More state officials, candidates following law

April 27, 1999

By Alan Johnson
Dispatch Statehouse Reporter

Most state officials, including Gov. Bob Taft, got high marks for complying with a state law requiring disclosure of campaign contributors' occupations.

But Ohio Citizen Action flunked state Treasurer Joseph T. Deters for citing just 57 percent of donor occupations. Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court received a C for identifying 79 percent of donor occupations, while Ohio Senate President Richard H. Finan, R-Cincinnati, was a few points better at 82 percent, good for a B.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen group annually monitors officeholders and candidates on their compliance with the campaign disclosure law.

Overall, the numbers improved last year, with 95 percent of candidates identifying employers, up from 92 percent in 1997 and 88 percent in 1996.

The survey covered $47 million in political contributions, $19 million of it in donations of $100 or more.

For the second straight year, Ohio Citizen Action criticized Taft who, as secretary of state last year, was responsible for maintaining campaign finance reports and entering them into a computer database.

The group said it found numerous errors in Taft's database, most of them where data on the donor's occupation was not entered.

As a result, Citizen Action reviewed the campaign records and upgraded several officeholders' ratings, boosting Finan to a B from an F and Attorney General Betty Montgomery to an A from a B.

Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, elected last fall, "moved very quickly this year to try to upgrade Ohio's campaign finance system,'' the report said.

Blackwell's campaign identified 99 percent of the occupations of his contributors.

Doug Priesse, a spokesman for Deters' campaign, said the campaign "complied fully with Ohio's reporting requirements.

"The practice results were less than we would have hoped,'' Priesse acknowledged. "We have implemented a new system and are confident we will continue to do better as other officeholders have improved over time.''

Deters' opponent last fall, John A. Donofrio, likewise received a failing disclosure grade.

Taft and Lee Fisher, his Democratic opponent last fall, received A's from Citizen Action.

Others receiving A's were House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson, R-Reynoldsburg; Senate Minority Leader Ben Espy, D-Columbus; House Minority Leader Jack Ford, D-Toledo; and state Auditor Jim Petro.