Ohio Democrat Governor Hires Away GOP Incumbents July 23, 2008
Posted by rslcpol in : State Legislature News , add a commentFrom the Columbus Dispatch:
Strickland already has been plenty helpful to House Democrats, particularly in their fundraising efforts. Now, in a move that has angered Republicans, he’s taking a new tack by hiring away GOP lawmakers in key districts.
In one day, House Republicans lost candidates in two swing seats that suddenly became much more competitive. Democrats need a net pickup of four seats to take control of the chamber for the first time since 1994.
The Strickland administration announced yesterday that it is creating a $115,000 position in the Ohio Department of Development for three-term Rep. Jim Raussen, R-Springdale.
Raussen won re-election in 2006 by only 4 points, and Democrats expected to pay at least some attention to the seat again this year. Now, the 28th District in Hamilton County likely moves up on their target list.
Also yesterday, Sen. Robert F. Spada, R-North Royalton, informed House GOP campaign leaders that he would not seek election to the competitive 18th District in Cuyahoga County. Republicans say they are being told that Strickland also plans to name Spada to a government position, possibly on the State Employment Relations Board.
“I’ve been going door to door, trying to raise money … but my heart is not in it like it used to be,” Spada said. “The thrill of campaigning like this has worn off.”
Spada would not confirm or deny any possible Strickland administration appointment.
House GOP leaders are not pleased by the governor’s sudden generosity toward Republican legislators.
Ohio GOP Blasts Secretary of State Brunner
Posted by rslcpol in : Secretaries of State, State Legislature News, Dems Behaving Badly , add a commentFrom The Columbus Dispatch:
Republican legislative leaders say Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is defying a new state law requiring that all voters be mailed an absentee-ballot application, potentially affecting voters in rural counties.
But Brunner, a Democrat, says those lawmakers never bothered to consult her about the new law, passed in June as part of a major budget bill, and they didn’t pony up enough money to pay for it.
The dust-up is over a directive that Brunner issued this week in which she says counties have the option of mailing an absentee-ballot application to every voter with the return postage for sending it back.
The legislature wanted all voters to get an application with the required notice of the Nov. 4 election that must be sent to all voters Sept. 5. The legislature approved $3 million to reimburse counties, but Brunner said that’s not enough.
Her directive would allocate part of the $3 million to each county based on its percentage of registered voters in the state, and she is requiring that any state money be used first to reimburse the costs for return postage.
As a result, many counties likely will opt not to mail an application at all because they can’t afford to pay the difference, said Shannon Leininger, president of the Ohio Association of Election Officials.
Rep. Jay Hottinger, a Newark Republican and chairman of the House Finance Committee, said Ohio’s three largest counties, Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton, are already mailing applications, so lawmakers approved the new mandate and new money “so smaller, poorer counties are afforded the same opportunities.”
Texas Close to a New Secretary of State?
Posted by rslcpol in : Secretaries of State , add a commentFrom Statesman.com:
I hear that Hope Andrade, a former member of the Texas Transportation Commission, is in Gov. Rick Perry’s sights as his choice to succeed the departed Phil Wilson as Texas secretary of state.
“It’s the worst-kept secret in town,” a Republican in the know said today.
That said, I couldn’t confirm the development this morning.
Andrade didn’t immediately return a call for comment. Perry’s office had no comment.
The state senator who would be consulted by Perry if Andrade is his pick insists he doesn’t know where she lives.
Boerne, near San Antonio, a Web search indicates.
Maybe state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, was joshing with me.
Andrade, an entrepreneur appointed to the commission by Perry in 2003, served as the in-the-crosshair’d panel’s chair from January until her departure April 30. Her position on the five-member body was filled by Deirdre Delisi, Perry’s former chief of staff.
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said she’d welcome Andrade if she proves Perry’s choice. “I was hoping that he would tap her for something; she just has so much credibility,” Van de Putte said, adding that Andrade is “savvy about the border,” a factor that could help in the international relations that go into the job.
