For those discovering Ohio’s mess of government dysfunction, here’s a history of how we got here

The Ohio Statehouse. (Photo by Jodi Jacobson / Getty Images.)

The Democratic National Committee this week announced exactly what I’ve expected all along in the Ohio Biden ballot debacle: Democrats will simply nominate him in a virtual convention before the actual Chicago convention and the president will be on the ballot for reelection in Ohio this November.

If you’ll recall, this is precisely what I predicted in my April 18 column : “Biden will be on the Ohio ballot. Most likely, national Democrats will have to hold a virtual mini-convention earlier than their Chicago convention, and the problem is solved. In 2012 and 2020, Ohio faced this same situation for both parties and lawmakers made temporary extensions to solve deadline problems. In 2024, Ohio Republican politicians are apparently just being as petty as possible.”

It’s fitting for Democrats to solve their own problem because, frankly, they created the problem, so it’s theirs to fix. Ohio’s election law requires presidential candidates be certified in conventions at least 90 days before the general election, and the Democratic National Convention this year has been scheduled to take place in Chicago after that deadline.

Moreover, the change to Ohio’s nomination deadline making it 90 days was passed when Democrats held the Ohio House and governorship while Republicans retained the Ohio Senate, as they have since 1985.

It was a small but obviously consequential part of a 341-page bill, and I’ve yet to see any decent explanation for why it was ever done in the first place.

Nor have I seen a decent explanation why, when the problem came up in 2012, it wasn’t permanently fixed. Even worse, when the problem came up a second time in 2020, it wasn’t permanently fixed then either.

Now that the same problem has come up for a third time in four presidential cycles, it would seem obvious that the legislature should just finally make a permanent fix and move on.

But not this legislature. Oh no, dear world. Not good governance and fair elections in Ohio for their own sake. That’s not how things are done in Ohio these days.

So step right up, folks, to The Great Ohio Big Top of State Government Dysfunction.

I’ve assembled here for your edification and amusement an exhaustive timeline to try to put some semblance of cohesion to all that’s been happening in Ohio to bring us to this point.

If you’re ready to really try to wrap your head around the depth and breadth of Ohio’s debasement, buckle in, because it’s a lot.

The Statehouse of Madness

To begin, a little historical throat-clearing for the youngsters, then we’ll ease our way into the headier stuff.

2009: Ohio’s split-control legislature and Democratic governor inexplicably roll back the presidential nomination ballot deadline to 90 days.

Also 2010: The U.S. Census Bureau conducts its 10-year census, spurring another round of redistricting in 2011.

Also 2010: The Tea Party wave brings back Republican control of the Ohio House and the Ohio governor’s office .

2011: Ohio Republicans create some of the most gerrymandered maps in the nation in a downtown Columbus secret hotel room “bunker,” ensuring them 10 years of supermajority control over the Ohio legislature.

2012: The Ohio legislature passes a temporary fix to the presidential ballot deadline to accommodate both the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

2015: Ohio voters pass anti-gerrymandering reform for Statehouse districts with more than 71% of the vote , but the reforms leave politicians in charge of drawing the districts. An ominous portent, I’m afraid.

2018: Ohio voters pass anti-gerrymandering reform for U.S. Congressional districts with nearly 75% of the vote , but again, the reforms leave politicians in charge of drawing the districts.

2019: Newly elected Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs a six-week abortion ban for the state with no exceptions for rape or incest , but an injunction is quickly issued by a federal court preventing it from going into effect due to Roe v. Wade.

Also 2019: Then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder ushers a $1.3 billion fossil fuel and FirstEnergy bailout through the legislature that DeWine signs the same day.

Also 2019: The Ohio legislature includes a temporary fix to the presidential ballot deadline in the state budget to accommodate both the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Also 2019: An effort is launched by Ohio citizens to repeal the FirstEnergy bailout, but a ballot summary is rejected by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost . Their effort to get the repeal on the ballot ultimately fails.

2020: The U.S. Census Bureau conducts its 10-year census, spurring another round of redistricting in 2021.

Also 2020: Then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others are arrested in the biggest dark money political bribery and money laundering scandal in Ohio history . One of the other defendants is a FirstEnergy lobbyist named Matt Borges who had previously served as chair of the Ohio Republican Party.

Householder is accused of orchestrating $60 million worth of bribes to elect FirstEnergy-favorable Republicans, make himself speaker, and pass the $1.3 billion bailout at the expense of ratepayers. The bill also destroyed Ohio’s renewable energy portfolio and propped up two failing coal plants, one of which is in Indiana.

Borges is accused of attempting to scuttle the citizen repeal effort.

2021-2022: A bipartisan majority on the Ohio Supreme Court rejects Republican-drawn Statehouse district maps as unconstitutionally gerrymandered five times .

As a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, Gov. DeWine goes along with the Republican legislative leaders’ gerrymandering . Also as a member of the commission, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose goes along with the gerrymandering as well, after campaigning in 2018 telling the nation he was against gerrymandering , and after, as a member of the redistricting commission, calling the maps “asinine” and texting his chief of staff, “I should vote no,” before ultimately voting yes, repeatedly.

