The Ohio House approved a measure Thursday to change the presidential nomination deadline, even as Democrats announced a virtual convention aimed at meeting state deadlines and banning foreign contributions to statewide issue campaigns. Democratic members argue that this latest bill is more likely to stifle statewide voting initiatives than foreign influence.
The approvals came less than a week after Gov. Mike DeWine called a special session to persuade President Joe Biden to vote in Ohio and consider a ban on foreign money. Previous legislative efforts have stalled as the Ohio Senate tried to operate high-leverage voting to tie its foreign influence provision to changes in nominations.
On Tuesday, shortly after the start of the special session, the Senate approved the latest legislative amendment. Again, senators added changes to presidential nominations and prohibitions on foreign influence to unrelated legislation that had already passed the House of Representatives. Also on Tuesday, Democrats announced a virtual convention, eliminating the need for Ohio lawmakers to act.
Thursday’s session did not go smoothly. As House Speaker Jason Stephens tried to introduce the first of two pieces of legislation, Democrats shouted at him, trying to adjourn the session before it even started. On the way to passage, the foreign influence measure was changed to include green card holders in the definition of “foreign nationals.” This puts Ohio’s statute at odds with federal law.
Supporters emphasize that a foreign proceeds language would extend the existing ban on foreign contributions to issue campaigns. In practice, the opposition says, it would also require local organizers to register as a PAC, significantly raising the bar for getting a proposal to the ballot. Moreover, the measure hands significant authority over ballot proposals to the Ohio Attorney General’s office, rather than the bipartisan Ohio Board of Elections as Democrats have demanded.
The push to ban foreign contributions to ballot campaigns comes after several high-profile statewide issues that were a rebuke to GOP leadership. Senate President Matt Huffman, in particular, took pains to accept the losses and suggested further efforts to undermine these initiatives.
Reply of the Chamber
In the House, Republicans and Democrats agree that limiting foreign influence is a good idea. Democrats and at least some Republicans have also expressed doubts about the sweeping bans being considered by the Senate. On Thursday morning, Rep. Bill Seitz, D-Cincinnati, introduced the policy changes he negotiated in the foreign money bill to the House Government Oversight Committee.
“First of all, the new bill puts everything in a new section of code and is only five pages long,” Seitz said. “So we took to heart what I said, that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and that’s why we’re very concise and clear about what we’re doing here in the bill.”
The proposal would make it illegal for foreigners to spend money on candidates or statewide issues. The first violation would be a first-degree misdemeanor, which becomes a fifth-degree felony on subsequent violations. Seitz explained that it would also mean putting enforcement of the law in the hands of the Attorney General rather than the Ohio Board of Elections.
“We all know that OKE is in no hurry and is often unable to judge anything before the elections,” Seitz explained.
Democrats were vehemently opposed to further strengthening the AG’s position.
“Every voter in Ohio, every elector,” said Rep. Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, “can allege violations of a law that is poorly worded, overly broad, incredibly vague, very confusing, difficult to understand — can allege violations of that law , and the allegation may then be directly and immediately investigated and prosecuted by the Attorney General.”
He noted that the AG will be responsible for allegations of foreign influence of any race that can be used in political battles.
“So if someone, for example, voted incorrectly for Speaker of the House, their campaign committee could face some retaliation,” he said, referring to the ongoing battle between Speaker Stephens and several conservative members of the House.
More fundamentally, Isaacsohn criticized the bill’s bundling with one aimed primarily at ensuring President Joe Biden’s vote share in Ohio.
“We’re telling Ohio voters that if you want the right to vote for president of the United States, we’re going to have to replace some of your other rights,” Isaacsohn said.
Debate in the House of Representatives and amendments
As the session was about to begin, Minority Leader Allison Russo and Rep. Michael Skindell, D-Lakewood, shouted motions to adjourn. They argued that once the Democratic National Committee announced a virtual vote on nominations, the main purpose of the special session had already been established.
This was leading nowhere.
Seitz then spoke up and explained the bill. He dismissed Democratic concerns about giving the AG control over investigating foreign influence. The state electoral commission works too slowly and has fewer resources, he argued. Instead, Seitz tried to turn the case against the Democrats.
“I remember around 2016-2018 we heard from the National Democrats who had appointed a special prosecutor to look into this issue rather than go through the Federal Election Commission, for three years all we heard from Mueller and the gang was Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia.”
It’s worth noting that special counsel Robert Mueller, like any other special counsel, was appointed to insulate the investigation from political influence – a level of independence that Democrats say the elected attorney general simply does not possess.
Rep. Isaacsohn argued that Attorney General Dave Yost has repeatedly shown “a willingness to use his office for political gain.” He noted that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered him to stop obstructing voting in an effort to strip him of qualified immunity, and another lawsuit raised questions about his alleged role in trying to challenge a citizen repeal of HB 6.
“If you want to clarify state law to match federal law, that’s fine with us,” Isaacsohn insisted. “We oppose foreign money in our politics and would support a clean bill that actually ensures it. Instead, this bill uses vague language to create a culture of fear and confusion around engaging in political activity.”
The Isaacsohn amendment keeping investigative power in the hands of the Ohio Board of Elections failed.
Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, offered another amendment that would operate a more expanded definition of “alien.” Unlike the federal definition, it would include lawful lasting residents or green card holders.
He pointed to a 2022 ballot initiative that would prohibit non-citizens from voting in any Ohio election. Current laws already prevented them from participating in state or federal competitions, but some municipalities wanted to allow them to have a say on local issues.
“The bill before us today,” Stewart argued, “says that the same non-citizen green card holders who, for some reason, cannot vote in our elections can nonetheless spend millions of dollars for some reason to potentially influence for the same elections that cannot vote.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Stewart argued that by not extending the bill’s prohibitions to green card holders, there is an “asterisk” in the middle. He dismissed it as a “diet coke ban abroad”.
Seitz moved away and began to argue decision of the Supreme Court of the United States maintaining penalties for non-citizens making campaign contributions makes a difference for green card holders. He cited a footnote in which Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that including legal lasting residents “would raise important questions that have not been addressed in this case.”
“Why did they say it was an important question?” Seitz argued. “They’re trying to tell us something by saying this.”
Nevertheless, Stewart’s amendment passed easily.
Before the resolution was put to a vote, Minority Leader Allison Russo spoke up and warned Republicans that their efforts would backfire. She was clearly referencing the Republican Party’s needy performance last year in statewide elections and alluded to an anti-Gerry gerrymandering proposal scheduled for November of this year.
“Your takeover today will not be forgotten in November,” she said, “just as it was not forgotten in August when you were defeated, just as it was not forgotten last November when you were defeated.”
The House approved the foreign influence measure along party lines.
The timing of the nomination – the alleged reason for calling the special session – sparked some debate, but not as controversial as the Foreign Money Act. Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, has sparked Republican frustration with lawsuits aimed at disqualifying Donald Trump from the ballot.
“Those of us on this side of the aisle found it fundamentally unjust, immoral and unjust,” Callender said. “We are better here in Ohio. Let’s show the world that we are better.”
The bill was passed without a hitch, but Callender’s appeal to the better angels of the chamber fell on deaf ears. Thirty-one Republicans – almost half the caucus – voted no.
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