Browns stadium flak showing up in Republican primaries
During budget season last year, it was Democrats blasting Republicans for what they called a corporate giveaway – a vote to draw $600 million from the state’s pot of unclaimed funds to help the Cleveland Browns’ billionaire owners build a $2.4 billion domed stadium just outside the city.
Now, in the thick of the primary season, some Republicans are borrowing the line.
“Bailouts for billionaires and corporations, higher costs for us,” reads a website created by the campaign of Craig Reidel, a former Ohio House Republican who is challenging incumbent Rep. Jim Hoops in a Senate primary in northwest Ohio in what’s been the costliest state legislative election this year.
Hoops, Reidel said, voted to “raid” Ohio’s unclaimed funds “to pay for a new stadium for Tennessee billionaire Jimmy Haslam.”
No one is confused anymore, reads an ad from Patty Hamilton, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army challenging central Ohio Rep. Brian Stewart who, as House finance chair, was a key architect of the state budget that included the Browns’ funding.
“$600 million for a stadium, $0 for our water,” reads a digital ad for Hamilton, featuring an image of a rusted spigot. “Why is it easier to find money for billionaires than for the people who live here?”
Rep. Jean Schmidt, a Cincinnati-area Republican, has accomplished nothing for Clermont County, according to an ad from her primary opponent, Dillon Blevins. But she voted “to give the Cleveland Browns $600,000,000 in public funds for a new stadium.”
And in the competitive Republican primary to serve as state treasurer – the custodian of Ohio’s unclaimed funds accounts – two leading candidates have publicly distanced themselves from the stadium.
Kristina Roegner, an incumbent senator, in an interview with the Ohio Capital Journal, said she doesn’t think states should fund professional sports stadiums and that she supported a Democratic budget amendment to nix the idea. Her opponent, Jay Edwards, who had retired from the House by the time of the vote, shared similar distaste.
“People are really hurting out here, and what I saw was not much done on those [property tax] issues,” Edwards said to public radio’s Statehouse News Bureau. “But instead, we’re going to give $1.7 billion to build stadiums around the state.”
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Election preview
Another Election Day is almost here.
For those who’ve let time get away from them, Ohio will hold a primary election on Tuesday, May 5.
The biggest races – governor and U.S. Senate – aren’t expected to have competitive primary elections. But there are plenty of other races on the ballot, both statewide and for Congress and the state legislature.
Here are a few we will be watching.
Republican primaries
First, there’s Ohio’s 9th Congressional District. Several Republicans – including former state Rep. Derek Merrin, current state Rep. Josh Williams and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement deputy director Madison Sheahan – are competing for the chance to try to defeat longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November.
The Republican state treasurer race between former state Rep. Jay Edwards and state Sen. Kristina Roegner is another. This low-profile race has some of Ohio’s biggest political names on opposing sides – governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has endorsed Roegner, while Vice President JD Vance has endorsed Edwards. In the Secretary of State primary, State Treasurer Robert Sprague has spent heavily ($864,000) this year to fend off activist Marcell Strbich, who’s spent $236,400 this year.
The costliest Ohio House race is between Rep. Jason Stephens, the former House speaker, and Larry Kidd, a businessman backed by House Speaker Matt Huffman, who ousted Stephens in November 2024. Stephens has spent $328,000 this year trying to keep his job, compared to Kidd’s $126,400.
There’s also the Republican primary for Ohio Supreme Court. Jill Flagg Lanzinger has spent the most money ($211,900) this year compared to the other three candidates – Judges Andrew King, Ron Lewis and Colleen O’Donnell – combined. The winner will go on to face Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner in November.
Democratic primaries
One notable race here is the Democratic Secretary of State primary between state Rep. Allison Russo and Cincinnati physician Bryan Hambley. Hambley has outspent Russo ($442,000 to $229,500) and made inroads with some Democratic party insiders, but Russo held a strong lead in a recent poll.
A funky one
Richland’s GOP commissioners added the county last year to a list of dozens that have banned large-scale wind and solar in town. Local residents have fought back and forced the issue to a referendum. As Jake reports, the power of the sun will be on the ballot in north-central Ohio on May 5.