Also 2021-2022: A bipartisan majority on the Ohio Supreme Court rejects Republican-drawn U.S. Congressional district maps as unconstitutionally gerrymandered two times .

2021: Nearly a full year after his arrest, lawmakers expel Householder from the Ohio House .

Also 2021: Ohio Republican lawmakers add party labels to Ohio Supreme Court races .

2022: Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission refuse to follow the bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court’s order to draw districts that aren’t gerrymandered, thereby running out the clock after an anti-abortion lobbyist files a lawsuit in federal court to force Ohio voters to use the gerrymandered maps . Two Trump-appointed judges agree to force Ohio voters to vote under unconstitutionally gerrymandered maps .

Also 2022: Swing-vote Republican Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor is forced by law to retire due to age . As she ruled against Republican gerrymandering, there were discussions by Republicans about possibly impeaching O’Connor .

Also 2022: A right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade nationwide . Ohio’s six-week abortion ban is quickly put into effect . Ohio makes international headlines as a 10-year-old rape victim is forced to flee the state for abortion care . Ohio Republicans question the 10-year-old’s existence . Ten days later, the criminal case is confirmed . A couple months later, amid Ohio doctors submitting affidavits of horror stories caused by the law , Ohio’s six-week abortion ban is put on hold by a local county judge .

Also 2022: Ohioans are forced to vote under unconstitutionally gerrymandered maps to elect our current 135th General Assembly (“serving” 2023 and 2024). Republicans increase their gerrymandered supermajorities in both chambers .

Also 2022: A coalition of advocates start planning further redistricting reform . Meanwhile, another group makes plans to put a reproductive rights amendment on the ballot in 2023 for Ohio voters to consider . Polls show 59% support for abortion rights in Ohio .

Shortly thereafter, Secretary of State LaRose and Republican state Rep. Brian Stewart announce a proposal to raise the threshold in Ohio for passing constitutional amendments from 50% to 60% .

LaRose denies that the proposal is connected to abortion or gerrymandering , but in a memo Stewart writes to his colleagues, he lists only two reasons for them to support his proposal: stopping the abortion rights amendment and stopping any further anti-gerrymandering reform in Ohio .

2023: Ohio’s unconstitutionally gerrymandered legislature takes their seats. Republican Jason Stephens is elected Ohio House speaker with support from Democrats and a divided Republican caucus . This sparks a division among Republicans in the chamber that continues to this day, notably manifesting in term-limited Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman’s expected challenge to Stephens’ speakership coming up in January 2025 when Huffman moves over to the House . The Ohio Republican Party votes to censure the Republican Ohio House members who supported Stephens .

Also 2023: Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is convicted of felony racketeering and sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the FirstEnergy dark money political bribery scandal . Former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges is convicted for his role as well, and sentenced to five years in prison .

Also 2023: Ohio Republicans enact one of the most restrictive voter laws in the country . They also eliminate August elections. They make a play to put the 60% amendment threshold on the May ballot in Ohio, but fail . Later, they bring back a special August election to put the 60% proposal to voters . DeWine supports the proposal. Meanwhile, the Ohio reproductive rights proposal qualifies for the November ballot. DeWine is against it.

Summer 2023: Secretary of State LaRose admits the August election is “100%” about trying to stop the November abortion rights amendment .

Summer 2023: Secretary of State LaRose and the anti-abortion lobbyist who sued to force gerrymandered districts on Ohio voters campaign together to try to convince voters to accept the 60% threshold proposal . LaRose also announces his run for the Republican primary nomination for U.S. Senate .

August 2023: 57% of Ohio voters reject the proposal . Later that same month, a group called Citizens Not Politicians is formed to put forward a new anti-gerrymandering amendment proposal that would remove politicians from the process of drawing districts and replace them with a citizen-led commission . Retired Republican Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor and former Democratic Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown join together to spearhead the effort . They make plans to put the amendment ballot proposal before voters in November 2024.

November 2023: 57% of Ohio voters pass the state’s new reproductive rights amendment . Moreover, 57% pass a new law for adult-use recreational marijuana .

December 2023: The Ohio Senate proposes to overhaul the adult-use marijuana law just passed by Ohio voters , but a bipartisan coalition in the fractured Ohio House doesn’t bite, with a majority remaining committed to the law as it was passed by voters.

March 2024: LaRose loses his campaign for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate .

April 2024: LaRose informs Ohio Democrats that the Democratic National Convention takes place after Ohio’s ballot deadline , and that unless the law is changed or the nominating convention is moved, he can not legally put Biden on Ohio’s November ballot. The Republican National Convention, taking place in July, is not affected.

Also April 2024: A joint public records request from Floodlight, the Ohio Capital Journal, the USA Today Network, and Energy News Network reveals FirstEnergy gave $2.5 million to GOP governors’ dark money group backing DeWine’s 2018 candidacy and another $1 million to boost his eventual running mate, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted .

