Versions of this story are published by the publisher USA Today NetworkFloodlight, Energy News Network and Ohio Capital Journal.
In 2018, Akron-based FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a dark money organization affiliated with the Republican Governors Association that supported Republican candidate Mike DeWine in the governor’s race.
Previously undisclosed money reveals how FirstEnergy invested in the outcome of the Ohio governor’s race between DeWine and Democratic challenger Rich Cordray. At the time, FirstEnergy wanted to save the subsidiary’s two nuclear plants at the time, but faced opposition from Ohio leaders such as then-Gov. Jan Kasich.
Both DeWine and Cordray have promised to save two nuclear plants in northern Ohio if they become governors, and the company has donated publicly disclosed money to both the Republican Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association.
However, newly released records show that FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million in three installments to State Solutions, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with the Republican Governors Association that is not required to disclose their donors. One installment of $500,000 is marked “DeWine”; the other two are designated “RGA,” according to documentation provided by the Ohio Public Utilities Commission to the USA TODAY Network Ohio office, Floodlight, Ohio Capital Journal and Energy News Network.
DeWine met with FirstEnergy executives at the RGA fundraiser in downtown Columbus on October 10, 2018. The Dayton Daily News first reported. Shortly thereafter, FirstEnergy Solutions donated $500,000 to RGA, according to tax records.
FirstEnergy also donated $200,000 to the Civic Policy Institute, which has sharply criticized Cordray for being a “Republican lightweight,” according to published records. Behind the group was Cleveland restaurateur Tony George, a close ally of FirstEnergy, BuzzFeed News reported at the time.
In November 2018 DeWine defeated Cordray, 50.4% to 46.7% as Democrats swept the election nationwide. In 2019, FirstEnergy helped Republican lawmakers craft House Bill 6, an energy reform bill that included $1 billion for two nuclear power plants. DeWine signed House Bill 6 into law within hours of hitting your desk.
Asked whether the donations influenced DeWine’s support for nuclear energy, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said: “Gov. “DeWine’s support for nuclear energy has been documented well before 2018, including during his tenure as a United States senator.”
FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young said the company was unable to comment on pending litigation. Shareholders sued FirstEnergy after federal investigators exposed a sprawling pay-to-play scandal financed by the Ohio utility.
This federal investigation led to 20 years in prison for former Ohio House Speaker Larry HouseholderAND five-year sentence for former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges and the firing of several FirstEnergy executives. Attorneys in the shareholders’ lawsuit they tried to subpoena case files from DeWine and Husted’s testimonybut none of them faced any criminal charges.
FirstEnergy donated $1 million through a dark money group He will support Husted’s candidacy for governor in 2017, according to previously released data. Husted and DeWine were competitors for a time combined campaigns in November 2017
Concerns raised
In 2018, the owner of nuclear power plants, FirstEnergy Solutions, declared bankruptcy. So creditors raised concerns about a $1 million payment intended to facilitate DeWine’s campaign, according to emails exchanged on Aug. 11, 2018. “They said it was a very large amount compared to DeWine’s current fundraising.”
Senior Vice President of External Affairs Michael Dowling tried to allay concerns by explaining that donors can support DeWine’s bid in several ways, including donating to DeWine’s campaign fund, the Republican Governors Association, State Solutions and the Ohio Republican Party’s state candidate fund.
“Theoretically, DeWine/Husted could have a $10 million balance in the campaign account and RGA could spend $40 million to support DeWine in Ohio,” Dowling explained in an email. “I want to say that you could compare the size of the donation to RGA to the amount raised by the DeWine campaign or the current balance of the DeWine campaign, but I’m not sure that makes sense.”
Republican fundraiser Brooke Bodney, who worked with RGA, confirmed: “It’s all factual.”
Meanwhile, David Griffing of FirstEnergy Solutions assured Rick Burdick of Akin Gump that there was no connection between State Solutions and the DeWine campaign. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is a powerful law firm who represented FirstEnergy Solutions during its bankruptcy and lobbied for House Bill 6.
The case was vital because exchanging a political favor for a campaign donation would be illegal and would constitute a quid pro quo.
“Thanks,” Burdick wrote. “I want to confirm that there is no agreement with the DeWine campaign regarding his position on regulatory relief for nuclear power plants in connection with this contribution.”
“That’s right,” Griffing replied.
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau, which covers the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
