Husted campaign transparency bill elicits caution from Garrison, call to recall past by Hoke

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- State Senator Jon Husted (R-Kettering), the Ohio GOP's endorsed candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, announced Tuesday that he intends to introduce a bill on campaign transparency that will ensure Ohioans are fully aware of how campaigns are spending money to influence their vote. Husted's bill, known as the Ohio Campaign Transparency Act, would accomplish this goal by requiring that expenditures made by so-called campaign sub-vendors, or third parties who act on behalf of a campaign, are disclosed to the public.

The presumptive Democratic nominee for Ohio Secretary of State next year, Rep. Jennifer Garrison, responded to an offer from this Examiner to comment on the contents of or the politics behind Husted's bill, which likely will sail through the Senate, controlled easily by his party, but encounter a bumpy road in the House, where Garrison's garrison calls the tune on legislative activity.

In separate news related to Ohio campaigns, elections and Sen. Husted, Candice Hoke, a law professor from Cleveland State University who isolated sources have said is evaluating whether the effort by some to draft her into the race for SOS next year is enough to warrant her entering the race, issued a statement today to this Examiner suggesting she can best help improve Ohio elections by not entering the race at this time.

Husted bill to open curtain on campaign sub-vendor information

Husted said through an emailed announcement that campaign committees can currently give money to a sub-vendor, such as a political consultant, to make expenditures on behalf of their campaign. While the campaign committee is required to disclose the amount they gave to the consultant, they are not required, under Ohio campaign finance law, to disclose how the consultant spent the money, according to Husted's prepared remarks.

“The current system allows campaign committees to conceal their expenditures and hide the facts about who is being paid to influence the outcome of elections,” Husted said.

Husted’s legislation requires a campaign committee to report sub-vendor expenditures, and under the bill, sub-vendors will be required to provide an itemized list of expenditures they make on behalf of the campaign. The bill as introduced will require the campaign committee to also include that itemized list on their expenditure report.

The first-term senator, who as recently as last year was the Speaker of the House, and who is the Ohio GOP's endorsed candidate to reclaim the important Office of Ohio Secretary of State in 2010, said his bill "would provide greater transparency in how money is being used in campaigns and help restore Ohioans’ confidence in the outcome of our elections."

Husted challenger Garrison calls for extension of transparency to issue advocacy groups

Garrison, responding from her home district after the Ohio General Assembly recessed after both chambers came to an agreement on how to fill a gaping hole in the state budget last week, said that while she supports legislation that provides more transparency in the campaign finance arena, she needs to review the specifics of the bill carefully before commenting on it in detail.

What Garrison told this Examiner she finds interesting about Husted's ostensible motivation for introducing the bill, was that it was her understanding, from records unearthed from newspapers on Husted's ascension to the job of Speaker of the House, that some of his election-year help came via what she labeled a "shady non-profit called Citizens for Conservative Values (CCV)," an organization she said "hid its donors" while claiming it was "created to promote public policy, not Husted for Speaker."

Garrison, who continues to add to her endorsements despite not being officially endorsed by the Ohio Democratic Party, said newspaper reports showed that "CCV’s consultants were political operatives tied to Husted who were in line for large bonuses if Husted was installed as Speaker." She said Husted "severed his ties to CCV only after newspapers began questioning him about the group and its tactics."

His new legislation, she said, "appears to have merit, but the enhanced disclosure requirements should extend to so-called issue advocacy groups like CCV.” The problem of sub-vendor transparency, she said, was brought to light during the recent campaign to amend Ohio’s Constitution to allow for casino-style gambling in the state. If Ohio were to pass Husted's bill or a version of it, Garrison pointed to a campaign disclosure law database managed by UCLA that shows there are currently 24 states whose disclosure laws require some form of sub-vendor disclosure.

Garrison hopes to replace current Ohio SOS Jennifer Brunner, who party officials and supporters thought would seek a second term next year but who has instead chosen to engage in an internecine party battle with Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher in next year's Democratic primary to determine which one can beat Rob Portman, the GOP's endorsed candidate to pick up where retiring two-term U.S. Senator George Voinovich left off.

But whether Garrison remains the front-runner for the job to be Ohio's chief elections official has yet to be seen, as rumors percolate that another viable Democratic alternative may yet appear, or that Brunner will decide, with considerable pressure from Gov. Ted Strickland, officials of the Ohio Democratic Party and political operatives from the White House who think she can do herself and Ohio Democrats a favor by rethinking her run for the Senate, to stand down against Fisher and run for a second term as SOS and a chance to reclaim control of the Ohio Apportionment Board and its powers to redrawing districts for the next decade.

Hoke on Ohio elections and Sen. Husted's run for SOS

In a statement emailed to this Examiner Tuesday, Hoke said, "All Ohioans should be legitimately concerned that the 2010 statewide ballot include qualified candidates who can and will represent Ohio citizens over partisan and special interests. I am deeply honored that proponents of fair and equitable elections have encouraged me to consider running for Secretary of State, but I believe that I can best serve my fellow citizens by continuing to work in other roles for fair, verifiably accurate, fiscally prudent, and proficiently conducted elections both here in Ohio and nationally."

Hoke, a national expert on elections and election security, said one of the "biggest threats to Ohio citizens’ interests comes from those who talk cynically and deceptively about achieving impartial and accountable elections and redistricting procedures" and proceeded to invoke the name of Republican nominee John Husted, who as Speaker of the Ohio House, she said "regularly tried to game Ohio’s elections systems for his party’s narrow political advantage."

"All Ohio voters — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — have a stake in honest elections and a redistricting process that is administered in a nonpartisan manner. Husted’s promises as a candidate for Secretary of State must be seen in the light of his past record. Voters and the media should look closely to determine whether the leopard’s new spots aren’t merely an election year paint job."

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