Almost $700,000 was spent to influence voters in two local Ohio house races in the first quarter of this year.
Growth and Opportunity PAC has paid for radio, TV, digital and direct mail advertising, as well as polling, telephone calls and other support for candidate Jean Schmidt in District 65 and candidate Allen Freeman in District 66.
The group operates out of Lexington, Kentucky and was created by Attorney Eric Lycan with the law firm of Embry, Merritt, Shaffar and Womack, which is headquartered in Lexington.
District 65 is in Clermont County. Schmidt is being opposed by Dillon Blevins and Joe Dills.
District 66 encompasses Brown County and a portion of Clermont County.
Freeman is opposed by Adam Bird and Nick Owens.
The Growth and Opportunity PAC filed a required report to the Federal Election Commission on April 15. It detailed contributions of $1,085,000 and expenditures of $1, 022, 491 between January and March of this year.
If the primary election had taken place on time on March 17, this information would not have been made public prior to the election.
The money came from two sources. All but $35,000 came from the Coalition for Growth and Opportunity, Inc., which contributed $1,050,000. The $35,000 was listed as coming from the group Ohioans for Parental Choice out of Columbus.
The only information available about the Coalition for Growth and Opportunity is a one-page website with the following mission statement.
“Coalition for Growth & Opportunity, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to advocating and educating the public on issues including job creation, responsible development of our plentiful energy resources and empowering the private sector to move America forward.
We will develop and advance an agenda for America based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, and economic growth. Coalition for Growth & Opportunity promotes real solutions to pressing policy questions, equips the public with information and encourages citizens and policymakers to take action.”
The spending by the group in Districts 65 and 66 is broken out in the filing by categories including radio, TV, direct mail and digital advertising. Polling and research are also documented.
The largest expense was TV advertising at $382,000. The group also spent $45,000 on radio and $10,000 in digital advertising. 75 percent of the total media spending was in District 65 and District 66.
The Growth and Opportunity PAC also spent $247,166 on direct mail advertising in five house races statewide. The other house districts were 71, 73 and 78.
Since 75 percent of media expenses were spent in districts 65 and 66, The Brown County Press applied 75 percent of the direct mail expenses to the estimated total spent locally. That figure came to $185,374.
Since the Growth and Opportunity PAC was involved in five races statewide, 40 percent of polling and research expenses were also added to the estimated total.
The final estimated amount of money spent in Ohio House Districts 65 and 66 came to $675,292. That is fully two thirds of the $1,022,491 spent by the Growth and Opportunity PAC statewide.
The television ads, radio ads and mailers paid for by Growth and Opportunity PAC were all favorable to Freeman and Schmidt or critical of their opponents.
Both Owens and Bird were quick to react to the FEC filing.
“The latest federal filing by the Growth and Opportunity PAC just confirms what we already knew – our campaign finance system is extremely corrupt,” said Owens via email.
“Speaker Larry Householder has boldly admitted fundraising for this shadowy dark money group. Speaker Householder is trying to deceive voters by propping up his chosen candidates to fulfill his self-interested and anti-citizen agenda. It has been confirmed that at least a half-million dollars has been spent on television, radio, and mail to spew constant lies to deceive the voters. It is truly a shame. This money should be used to help people suffering health and economic hardships during the current COVID pandemic.”
Bird said “The campaign literature that they put out accused me of trying to steal the election. Now we see that this expenditure of almost three quarters of a million dollars from forces outside of District 66 are actually those who are trying to steal this election from the voters.”
Bird added that he felt that the huge amount of money being spent will not have an effect.
“The voters in District 66 are intelligent, independent and free thinking. When their mailbox gets filled with attack piece after attack piece, they are smart enough to understand that something is going on here. I don’t think that most people in District 66 are going to be swayed by the negative attack ads,” he said.
Freeman did not return a phone call for comment at press time, but when asked about the Growth and Opportunity PAC in a telephone interview with The Brown County Press in early March, Freeman said “I know nothing about them. I don’t coordinate with them. I have no contact with them.”
Brown County Republican Party Chairman Greg Lang also weighed in on the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the races.
“Common sense should tell you that an outfit located in Lexington, Kentucky is not going to spend that amount of money in a primary when you have three candidates with very similar platforms. It’s very concerning that an outside interest is trying to manipulate the outcome. They are clearly wanting something in return,” he said.
Lang also said that he felt that the money would not have too much of an effect.
“I think the voters in Brown County are smart enough to do their own research and vote for the best candidate,” he said.
Growth and Opportunity PAC Treasurer Eric Lycan was asked the following questions by The Brown County Press via e-mail. He responded that he had no further comment.
The questions he was asked follow below. The quotations within the questions are from an e-mail exchange between Lycan and The Brown County Press on March 5.
Question:
“What is it about the District 65 and 66 races that made them worth spending $675,272 on? Do you still maintain that the money was spent because “the voters of Clermont and Brown Counties deserve to know the record and character of individuals running for the Legislature” as you said in a March 5 e-mail? You also said (in March) “In HD 66 we have a person who pushed cuts to vital services for schools while pushing for a permanent tax increase and another person who supported giving away tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses to Columbus bureaucrats.” Please tell me why getting a relatively generic political message out about these two candidates is worth $675,272 to the Coalition for Growth and Opportunity.”
Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder said the following about the FEC report via text with The Brown County Press.
“I have no information on what that group did, what they spent or why they spent it. I can only answer for the House Republican Campaign Committee and HRCC did not money in HD 65 or 66.”
In an interview with The Brown County Press on March 12, Householder did go into detail about his relationship as Ohio Speaker of the House and Growth and Opportunity PAC.
“Certainly they know the folks we had an interest in. They do know that. It’s pretty obvious,” Householder said then.
Householder also said that the Growth and Opportunity PAC is supporting candidates that are approved by house leadership, but is doing it independently.
“In regards to the Growth and Opportunity PAC, that is a separate entity from the house republican caucus. I raise money to it, but I don’t control it. Whatever message they use, whatever they decide to do, I stay clear of that,” he said.
When asked in March about the perception of the amount of money being spent in the house districts, Householder said “I know it’s always a concern for folks back in the districts. We want folks in the districts to elect good people and send them to Columbus that are going to do a great job for them.”
When asked if Schmidt or Freeman had made promises of loyalty or to vote a certain way in exchange for financial support, Householder said “Absolutely not. “I think you can talk with any of these legislators who work with me and they will tell you that that’s not how we do things.”
Voting by mail in the Ohio Primary Election is open until April 28.