DNC Dems Not Paying Gas Taxes in Denver… Outcry Ensues
Posted by rslcpol in : Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly , add a commentVia blogwonks.com, from Rocky Mountain News:
The committee hosting the Democratic National Convention has used the city’s gas pumps to fill up and apparently avoided paying state and federal fuel taxes.
The practice, which began four months ago, may have ended hours after its disclosure. An aide to Mayor John Hickenlooper released a statement Tuesday evening saying that Denver 2008 Host Committee members would pay market prices for fuel and would also be liable for all applicable taxes.
However, Public Works spokeswoman Christine Downs told City Council members just hours before that host committee members were fueling up at the city pumps. The city does not pay taxes on the fuel for its fleet, and Downs said the host committee would not either.
The disclosure brought immediate scrutiny. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said the practice “would seem” to be illegal and referred the matter to the state Department of Revenue.
Nonprofits, such as the host committee, are subject to state and federal gasoline taxes, according to the Department of Revenue.
The issue arose during the regular weekly meeting of Hickenlooper and City Council members. Downs requested authorization for a contract so the Public Works Department could be reimbursed by the host committee for use of “fueling facilities, fuel and car washes.”
CT: Legislative Panel Ignores Attorneys, Adopts Rebate Plan
Posted by rslcpol in : State Legislature News , add a commentFrom the Courant.com:
A legislative panel Tuesday overrode the advice of its own attorneys and adopted a set of rules governing power plant emissions that includes potential rebates for consumers.
The move is a victory for Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who had pushed for the rebates as a way to hedge against potentially higher electricity prices for consumers.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, however, has contended that Rell’s plan is illegal because it does not conform to legislation passed last year that set up the emissions control program. Critics of the plan say the payout would be minuscule, and the money should be spent on energy efficiency programs that offer potentially larger savings.
Rell called the vote “a victory for taxpayers” and said, “I am pleased that lawmakers on the regulations review committee have joined me in recognizing that Connecticut can be a full participant in the effort to address climate change — and provide ratepayer protections at the same time.”
CA: Law is a Shadow over Solar Panels
Posted by rslcpol in : State Legislature News , add a commentFrom the Palo Alto Daily News:
In Silicon Valley’s famous “trees vs. solar panels” battle, the trees have won.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law Tuesday that guarantees if California property owners plant a tree before a neighbor installs solar panels on their roof, then the neighbor can’t require the tree to be cut or trimmed, even if it grows to cast shade on the panels.
State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, wrote the bill in response to a Sunnyvale case that made national news and threatened to touch off statewide backyard battles as residential solar power installations grow in popularity. The bill, SB 1399, passed unanimously in the Assembly and Senate and was not opposed by the solar industry.
In the case, Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett of Sunnyvale were criminally prosecuted under an obscure 1970s law because redwood trees in their backyard cast a shadow over a neighbor’s solar panels.
The showdown began in 2001, when the neighbor, Mark Vargas, installed a 10-kilowatt solar system on his roof and on a 10-foot-high trellis in his back yard.
Vargas said he first asked Treanor and Bissett to chop down the eight redwoods the couple had planted from 1997 to 1999 along the fence separating their yards. The trees range are about 20 to 40 feet tall. Later, he asked them to trim the trees to about 15 feet high, even offering to pay the costs.
Treanor and Bissett said no. They said they liked the trees for privacy and noted the trees were there first.
They suggested Vargas move his solar panels, which make up an array three times the size of a typical home system. Vargas said doing so would reduce the amount of electricity they could generate for his five-bedroom home and electric car.
DAGA Trial Lawyer Donor Now an Issue in Pennsylvania
Posted by rslcpol in : Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly , add a commentWe last saw this “generous DAGA (Democratic Attorneys General Association) Donor” in Arkansas. Where will he pop up next?
From Legal News Line:
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Attorney Kenneth Bailey has inspired a lot of headlines by making money, and a few more by giving it out.
