Insurer's employees sink dollars into court race

By Randy Ludlow, Post Ohio Bureau

COLUMBUS -- Employees of Cincinnati Financial Corp. have opened their wallets to help a pair of Republicans win election to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Workers and agents of the Fairfield-based company, the parent of Cincinnati Insurance Co., contributed $59,410 in 1999 and 2000 to emerge as Ohio's largest organizational contributor to court campaigns.

All Cincinnati Financial-related contributions went to Republican Justice Deborah Cook and GOP court candidate Terrence O'Donnell, according to a study by the Citizens Policy Center, an arm of Ohio Citizen Action.

Cincinnati Financial contributors provided Justice Cook -- who is opposed by Democrat Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Tim Black -- with $33,590, her second largest amount of overall campaign cash.

Employees of the casualty and property insurer also gave $25,820 to form the single largest source of money for O'Donnell, a Cleveland appeals court judge who is running against Democrat Justice Alice Robie Resnick.

Scott Gilliam, Cincinnati Financial director of government relations, said the company did not mount any organized effort to encourage its workers to contribute to O'Donnell and Justice Cook.

''Our employees and agents choose on their own which campaigns and candidates they give to. Our insurance professionals every day are involved in matters decided by the Ohio Supreme Court,'' Gilliam said.

''Since they are very educated in that area, many have chosen to be active in these campaigns and make voluntary contributions,'' he added.

Business and insurance interests generally gave to Republican court candidates while labor unions and trial lawyers supported Democrats. A Resnick-authored 4-3 opinion overturning limits on some lawsuit damages a vailable to injured consumers angered the insurance industry.

Total contributions to all four court candidates totaled $2.5 million between Jan. 1, 1999, and last Oct. 3, the study found.

The Carl Lindner-led American Financial Corp. emerged as the 13th largest organizational contributor in Ohio with $24,000 in court campaign gifts from its employees.

Procter & Gamble Co. was 15th at $23,400; Cintas was 17th at $20,200; and Waite, Schneider, B ayless & Chesley was 23rd at $16,450.

Law firms were the largest overall contributors to the campaigns of Justice Resnick and Black .

Justice Resnick received $26,000 from Scanlon & Gearinger, of Akron, and Black obtained $21,000 each from Nurenberg, Plevin & Heller, of Cleveland, and Murray & Murray, of Sandusky.

Court candidates can raise any amount of money, but are restricted to spending $275,000 on primary campaigns and $550,000 on general election campaigns.

Read the Ohio Citizen Action's list of leading organizational contributors to Supreme Court Campaigns.