The winds of power are shifting fast after Amy Acton and other statewide Democratic candidates’ shockingly broad victories in this week’s midterm election.
The change was evident Thursday at a traditional post-election event hosted by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce that’s widely attended by state officials, politicians, lobbyists and business leaders. It’s often headlined by GOP election winners. This year, Democrats reveled in their new importance.
“We’ve been in the wilderness. It’s been bumpy. People didn’t call,” said Joe Rettoff, a Democratic strategist in Columbus who spoke at the event. “My phone’s been ringing a lot more lately than it has in 17 years. ”
The Ohio Democratic Party hasn’t had this kind of relevance, at least among the Capitol Square political class, since 2006, when voters elected Ted Strickland as governor. The Democrat lost re-election in 2010.
Lobbyists target Democratic leaders
Democratic campaign professionals — including a former Strickland aide — said that they are experiencing a surge of popularity as lobbying groups scramble to make inroads with them.
Among them is Lauren Worley, who was at Thursday’s political event. She held a top job in the Strickland administration and this year ran Democrat Seth Walsh’s campaign for state treasurer. She had a tough time getting people to take Walsh seriously during much of the midterm.
She said some labor groups that typically aligned with Democratic candidates wouldn’t even meet with Walsh as they hedged bets in favor of Republican candidate Jay Edwards.
Some lobbying groups took the prospect of Acton winning more seriously in the last couple of months, Worley said. But they only became interested in the down-ballot candidates after Walsh and most other Democratic statewide candidates won Tuesday.
“Nonprofit leaders, lobbyists, they were all at Amy Acton’s election night event, ” Worley said. “Now they’re all actively calling people like me who ran campaigns.”
Acton names transition team leader
Another Strickland alum, John Haseley, has landed a top role on Acton’s political team. Acton’s campaign announced Thursday that Haseley, who served as Strickland’s chief of staff when he was governor and a congressman, would chair Acton’s transition team. That’s the entity that will help Acton hire a cabinet and organize an inauguration ceremony, among other tasks. Haseley also previously worked for the late Democratic Sen. John Glenn and co-founded a prominent Democratic consulting firm in Columbus, Remington Road Group.
Acton also unveiled a new website that includes a job application portal – which is expected to attract intense interest from Democrats, who long have been locked out of state government jobs. Attendees at the chamber event publicly speculated on Thursday about which current elected officials from around the state might land jobs in the new administration.
During a panel discussion, Sen. Bill DeMora, a Columbus Democrat, suggested fellow Democratic lawmaker Dr. Beth Liston, a physician from Dublin, would be a worthy pick as director of the state health department – the kind of plum administration job that has been out of reach for Democrats for nearly two decades. (In a text message, Liston didn’t address the speculation but said she’s “trying to figure out where I can be most effective.”)
Acton names transition team leader
Acton is getting insight about the governor’s job from outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican. He told reporters Thursday at the chamber event that he and Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine hosted Acton and her husband, Eric, at the Ohio governor’s mansion on Wednesday.
In the meeting, the DeWines gave the Actons a tour of the historic 16,000-square-foot building, which is only about two miles from the Actons’ home in Bexley. DeWine was cagey about what the two discussed.
“We had a nice conversation,” DeWine said. “We talked about a few other things. But primarily I was trying to focus on the house and what it would be like for them to live there.”
Asked about how he expected Acton to treat his administration’s policy priorities, DeWine observed what Acton discussed on the campaign trail, which included children’s health and education issues, as well as the H2Ohio water quality program that he launched. All are issues that DeWine has focused on while in office.
“She’s got to govern and she’s got to face the challenges she faces,” DeWine said. “All I can do is talk about what I think is in the best interest of the state of Ohio.”
DeWine hints he won’t back Republican effort to clip powers of incoming governor
It’s unclear how the current Republican-controlled state legislature might respond to Acton’s election, though there’s been plenty of speculation among Capitol Square insiders. The options include quickly passing laws stripping the governor’s office of authority over administrative rulemaking, permitting, appointments and other powers. Legislatures in other states have done so immediately after losing an election to the opposing party.
Ohio lawmakers are expected to resume regular meetings in Columbus next week for the post-election “lame duck” session that runs through the end of the year. Republican lawmakers will lose the ability to overturn a governor’s vetoes in January without Democratic support, thanks to Democratic gains in the House.
But several Republicans have said a bill diluting Acton’s authority is not on the agenda. DeWine hinted he might veto such a bill were it to be sent to him.
“I don’t think any governor is going to approve anything, whether Democrat or Republican, that would dramatically change the powers of the governor,” DeWine told reporters. “I just don’t think that’s appropriate.”
State Rep. Marilyn John, a Mansfield Republican who serves in House leadership, said in an interview at the conference that she hasn’t heard “any indication” that lawmakers would try to curtail gubernatorial powers. Sen. Bill Reineke of Tiffin, who’s expected to be the next Senate president, said Republicans haven’t had any meetings or discussions on the matter. Similarly, House Finance Chair Brian Stewart of Pickaway County said no such discussions have been held.
Rather, John said, Republicans will spend the final weeks of the session passing legislation involving cost-of-living issues and completing other bills the legislature has not yet brought before lawmakers for a final vote.
“I think that we need to be looking at the results of the election,” John said. “I think we should move forward. I think we should honor what the minority caucus has accomplished.” She added that the GOP majority caucus also has accomplishments, which should be honored.
Bitterness lingers over nasty Ohio campaign
Earlier, John fielded a similar question while participating in a panel discussion on stage with other state lawmakers. She relayed how her 26-year-old daughter doesn’t vote, in part, because of political attack ads. This year’s included the now-notorious ad from Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that featured Acton’s estranged mother.
“I hope, moving forward, working with the [Acton] administration, working together from caucus to caucus, chamber to chamber, that we can be less icky. And for anybody keeping score, being less icky doesn’t mean you’re weak. It just means you’re a better human being,” John said.
Among the open questions discussed at the conference is whether Tuesday’s election heralded a fundamental shift in state power or more of a blip on the radar.
Democrats framed it as a repudiation of the political movement started by President Donald Trump and a rejection of his ally, Ramaswamy. Rettoff, speaking mostly to a crowd of lobbyists and politicians, called Ramaswamy a “soulless asshole,” an unusually bitter remark for the public forum.
Matt Dole, a veteran Republican strategist who managed Keith Faber’s attorney general campaign – the closest of the statewide race lost by the GOP – said Tuesday represented a blue wave but that doesn’t change the fact that Ohio is a red state.
“This was a glitch, not a trend,” he said.