A renowned plaintiffs attorney whose Houston-based firm Bailey Perrin Bailey has taken on the biggest companies in the world, Bailey’s largest campaign contributions are often handed to the state officials who hire BPB on a contingent-fee basis.
Janssen Pharmaceutica, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that is the defendant in a suit brought by BPB and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, thinks it is time for that practice to stop.
“The contingent fee contract whereby the (Governor’s Office of General Counsel) retained Bailey Perrin was not the subject of any competitive bidding or legislative authorization,” Janssen claims in its June Motion to Disqualify Counsel.
“Rather, the contract appears to be the product of private negotiations between the (OGC) and (BPB) over a period of several months in 2006.
“In the precise time period during which the contract was negotiated and executed … F. Kenneth Bailey … made repeated and significant contributions, totaling more than $100,000 to Gov. Rendell’s re-election campaign and to the Democratic Governors Association.”
Ohio GOP Picks their AG Candidate; Resume Includes Prosecuting Pete Rose
Posted by rslcpol in : Attorney General News , add a commentFrom the Columbus Dispatch:
A lawyer who made a name for himself in the 1990s prosecuting drug dealers and baseball legend Pete Rose will be the Republican candidate for Ohio attorney general in November.
D. Michael Crites, whose election experience is limited to one term on the Olentangy Local School District board, rose to the top of a small pool of Republicans willing to take on Democratic state Treasurer Richard Cordray for the job.
Republicans think that Crites’ legal acumen — he has a stellar rating in a lawyers’ peer-review system — and extensive military background will compensate for his relative lack of name recognition and fundraising experience.
As reported first on Dispatch.com, Crites confirmed Monday afternoon that he’d been approached by Ohio Republican Party officials about running in November, and a source said yesterday that the 60-year-old Powell resident is the party’s choice.
Crites did not return a call yesterday, and party officials declined to confirm the selection until a planned Statehouse news conference today.
Crites, Cordray and independent candidate Robert M. Owens are expected to be on the ballot for the November special election to replace Democrat Marc Dann, who resigned as Ohio’s top lawyer in May. Dann was less than midway through his term when allegations of sexual harassment in the office and mismanagement, as well as his own admission of an affair with an employee, created pressure on him to step down.
Although Crites has been in the public eye rarely since leaving the Olentangy school board in 1997, he frequently made news as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 1986 to 1993.
His term coincided with the influx of crack cocaine into many Midwestern cities, including Cincinnati and Columbus, and Crites got national attention as an aggressive prosecutor of the drug trade.
PA: Democrat House Leader Lets Everyone Down; Growing Calls for him to Step Aside
Posted by rslcpol in : State Legislature News, Attorney General News , add a commentFrom the Morning Call:
Either Pennsylvania House Majority Leader H. William DeWeese doesn’t get it, or he won’t face it. He is a failed leader. The Bonusgate indictments make that painfully apparent. Yet, he hangs on, maintaining his innocence, refusing the growing call for him to step down from his leadership position.
It isn’t as if both his constituents and colleagues haven’t been giving him clear signals. An unheralded Republican challenger gave the 12-term House member a much tougher, though not particularly close, race in the last legislative election, one in which his party managed to regain control of the chamber by the narrowest of majorities — one seat.
That opened the door to Mr. DeWeese becoming speaker of the House again after a long exile as minority leader. But, his hardball tactic of disciplining wayward caucus members, his role in the 2005 pay grab, and perhaps the whiff of impending trouble denied him the honor. Instead, young Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, engineered the elevation of Philadelphia Republican Dennis O’Brien to speaker. Rep. DeWeese kept smiling, knowing he still would be the backstage puppeteer.
