurry black and white photos of the
five GOP candidates for statewide offices with the total amount
received from political parties stamped in red across their
pictures. For example, Gov. Bob Taft received $943,520 from seven
county Republican parties and the Ohio Republican Party between
Sept. 17 and Dec. 31. Blackwell received $664,250 from
seven county GOPs and the state party.
Large county parties have traditionally made big contributions to
statewide candidates, Flannery said. But lately, GOP money has been
flowing through smaller counties such as Mercer, Licking and
Columbiana, he said.
"Nobody knows what’s going on. It’s just suspicion," Flannery
said.
Democrats have also been criticizing Republican party leaders and
candidates over party operating funds, which can be kept secret
under Ohio law. This year, it came out that stockbroker Frank
Gruttadauria, who is now suspected of stealing $277 million from
clients, contributed $50,000 to the Hamilton County GOP’s operating
fund. Gruttadauria’s employers, SG Cowen Corp. and Lehman Brothers
Inc., completed a combined $5.9 billion in trades for State
Treasurer Joe Deters, who formerly headed the Hamilton County GOP.
• Contact Laura Bischoff at (614) 224-1624 or
laura_bischoff@coxohio.com
[From the Dayton
Daily News: 04.09.2002]
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