Critics oppose one of Ohio’s most powerful political bosses

Critics oppose one of Ohio’s most powerful political bosses

The Democratic secretary of state gave reasons for removing the official from his seat.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Critics are lining up against one of Ohio’s longest-serving, most powerful political bosses.

Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff, a man President Bush has called the most effective party chairman in America, was removed from his seat on the county board of elections last month by Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. The move was based on concerns that employees in Akron were being harassed, intimidated and threatened, she said.

Arshinkoff challenged her decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, where depositions were scheduled to begin this week.

Within his own party, Arshinkoff faces a power struggle with a Republican state senator who wants Arshinkoff dethroned as GOP chairman.

“I think that people are just fed up,” said state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, whose ouster effort is dubbed The New Summit County Republicans. “Everyone’s got their own reason for letting him go, whether it’s how he treats people, how he spends the money, or his losing record of 10 wins and 67 losses over the last six years.”

Coughlin, of nearby Cuyahoga Falls, said he believes enough new central committee members were elected last week to push Arshinkoff out for good.

Brunner said her decision to remove Arshinkoff was also based on evidence that he was running his party operation out of elections board offices. Three local judges also signed affadavits that Arshinkoff interfered with their official duties.

“I really did not want to lose the opportunity to have this board function in a more civil and professional manner,” Brunner said. “When you visit there, it feels kind of like a rubber band pulled tight.”

Arshinkoff, who took charge of the party in 1978 at the age of 23, defends his record and his approach.

Detractors may talk tough, but he said he has never been accused or convicted of a crime or found to have broken an ethics or elections law in three decades of service.

“Do I kick ass sometimes to make sure things get done? You’re damn right,” Arshinkoff said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “When you don’t have the [backing of the local] paper and you don’t have the [voter] numbers, you have to.”

Coughlin accuses Arshinkoff of exploiting his position at the party to steer business to his lobbying firm and to pay for a car and other personal perks.

“He’s got about $600,000 that he budgets for loosely defined operational overhead, which includes a Cadillac Escalade and three meals a day, a bloated staff, and his pay,” Coughlin said. “We want a chairman who’s interested in winning elections and not feathering his own nest.”

Arshinkoff calls Coughlin “truth-challenged.” He said he makes $72,000 a year as party chairman and that he and his wife, Karen, have often taken on personal debt to make the contributions to the party that are required of central committee members.

Arshinkoff also noted that the win-loss record Coughlin assigns him neglects the party’s influence outside the county. It counts Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor of suburban Akron, whom Arshinkoff recruited and groomed, in the “loss” column, for example, because she did not win Democrat-heavy Summit County on her way to statewide victory in 2006.

Viewed by many as a brilliant political tactician, Arshinkoff has built a small county party into a fundraising dynamo that has given millions of dollars to candidates. In 2000, Arshinkoff’s fundraising machine gave $2.8 million to elect then-Gov. George W. Bush president.

Arshinkoff’s demands that donors give to the party, rather than spreading their contributions among individual candidates, is both the source of the party’s might and the heart of criticism against it. Most county party chairman no longer require such loyalty.

Arshinkoff said the attacks by Coughlin and Brunner are politically motivated.

Coughlin aspires to be Ohio’s next governor and is using his attacks to build a statewide reputation among Republicans, Arshinkoff said.

And undercutting Summit County’s fundraising prowess would benefit Brunner and the Democratic party, Arshinkoff argues.

Brunner, the state’s first Democratic elections chief since 1990, has taken a tough stance against dysfunctional county election boards — including dismantling the Cuyahoga County board that included Ohio Republican Chairman Bob Bennett.

“Would it perhaps be in her interest not to have us donating $1 million to statewide Republican candidates in 2010?” Arshinkoff asked.