Four of Ohio’s largest business groups are backing three Republicans for the Ohio Supreme Court and hope to raise about $4 million for a dark money group that will support their campaigns.
Ohio Chamber CEO Steve Stivers said the business groups raised $4 million for supreme court races in the last election cycle into a non-profit organization that is not required to disclose its donors, which is referred to as dark money. Stivers said they hope to raise about the same amount again this cycle.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Farm Bureau, NFIB Ohio and Ohio Business Roundtable said Justice Joe Deters, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan and Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Dan Hawkins are jurists who won’t “legislate from the bench” − buzzwords often lobbed at “activist” judges who don’t adhere to a strict reading of the law in their rulings.
The groups argued that businesses want stable, predictable rulings from a state supreme court on issues such as business liabilities, workers’ compensation, taxes and regulations and redistricting.
“The Supreme Court can either uphold the Legislature’s redistricting plans, which could lead to more business-friendly policies, or it could invalidate redrawn boundaries,” said Rick Carfagna, a former Republican lawmaker who now serves as an Ohio Chamber senior vice president.
Under different leadership, the Ohio Supreme Court repeatedly ruled that Republicans passed unconstitutional maps for state legislative and congressional districts.
Deters, who was appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine to a court vacancy in January 2023, is challenging Justice Melody Stewart, a Cleveland Democrat, for a full, six-year term.
Shanahan is running against Justice Michael Donnelly, a Cleveland Democrat. And Hawkins is running against 8th District Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Forbes, a Cleveland Democrat, for the seat left vacant by Deters running against Stewart.
The Republicans scored endorsements from the business groups, as well as Ohio Right to Life. Planned Parenthood and Abortion Forward are backing the Democrats.
The Ohio Chamber has only endorsed Republican candidates for Supreme Court at least for the past decade. In 2000, it formed Citizens for a Strong Ohio to weigh in on supreme court races and paid for TV ads that depicted Democrat Justice Alice Robie Resnick as Lady Justice, peeking from her blindfold to tip the scales of justice.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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Publish date : 2024-09-04 07:48:00
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