When Attorney General Tom Corbett handed down the first round of Bonusgate indictments two weeks ago, Pennsylvanians got some insight into what Democratic leaders paid to win back control of the state House. It cost the taxpayers more than $2 million in bonuses to House staff members who ”volunteered” to work on election campaigns and other partisan activity throughout the state. The public tab is even higher when you consider that House Democrats also used $1.7 million in taxpayer money for campaign Web sites and campaign ”blast e-mails.” The first use of this was the 2005 special election in Lehigh County’s 131st District between Republican Rep. Karen Beyer and Democrat Linda Minger. The grand jury presentment makes it clear: Democratic leaders wanted to fund political campaigns at the public’s expense.
Does the Ohio GOP Have an AG Candidate? July 22, 2008
Posted by rslcpol in : Attorney General News , add a commentThey won’t say for sure, but the rumors are out there:
From Legal News Line:
Despite various newspaper and Web site reports indicating the Ohio Republican Party is set to announce they’ve selected someone to oppose Democrat Richard Cordray in November’s election for Ohio Attorney General, the party’s executive director says not so fast.
“I can’t confirm any speculation,” said Jason Mauk, in reference to stories in today’s online version of The Columbus Dispatch, for one, indicating the Ohio GOP will select D. Michael Crites, a former federal prosecutor as its candidate for Ohio AG.
Crites is a managing partner of a Columbus law firm while Cordray is Ohio’s current treasurer. According to Mauk, “None of the (published comments) are attributable to anyone officially linked to the Ohio GOP.”
Even if Crites announces his candidacy does not guarantee he will gain the party’s endorsement, Mauk said.
“An announcement is not a nomination,” he said.
However, he did confirm the Ohio Republican State Central and Executive Committee is scheduled to meet Aug. 2 and it’s possible the party will officially name a candidate after that meeting.
Crites did not return a call seeking comment.
Under Ohio election law, state Republicans have until Aug. 20 to name an AG candidate.
Georgia Majority Leader Says Speaker is Staying Put
Posted by rslcpol in : State Legislature News , add a commentFrom Macon.com:
A north Georgia legislator’s plan to wrest the gavel away from Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson doesn’t stand much of a chance, House Majority Leader Jerry Keen told Macon Rotary Club members Monday.
Keen, who confirmed he’s considering running for governor in 2010, said Richardson has done “an outstanding job” as speaker, despite the public spats that have grabbed headlines since Republicans took over the House four years ago.
“I will vote for Glenn Richardson again as speaker, and I’ll tell you why,” Keen, R-St. Simons, told the lunchtime crowd. “Public relations notwithstanding, he’s done an outstanding job. … Most, if not all, of the major legislation we’ve passed up there in the last four years since he’s been speaker would not have been possible (without him).”
The Speaker of the House is elected by House members. But, given the Republican Party’s majority in the House, the decision is largely made by the Republican caucus. State Rep. David Ralston, a Blue Ridge Republican, said last week that he plans to challenge Richardson for the speaker’s job, and a handful of other House members have lined up behind him publicly.
The challenge came “out of the blue,” and Keen,one of the top Republicans in the state, said he hadn’t spoken to Ralston as of early Monday afternoon.
NC: GOP AG Candidate Taking On Dem AG
Posted by rslcpol in : Attorney General News , 1 comment so farFrom the Sun Journal:
Bob Crumley, the Republican candidate for state attorney general, said Monday that the current Office of the Attorney General is not responsive to the needs of North Carolina residents.
Crumley, 51, said the office, now under the direction of Democrat Roy Cooper, has been a stepping stone for other state offices, such as governor.
He cited the State Bureau of Investigation crime lab and the backlog of evidence testing for the state’s 100 counties. Crumley said a new SBI lab opened this month in Greensboro to serve 12 counties. “The lab cannot process DNA,” Crumley said. He called that ludicrous.
“Before the building was complete, I looked at the building and inside the lobby were boxes of office furniture and chairs. But on the wall of the lobby was a photograph of Roy Cooper,” he said.
Crumley said he does not want his photograph inside any state buildings. “I don’t want the job to be about politics. I will work hard to not be a politician,” he said.
He said the office needs to respond quickly to the needs of state residents and Council of State members.
