Ohio Republicans draft bill to require campaign fund disclosure amid DeWine text message debacle

“I think she is going to see it through or the campaign caucus is going to see it through to see if people are held accountable,” Edwards said. “But in reality, you can’t go back and change what happens… election day is judgment day.”

Carruthers ended up losing on election day.

Edwards had mailers sent out about him despite not even running for reelection due to being term-limited.

“There’s also no accountability,” he said. “They can lie about you, they can say whatever they want about things that aren’t true.”

This isn’t about a grudge, though, he said.

“Why do we allow discreet campaign donations — that are basically to political candidates,” he added.

However, Edwards also has a connection to H.B. 6. He was a close ally of Householder and was recorded at a dinner with two undercover FBI agents. The representative has not been accused of wrongdoing by law enforcement. He has consistently said he was not involved in any of the illegal activity; in fact — had no idea it was happening.

“Obviously, we’ve had a scandal here in Ohio around dark money,” Edwards said. “We want to get rid of that and I think the overall majority of people, not just Ohioans, but Americans, actually feel that way.”

Not all campaign solicitations or political action committees (PACs) are bad, he said. He is supported by the Ohio Education Association (OEA) Fund. In the budget, he helped give public school teachers a raise. He didn’t do that because they donated to his campaign, he did that because he is “good on teacher issues,” he said.

“You can find anything we do and try to tie it back to some campaign,” he added. “Now, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen — but I think sometimes it’s overblown.”

To make sure that Ohioans know that their elected officials aren’t behaving based on ill intentions, learning who donates to their campaign is key, the lawmaker said.

Plausibility

Each Statehouse legislative leader has seemed open to beefing up Ohio’s campaign finance laws.

Democrats like House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio would be on board, but they aren’t optimistic that legislation like this will pass. Since the H.B. 6 scandal, they have proposed legislation to require more transparency, but those bills barely get hearings.

“The reality is there seems to be no political will here to put in place protections that prevent this type of scandal from happening in the future,” Russo said.

House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) would support more disclosures but raised concerns about how this type of legislation can be implemented.

“The First Amendment and the federal Supreme Court decisions make it a little more challenging to deal with that issue,” Stephens said.

Back in 2010, Citizens United v. FEC ruled corporations have the same rights as people, and thus have free speech in donating.

Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and Senate Majority Floor Leader Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) have previously shared the same concerns about infringing on Citizens United. Still, the Householder case has ignited calls for reform.

“It’s something that has been an ongoing discussion, especially since Generation Now,” McColley said. “It’s worth a conversation for sure.”

McColley is likely to be the next Senate president once this General Assembly ends at the beginning of 2025, so it is possible legislation could move if he and his caucus desire reform.

Edwards knows his bill would have an uphill battle within the legislature to pass and will likely face court challenges.

But he said he wasn’t giving up.

“You never know if something’s unconstitutional until you try to do it,” he said.

He is currently working with the House legal team to figure out how best to follow the law and help rebuild Ohioans’ trust in their lawmakers.