Inquiry into ads critical of Resnick will continue

Friday, March 02, 2001

By T.C. BROWN
PLAIN DEALER BUREAU

Local Politics
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COLUMBUS - A sharply divided Ohio Elections Commission decided yesterday to continue investigating the U.S. and Ohio Chambers of Commerce over a barrage of commercials they aired on an Ohio Supreme Court race last year.

The two chambers and Citizens for a Strong Ohio, an independent affiliate of the Ohio Chamber, spent millions on commercials late last fall that suggested Justice Alice Robie Resnick traded her support for campaign contributions. The business groups contend the ads were protected free speech and not political, and thus they have not been required to identify the people who contributed money to the ads.

Complaints filed against the groups accuse them of using false statements in political commercials, a violation of Ohio’s election statutes.

In a 90-minute session yesterday, clouded with confusion over what issues were being tallied, the Elections Commission deadlocked 3-3 in a series of votes on motions by the business groups to dismiss the cases. Because they tied, the motions were defeated and the investigations will continue, said Commission Chairman Alphonse Cincione.

The tie occurred yesterday because Republican Commissioner William M. Connelly, who voted for the investigation in November, changed his mind. Connelly said he was "troubled" that it would be unfair to go after the ads’ contributors, who believed they were protected by the law.

Mary Sullivan, a Republican commission member who has sided with the chambers in the past, was unable to attend yesterday’s meeting.

Donald McTigue, the attorney representing Common Cause Ohio, which filed the complaint against the U.S. Chamber, said he will pursue action to get the names of contributors from the U.S. Chamber. Requests for a protective order from all the groups were denied by the commission yesterday.

The Ohio Chamber case involves a complaint filed by the Alliance for Democracy, a citizens group from Waltham, Mass.

The U.S. Chamber is still waiting for a ruling in a lawsuit it filed in federal court recently, which asks U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus to declare Ohio laws out of step with federal rulings on political commercials.

E-mail: tcbrown@plaind.com

Phone: 216-999-4213

©2001 THE PLAIN DEALER. Used with permission.