Early vote turnout is up
Early voting is tracking ahead of recent even-year primary elections.
As of publication, 227,481 Ohioans had voted early so far, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. That’s compared to 130,200 at the same time ahead of the March 2024 primary and the 288,000 people total who voted early in 2022.
A look at who’s voting shows a possible shifting trend, too.
For the 2024 primary election, the early vote was 61% Republican ballots and 37% Democratic ones.
That ratio is flipped so far this year, with 54% of returns coming from Democrats and 42% from Republicans. The Democratic margin could expand once some of the roughly 67,300 outstanding mail ballots are returned, since most outstanding ballots were requested by Democrats.
Primary election turnout can be a sign of voter enthusiasm. (See the 2022 election, when nearly twice as many Ohio voters pulled Republican ballots compared to Democratic ones.) We’ll be interested to see how Tuesday’s election compares as we track whether November turns out to be a Blue Wave election.
Acton addresses 2019 police incident
Democratic governor candidate Dr. Amy Acton has made her first public comments on the 2019 incident in which police were called to her home to investigate a dispute between her and her husband.
In an interview, Acton described it as an “ordinary argument,” with police getting involved after another family member called 911. NBC News reported on the incident earlier this month, which Ramaswamy allies quickly used to portray her as unstable. Eric Acton has publicly taken the blame, saying he’d had “too much to drink” leading up to the episode.
“It’s absolutely the stuff of politics, particularly against women, to cast them as unstable,” Amy Acton said. “I experienced this all during COVID,” referencing her time as Gov. Mike DeWine’s health director during the pandemic.
In their report, police wrote that the Actons had been drinking, but they found no evidence of physical violence. The report said Amy Acton had taken prescription medication, which Acton’s team has said included migraine medicine.
Here’s how Acton described the incident.
She said she and her husband got into a disagreement about her long work hours as health director. She said she was getting ready to leave the house when she accidentally knocked a picture frame – not a mirror as police said – off the wall.
Acton said a family member heard the breaking glass and called 911. She said her husband apologized and was cleaning up the glass when police arrived.
“They did their job, routine, making sure there’s no domestic violence,” Acton said. “As my husband said, [this was] a verbal disagreement and nothing more.”
She added: “My focus is on solving the issues that I’ve been talking about this entire time. But this is the kind of thing that keeps people from running.”
Mike DeWine’s new home makeover
The governor’s residence is getting a makeover.
The Ohio Controlling Board on Monday approved a $2.9 million request for pre-construction and construction services for repair and maintenance at the governor’s mansion in Bexley.
That includes work on the roof, HVAC, elevators, air vents and more.
In the news
There will be no payout for a fracking waste company that caused earthquakes. The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously rejected a lawsuit Wednesday from a fracking waste disposal company seeking millions from the state after its operations caused two earthquakes in Trumbull County. Jake Zuckerman explains the court ruling here.
Kent State president invites Ramaswamy: A week after Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy doubled down on his push to reform the state’s public universities, Kent State University President Todd Diacon delivered a message: “Come visit.”Amy Morona has more about the policy suggestion and invitation here.
Jon Husted launches first ad campaign in the U.S. Senate election. The Republican senator faces no primary challenger but is already on the air in Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo ahead of a likely fall matchup with Democrat Sherrod Brown. Read more from Andrew Tobias.
Threats to Ohio officials: Ronald Lidderdale of New Albany pleaded guilty to 31 federal charges after sending letters — some containing white powder — to officials including Gov. Mike DeWine, members of Congress and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Andrew Tobias shares more here.
Solar on the ballot: In Richland County, a group of locals is putting solar power on the May 5 ballot and campaigning on a message of property rights and government overreach. Read more about the effort from Jake Zuckerman.
Ditch the dropbox: USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau’s Jessie Balmert writes, “Republican candidates for Ohio secretary of state want to ditch election drop boxes, an option that came under fire from now-President Donald Trump following his 2020 defeat.”
Paid in full: Zanesville-based sculptor Alan Cottrill has been paid for his 15-foot sculpture of Trump after an ongoing dispute with the cryptocurrency group that commissioned it for a Florida golf course. USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau Laura Bischoff has details.