To put that in context, shortly after becoming governor in 2019, DeWine appointed a FirstEnergy lobbyist named Sam Randazzo to be Ohio’s top utilities watchdog. In a deferred prosecution agreement, FirstEnergy admitted bribing Randazzo $4 million . Shortly after winning election, DeWine and Husted had dinner with FirstEnergy executives the very night they drove over to Randazzo’s condo to bribe him . DeWine also appointed another FirstEnergy lobbyist named Dan McCarthy to be his legislative affairs director. Before he took that job, McCarthy was the principal of a dark money group FirstEnergy was using to funnel its bribes . DeWine has repeatedly defended his now-former aide , and last year appointed him to the Ohio Racing Commission .

Also April 2024: Sam Randazzo died by suicide after being indicted and pleading not guilty to both federal and state charges related to the bribery scandal . He is the second defendant in the bribery scandal to die by suicide. The first was lobbyist Neil Clark, who died by suicide in March 2021 wearing a “DeWine for Governor” t-shirt .

May 2024: LaRose and Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman decide to tie Biden’s access to the ballot 2024 to a Republican-proposed elections law to ban foreign contributions to issues campaigns in Ohio , but that’s not all. The Ohio Republican Senate proposal would also erect a variety of barriers to ballot initiatives overall.

For instance, it would create onerous mandates to become a PAC for any citizen group that wants to create a ballot initiative, no matter how small . It would throw into confusion the possible international sourcing of all money, including legal money, for example from a multi-national corporation or, say, the Catholic church . It would prohibit a lawful permanent U.S. resident, also known as a green card holder, from making contributions or expenditures regarding ballot issues or candidates .

Because foreign money is already prohibited by the rules of the Ohio Elections Commission, the question becomes a matter of enforcement. The Senate Republican proposal would turn a massive amount of power over to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ordered Yost to stop blocking the path of a proposed constitutional amendment that would do away with qualified immunity for police officers and other government employees, the Toledo Blade reported .

And as we reported Wednesday, Yost continues to refuse to answer questions about his role in shooting down the FirstEnergy bailout repeal effort in 2019 . In closing remarks of the convicted felon Borges’ trial, federal prosecutors highlighted some claims made by Borges to a co-conspirator.

Borges, you see, also used to be a political advisor and campaign manager for Yost . An Assistant U.S. Attorney paraphrased a June 26, 2019 text Borges sent saying he “had dinner with Yost and put the (repeal) referendum issue on his radar.”

She quoted Borges: “Don’t repeat this. But (Yost) said, ‘I would be out front opposing this if it weren’t for FirstEnergy support and your involvement.’ He thinks the issue is bad policy but he wants to be supportive. If there’s any way that the law will allow him to reject the language, he will do it.”

Are you surprised this is the person Ohio Senate Republicans want to turn massive new authorities over to on ballot and elections issues?

I, dear reader, am not.

Please keep in mind, four years after the arrest of Householder and the news of the FirstEnergy dark money political bribery scandal first broke, Ohio Statehouse Republicans have done absolutely nothing to combat dark money or corruption in Ohio. With each new revelation, they’ve remained recalcitrant.

And, as we reported today, this proposal from Senate Republicans does nothing to provide transparency or accountability for the kind of dark money at the center of the largest political bribery scandal in state history .

Friday, May 24, 2024: Amid continued legislative inaction (on the Biden ballot issue, not anti-corruption legislation lol), DeWine holds a grandstanding press conference to call a special session of the legislature to address the Biden issue, but instead of supporting a “clean bill” as advocated in the Ohio House, DeWine expresses his support for the Senate Republican plan to tie it to their attack on ballot initiatives as well.

Also Friday, May 24, 2024: Both Ohio House Democrats and Republican Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens continue to say that it isn’t the foreign interference ban that they are rejecting; it is the new restrictions on access to the ballot for citizens.

Last week, Stephens put it this way: “We have language that has input from campaign finance experts and important interested parties to deal with the issue. This is language that squarely and directly bans foreign influence in Ohio’s issue campaigns, while not also inadvertently limiting the rights of citizens to have their voices heard.”

That sounds reasonable to me. But it is apparently not an acceptable option for Ohio Senate Republicans, forcing one to conclude that their aim precisely is to limit the rights of citizens to have their voices heard, as it has been time after time after time.

Tuesday, May 28, 2024: The Democratic National Committee announces a virtual convention before the Chicago convention in order to comply with Ohio law without relying on Ohio lawmakers . “Through a virtual roll call, we will ensure that Republicans can’t chip away at our democracy through incompetence or partisan tricks and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice,” DNC Chair Jamie Harrison says.

Wednesday, May 29, 2024: The Ohio legislature continues to blunder forward with its special session anyway in an attempt to move their ballot issues attack under an emergency clause even though there is now no emergency.

Clearly they aren’t attempting to pass a clean Biden ballot bill, much less even a clean foreign money ban. And they damn sure aren’t interested in seriously addressing the rampant dark money corruption that federal criminal convictions have proven Ohio to be suffering.

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