As Dems debate, Ohio justice jumps in
2018 ELECTIONS /
There were big developments Sunday in the Democratic race for governor.
The four announced candidates held two debates, one of them on TV and another as part of the state party’s annual dinner that evening. And up in northeastern Ohio, state Supreme Court Justice William O’Neill shook up the race by announcing that he would join it.
O’Neill said he would campaign for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and legalized marijuana. He said he would use revenue from a marijuana tax to fight Ohio’s opioid epidemic.
“I say reopen the state’s mental hospitals
immediately,” he said in a phone interview, explaining that he regarded addiction as a form of mental illness.
His entry into the race prompted another candidate, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, to slam him for not participating in the day of Democratic activities in Columbus.
“Any Democrat who is serious about running for governor would attend the two debates we’re having today to discuss real issues in front of thousands of voters,” Schiavoni said in a statement. “Instead, Justice O’Neill has chosen to pull a press stunt on the other side of the state.”
O’Neill said that was a fair criticism.
But party Chairman David Pepper said O’Neill only informed the party of his intentions on Friday, so the party didn’t have time to perform vetting required before a candidate is allowed to share the debate stage. Once that happens, O’Neill will be welcome to participate in the next debate, most likely in northeastern Ohio in early December, Pepper said.
The candidates other than Schiavoni welcomed O’Neill to the race.
“I think that’s great,” said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley. “We think we have the message that’s the strongest.”
“This is what democracy looks like,” former state Rep. Connie Pillich of Montgomery said when asked about O’Neill’s candidacy.
“I welcome him to the race,” former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of Copley said after the evening debate. She said she didn’t even know of O’Neill’s announcement until she arrived at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor issued a statement urging O’Neill to consider conflicts and other ethical hazards if he remains in his job as a judge while also running for governor.
O’Neill said he would do so, vowing not to raise money so long as he’s a judge. He said he’s involved in too many active cases to step down immediately.
“That wouldn’t simplify anything,” he said.
He said it will cost more than $15 million to run a successful gubernatorial campaign. Predicting that none of the candidates already in the race will have less than $1 million when he steps down in January, O’Neill said he won’t be very far behind.
In the day’s two debates, the candidates again blasted Republican rule in Ohio.
Asked about tax policy in the evening session, Sutton criticized a $1.1 billion-a-year tax break to businesses incorporated as limited-liability companies. She pointed out that despite earlier promises, Ohio’s job growth has lagged behind the national average.
“We have a pass-through loophole that’s saving a lot of money for the very top but isn’t very helpful for small businesses,” Sutton said.
Pillich said Republicans have paid for that and other tax cuts by cutting what the state sends to local governments, forcing increases in property taxes.
“They are balancing the budget on the backs of local communities,” she said.
On opioids, Whaley said, it’s important to go after drug companies that supplied pill mills for helping to start the scourge. As Dayton mayor, she led a wave of government suits against the companies.
“The most important thing we can do is hold the drug companies accountable,” she said.
In the most pointed comment of the evening, Schiavoni said, “Suing the drug companies is all well and good, but that’s going to take years and years.” He touted his proposal to take 10 percent, or $200 million, from the state’s “rainy day” fund to fight the epidemic.
All the Democrats agreed that the state’s response to the epidemic isn’t enough. A study released last week by Ohio State University researchers said that the epidemic is costing the Ohio economy up to $8.8 billion a year — about what Ohio spends on K-12 education.
In the morning debate, held in the studios of WBNS-TV (Channel 10), the candidates went after the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, an online school that has contributed heavily to Republican campaigns and now has to repay tens of millions of dollars to the state because it can’t account for many of the instructional hours it was paid for.
“We’ve got to stop the payto-play culture that’s going on in Columbus,” Sutton said.
Pillich criticized forprofit charter schools more generally.
“We’ve got to stop these for-profit scams that are shortchanging our kids,” she said.
She and the others agreed that diverting revenue to for-profit charter schools has resulted in Ohio schools dropping from 5th in the nation in 2010 to 22nd last year, according one ranking.
The candidates’ resounding attacks on the GOP come as a field of better-known candidates vie for the Republican nomination to replace Gov. John Kasich, who faces his term limit next year. Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Jon Husted and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci all are running.
Pepper said he’s been pleased to see the Democrats engage in substantive debates about public issues and avoid the personal squabbles some of the Republicans have sunk to.
The field of Democrats may expand further.
Former Attorney General Richard Cordray, who now heads the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is said to be flirting with a run. TV-show host Jerry Springer also is said to be mulling one.