‘Creepy’ mailer from State Issue 1 opposition tries to shame voters to the ballot box: Capitol Letter

A mailer from One Person One Vote, the campaign trying to defeat State Issue 1. Fine print warns voters that the campaign plans to check to see if they voted this August after the election is over.One Person One Vote

Somebody’s watching you: The campaign group working to defeat State Issue 1 is using a “voter shaming” technique that political scientists have found can boost turnout but also warn can be off-putting to those who receive them. As Andrew Tobias writes, a mailer from One Person One Vote includes routine voting information, but also contains an ominous message: “Whom you vote for is private, but whether or not you vote is a matter of public record. We will be reviewing public records following the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbors in voting.” Similar messages have popped up in elections in recent years, including in the 2018 special election to fill Ohio’s 12th congressional seat.

Build it: Lawmakers in the recently passed state budget include a $150 million tax credit that flows to developers building affordable rental housing and single-family homes as an answer to Ohio’s current housing shortage. Jake Zuckerman reports that builders see the credits, which nearly died in a hostile Senate, as a promising start but not a final solution.

Form reform: Ohio is about to hold its first statewide election since implementing a slew of elections changes. Per Tobias, one of the lesser-noticed ones is causing problems in Cuyahoga County. Elections officials there say that they had to reject roughly 30 absentee ballot applications after the voters used a version of the application that was published in a local community newspaper. House Bill 458, passed by lawmakers in December, requires that voters either use a state mandated form, or a county form that has been approved by the state. Voter-rights advocates want to get the word out about the new rules ahead of early voting, which begins on Tuesday for the Aug. 8 special election.

The old college try: U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, on Thursday sent a letter to the presidents of all Ivy League universities, as well as Ohio’s Oberlin and Kenyon colleges, to “express concern” about their “openly defiant and potentially unlawful reaction” to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned race-based college admissions preferences, Sabrina Eaton reports. His letter advises them to “retain admissions documents in anticipation of future congressional investigations” into any efforts they might make to covertly defy the ruling and asks that they provide him with answers to questions that include: “If you have publicly committed to an interest in ‘diversity,’ how will you ensure that your commitment to that value does not entail direct or indirect race-based preferences?”

Bucking the tide: Vance is challenging the GOP’s “pro-business, free-market ideology” by teaming up with Democrats on legislation to rein in big banks, strengthen rail safety requirements and curb airline fees, Politico writes. “Fueled by former President Donald Trump, it’s upending conservative politics and stirring tensions within the party about how it approaches the economy,” the publication reports.

Attack of the clones: U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, on Thursday joined several of his Democratic colleagues in a letter that urged Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra to protect consumers from the use of voice cloning technology in financial scams. Their letter said the new technology could worsen existing scams by “allowing fraudsters to generate voice clips to convincingly impersonate friends, family, or potentially even financial advisors and bank employees.” The letter asks CFPB to review risks posed by the new technology and “take action under the CFPB’s existing authorities to protect consumers.”

Railing for change: Brown joined with Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Senators in a Thursday letter that endorsed a proposed U.S. Transportation Department rule that would require railroads to proactively push real-time information regarding the contents of train cars available to emergency responders in the event of a derailment or other accident. The letter says the Norfolk Southern train derailment along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border shows why the change is needed. “We owe it to the first responders of East Palestine, Darlington Township, and the surrounding areas in Ohio and Pennsylvania to ensure that the information-sharing failures of this derailment, which put first responders needlessly and irresponsibly in additional danger, do not happen again,” it says.

For the birds: U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a South Russell Republican, joined with a bipartisan group of U.S. House of Representatives members to introduce legislation called the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023 that would reauthorize a current program that provides grants for habitat conservation, research and monitoring, and community outreach and education. “Ohio is a haven for bird watchers, especially along Lake Erie,” said a statement from Joyce that noted birdwatching draws more than 120,000 visitors to Ohio each year and contributes more than $20 million to local economies.

Educational opportunity: An Ohio political consultant has registered a company he (half seriously) hopes will provide him with a business opportunity. Bobby Ina, of the Cleveland area, has incorporated “Prison School LLC,” which he said will offer consulting services to politicos facing the prospect of landing behind bars. “I knew a bunch of people who have been to federal prison, and I’m anticipating a lot of arrests coming,” Ina said in an interview. “And Columbus has never been through a corruption probe before. So if you’re going to plead guilty, you’re going to have questions about prison. And instead of watching a Netflix special, we’re going to give advice.” Ina, who sparred with ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his allies, is referencing the potential the House Bill 6 scandal has to spiral.

Question: An Ohio county was named for someone who at the time was the last-surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. What is the county and who was its namesake?

Email your response to [email protected]. The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next week’s newsletter.

Thanks to everyone who responded to last week’s trivia question:

The General Assembly named flint, a variety of quartz, the state’s official gemstone in 1965. However, another rock is famous in Ohio for being one of the world’s largest geodes. What is the rock and where is it located?

Last week’s answer: Crystal Cave at Put-In-Bay contains a blueish mineral called celestite. The geode is located beneath the surface of a winery.

Capitol Letter reader Michael Farley, a Worthington resident and vice-president of government affairs/general counsel for the Ohio Insurance Institute, was the first to provide the correct answer.

The countdown is on for the special election to decide State Issue 1, a state constitutional amendment that would make it harder to pass future amendments. Here are some key dates to remember.

Voter registration deadline... 3 days (July 10)

Start of early voting... 4 days (July 11)

Election Day... 32 days (Aug. 8)

Friday, 7/7: Tim Bally, Ohio House assistant sergeant at-arms; Bettina Hahn-Lawson, senior project manager for Government Resource Center; Beth Vanderkooi, executive director, Columbus Right to Life; Kelsey Woolard, manager of governmental affairs, Governmental Policy Group; James E. Campbell, Ohio’s 38th governor (1843-1924); A. Victory Donahey, Ohio’s 50th governor (1873-1946); ex-state Rep. John Patterson

Saturday, 7/8: Mehek Cooke, political strategist and former Ohio House candidate

Sunday, 7/9: Ryan Gies, former Ohio Department of Youth Services director; Sheryl Maxfield, Ohio Department of Commerce director; Stephen Caraway, services corporation manager for the County Commissioners Association of Ohio

“The objective data says you have about a 0% chance of ever being president of the United States.”

MSNBC personality Joy Reid in a TikTok video aimed at Vivek Ramaswamy, the Ohio entrepreneur running for the Republican presidential nomination. Reid was responding to a Twitter post that Ramaswamy directed at her describing his views on affirmative action.

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