Local party funds aid state candidates

Auditor Betty Montgomery received the largest share.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning and Columbiana counties' Republican parties doled out more than $150,000 since 2001 to five statewide executive officeholders, with most of the money coming from out-of-town donors.
A review of campaign finance reports of the two county political parties, posted on the Ohio Secretary of State's Web site, reveals that the Columbiana Republican Party's state candidate fund raised $105,575, all of it from out-of-towners, in 2002 and this year, and gave $82,500 to the five officeholders. The party also gave $7,500 to state legislative candidates who don't represent Columbiana County.
In 2001 and 2002, the Mahoning Republican Party's state candidate fund raised $75,700, an overwhelming majority of that from those not living in the county, and gave $69,235 to the five officeholders. The party also gave $6,000 to two failed candidates who ran in 2002 for state legislative seats in Mahoning County.
There are 26 Republican and 13 Democratic county parties in Ohio with state candidate funds. The Mahoning and Columbiana Republican parties are the only ones in the Mahoning Valley to have such funds.
Revision of law
John Green, director of the University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, said the Ohio Legislature rewrote the campaign finance law in 1995 to specifically give more power to county political parties. It allows individuals to give money to statewide candidates using county parties as conduits, he said.
An individual can give $2,500 to a candidate each calendar year but can give $5,000 to each county political party state candidate fund a year.
Some critics say the new rules violate the spirit of campaign finance law.
"When you look at the numbers, it causes you to wonder why people are contributing money to a county they don't live in," said Paul Sracic, a political science professor at Youngstown State University. "This is technically legal, but it's a way to bypass spending limits. Unfortunately, parties can be used as a conduit to launder money. It circumvents the spirit, if not the intent, of the law."
A few days ago, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell posted county parties' state candidate funds online -- http://serform.sos.state.oh.us/sos/campFin/index.html -- from 2000 to the present to shed light on a major source of funding for statewide candidates that often goes unnoticed. When he announced the move, Blackwell said county funds would no longer be places to quietly move money in an attempt to circumvent candidate contribution limits, according to The Associated Press.
"The public and the media should be allowed to look at who's behind campaigns financially," said James Lee, a Blackwell spokesman. "We know these dollars are outside the public view. If there's a problem, knowledge is the best disinfectant. We were concerned that the public was unable to see where this money is coming from."
Until now, political parties had to file reports only with their county boards of elections.
Politically motivated timing?
Sracic questioned the timing of Blackwell's decision to post the state candidate funds on his Web site.
Blackwell, Attorney General Jim Petro and Auditor Betty Montgomery say they are running for governor in 2006. Petro and Montgomery received more money from state candidate funds than Blackwell.
The state officeholders receiving contributions from the Columbiana and Mahoning Republican parties in the past three years are:
UMontgomery, who received $77,500; $45,000 from Columbiana and $32,500 from Mahoning.
UPetro, who received $39,000; $12,500 from Columbiana and $26,500 from Mahoning.
UGov. Bob Taft, who received $20,000; $15,000 from Columbiana and $5,000 from Mahoning.
UTreasurer Joseph T. Deters, who received $10,000; $5,000 from each county.
UBlackwell, who received $5,235; $5,000 from Columbiana and $235 from Mahoning.
Contributor suggestions
It's not illegal for contributors to suggest who gets their donation to county party officials, Lee said.
"That would fly in the face of the spirit of the law, but it's not where the prohibition exists," he said.
It is only illegal for a candidate and a donor to work out a deal using a county party as a go-between to funnel money to that candidate, he said.
That accusation was made in 2002 by Democratic candidates running for statewide office about parties in Mahoning and a few other counties, but was never proved.
Specifically, Leigh Herington, the 2002 Democratic attorney general, questioned donations from 17 attorneys Jan. 18, 2002, from a Columbus law firm -- 16 who each gave $294.12 to Mahoning Republicans and one who gave $294.08, which totals $5,000. Ten days later, the party gave $5,000 to Petro.
Mark Munroe, Mahoning Republicans' vice chairman, said donors sometimes suggest where their money should be spent.
"We certainly are sensitive to any suggestions or concerns a contributor has," he said.
But ultimately, Munroe said, the final decision rests with party officials.
"The party could be described as a vehicle or a conduit to give money to state candidates," he said. "We collect it and disperse it, and it's perfectly fine and proper and legal. Once the money is deposited in our account, we have complete discretion on how the money is used."
Making the decisions
Dave Johnson, the former Columbiana County GOP chairman who runs the party's state candidate fund, said he is the sole decision-maker as to where money given to Columbiana Republicans for statewide candidates is spent.
"I don't have people direct where it goes," he said. "There are no strings attached when you contribute to our fund, except that we will use it toward good government."
skolnick@vindy.com