Indiana Conflict of Interest? Dem AG Candidate and her Clients
Posted by rslcpol in : Attorney General News , add a commentFrom nwi.com:
The two candidates for Indiana attorney general are sparring over the role a public construction contractor could play in the upcoming racketeering trial against former East Chicago city officials.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Greg Zoeller, whose office is prosecuting the civil case, said employees of the contractor will play a “critical” role in the trial — which could mean company officials probably will want their attorney, Linda Pence, at their side during the case.
Pence is the Democratic candidate for attorney general, and Zoeller is the Republican candidate. The election is in November, and a trial date for the case has not yet been set.
“If you’ve been involved in a specific case … you can’t represent both sides,” Zoeller said.
Pence brushed aside questions of whether she could have a conflict of interest in the case, adding that she was “amazed” that the current administration has delayed the trial so long that allegations from 1999 are a campaign issue in 2008.
“If there’s judged to be a conflict of interests, it will not take me seven to nine years to find outside counsel and finish the case,” Pence said.
Pence has said she will not commit to going forward with the racketeering case against former East Chicago Democratic Mayor Robert Pastrick’s administration until she has a chance to review the files and judge the strength of the evidence.
MT: GOP AG Candidate Wants Change to Self Defense Law
Posted by rslcpol in : Attorney General News , add a commentFrom the Billings Gazette:
“These are situations where milliseconds matter and even a spark of doubt can have life-threatening impacts - we need to change Montana’s self-defense law,” Fox said.
Fox’s stance is considerably softer than one proposed previously by conservative lawmakers who would have allowed people to open fire with immunity just about anywhere they reasonably felt threatened.
Reaction to Fox’s proposal was mixed. Politicians, peace officers and even Fox’s opponent agreed that when at home people should be able to defend themselves even it means killing someone.
Some argue, however, that Montanans already have the right to defend their homes without a “castle doctrine,” so named from the phrase that a man’s home is his castle.
Jim Smith, executive director of the Montana Sheriff’s and Peace Officer’s Association, said legislative fights over self-defense laws turned ugly during the 2007 Legislature, as
Democrats and law enforcement officers argued that it wasn’t necessary to soften laws governing when it was appropriate to kill someone.
“I remember Senator Jesse Laslovich’s (D-Anaconda) comment during the Senate committee action. He said there’s nothing wrong with Montana law as it relates to self-defense,” Smith said. “I think there’s a question about whether the castle doctrine is needed in Montana.”
Virginia Conflict of Interest: Dem Gov Candidate Pays Dem Legislator $7500/Month for Campaign Work
Posted by rslcpol in : State Legislature News, Dems Behaving Badly , add a commentBut what about those votes?
From Hampton Roads:
Del. Lionell Spruill Sr., of Chesapeake is being paid $7,500 a month as a consultant for the 2009 Democratic gubernatorial campaign of Del. Brian Moran of Alexandria.
Spruill, a prominent Democratic political organizer, appears to be the only state legislator earning a salary for working in a Virginia campaign.
Spruill said he met early this year with the two Democrats vying for governor next year: Moran and state Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath County.
“I decided to work for Brian Moran because he’s the best candidate and I want to win next November,” Spruill said Monday.
Deeds never offered to pay Spruill. “Sen. Deeds spoke to him and asked him for help but did not offer him a paid position on the campaign,” said Peter Jackson, a spokesman for Deeds.
Spruill, a retired phone company worker, said money has nothing to do with his endorsement.
“That’s no big money I’m getting,” Spruill said. “Anyone could have matched it.”
Moran’s campaign committee announced in March that Spruill would serve as a consultant. He received $5,000 in February for his efforts and $7,500 a month since, according to a campaign finance report filed by Moran last week.
“Del. Spruill is heading up outreach in Hampton Roads and statewide in the African American community,” said Jesse Ferguson, a spokesman for Moran. “He has a tremendous network around the state and already has done a great job introducing Brian around the state.”
