Category: News

Ohio Republican Party Calls for Justice Brunner’s Recusal

Posted on by tmclaughlin

Justice Brunner has significant conflicts to hearing Ohio redistricting cases

COLUMBUS, OH—Chairman Bob Paduchik issued the following statement on Justice Brunner’s flagrant partisan actions and statements that necessitate her recusal from redistricting cases:

“We take Justice Brunner at her word. Based on her actions and statements it’s clear her decision on redistricting litigation is predetermined, and therefore she is subject to recusal. Ohio residents deserve an impartial constitutional review of the newly drawn legislative districts, and Justice Brunner is incapable of providing a fair opinion.”

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Background:

Ohio ethics rules for judges strictly prohibit a candidate or sitting judge from making a pledge, promise or commitment to rule on a case. In accordance with this standard, we strongly request Justice Jennifer Brunner recuse herself from any court case involving redistricting.

There are four serious conflicts to Justice Brunner hearing a redistricting case:

  • she vocally campaigned for the Ohio Supreme Court as a candidate that would side with Democrats on future redistricting litigation.
  • she has close relationships with several litigants in the redistricting suits.
  • she has been a redistricting reform advocate for decades.
  • she has a reputation of seeing all issues through the lens of partisan politics.

Brunner took every opportunity to highlight her candidacy as decisive to future redistricting lawsuits. In her campaign announcement she highlighted a quote from then Democrat National Committee Chairman Tom Perez: “As Ohio implements a new way to draw its district lines after the 2020 election I can think of no one better than Judge Jennifer Brunner to ensure Ohio’s districts are fair.”

There are many other documented instances where then-candidate Brunner promoted her candidacy through future redistricting litigation, including an awkward attempt to solicit the artist Cher for a campaign event. Another is a Tweet from Brunner stating, “Let’s elect an Ohio Supreme Court that will fight to end partisan gerrymandering. Donate $10 today!”

Justice Brunner is also conflicted because of her close relationships with several plaintiffs and Democrat-aligned advocacy groups that supported her campaign for Ohio Supreme Court. These individuals and organizations have endorsed and helped fund her 2020 campaign.

  • Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, was special guest at a 2020 fundraiser for Jennifer Brunner’s campaign for Ohio Supreme Court. Holder and the NDRC are a plaintiff in the second lawsuit suit.
  • In 2010, Brunner launched the Ohio Redistricting Competition with League of Women Voters of Ohio and Common Cause Ohio. League of Women Voters is a plaintiff in the first lawsuit, while Common Cause did the bidding of Democrats throughout the redistricting process. Additionally, Brunner has recruited volunteers to support League of Women Voters activities.
  • The Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund in a 2020 endorsement of Brunner, stated “Judge Brunner is committed to defending our democracy and upholding a fair redistricting process when new legislative and political boundaries are drawn.” The OECAF parent organization, Ohio Environmental Council, is plaintiff in the third lawsuit.

Justice Brunner is a longtime redistricting reform advocate and has many public statements demonstrating her opinions on redistricting that disqualify her ability to be impartial. Including a Tweet in August of 2021 where Justice Brunner encouraged her followers to participate in Ohio Redistricting Commission public hearings.

Justice Brunner has a prolific history of making decisions based on partisan consideration to the point that she has been labelled by columnist Peter Bronson as ‘the most partisan state official in Ohio.’ As Secretary of State, Brunner disenfranchised thousands of absentee ballots and sought to remove several Republican county officials without cause.

 

Statement from Chairman Paduchik on Nan Whaley’s Support of Teaching Critical Race Theory in K-12 Schools

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS—Statement from Chairman Bob Paduchik on the U.S. Conference of Mayors, run by Nan Whaley, resolution to support the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public K-12 schools:

“Ohioans now know that Nan Whaley supports teaching K-12 children that, based solely on the color of their skin, they are oppressors or victims. Ohio schools should only teach our children that they are defined by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.”

 

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Background Information: Nan Whaley, who serves as the President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, adopted the following resolution that advocates for the teaching of controversial, Marxist-based theories that divide Americans.

2021 Adopted Resolutions

In Support of Critical Race Theory in Public K-12 Education

Resolution Number: 68

WHEREAS, Critical Race Theory (“CRT”) is the practice of interrogating the role of race and racism in society, in which racism can be seen across systemic, institutional and interpersonal levels operating over the course of time and across generations; and

WHEREAS, historical racism and racist systems have caused de jure and de facto discrimination against people of color and have created racial inequities in all facets of life in the United States, and these racial inequities continue to the present day; and

WHEREAS, the basic tenets of CRT are as follows:

  1. Recognition that race is not biologically real, but it is socially constructed and socially significant as a product of social thought not connected to biological reality;
  2. Acknowledgement that racism is a normal feature of society and is embedded within systems and institutions, like the legal system, that replicate racial inequality, meaning that racist incidents are not aberrations but instead manifestations of structural and systemic racism;
  3. Rejection of popular understandings about racism, including claims of meritocracy, colorblindness, and arguments that confine racism to a few bad apples, in recognition that the systemic nature of racism, which is codified in law, embedded in structures, and woven into public policy, bears primary responsibility for reproducing racial inequality;
  4. Recognition of the relevance of people’s everyday lives to scholarship, embracing the lived experiences of people of color, including those preserved through storytelling, and rejecting deficit-informed research that excludes the epistemologies of people of color; and

WHEREAS, CRT transcends a Black/white racial binary and recognizes that racism has impacted the experiences of various people of color, including Latinx, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and other racial groups; and

WHEREAS, this evolving, malleable practice critiques how the social construction of race and institutionalized racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers and recognizes that race intersects with other identities, including sexuality and gender identity; and

WHEREAS, CRT recognizes that racism is not a bygone relic of the past, but instead acknowledges that the legacy of slavery, segregation, and the imposition of second-class citizenship on people of color continue to permeate the social fabric of this nation; and

WHEREAS, it can be used to theorize, examine, and challenge the ways which race and racism implicitly and explicitly impact social structures, practices, and discourses; and

WHEREAS, CRT notes that learning and scholarship that ignores race is not demonstrating “neutrality” but adherence to the existing racial hierarchy, challenging white privilege and exposing deficit-informed research that ignores, and often omits, the scholarship of people of color; and

WHEREAS, Black, Indigenous, & People of Color (BIPOC) have experienced a gap in achievement compared to their White counterparts, and these students need an equitable allocation of resources to fill in the gaps; and

WHEREAS, the examination of racial inequities and education gaps between white students and students of color must consider the following factors:

  1. the predominance of curriculum that excludes the history and lived experiences of Americans of color and imposes a dominant white narrative of history;
  2. deficit-oriented instruction that characterizes students of color as in need of remediation;
  3. narrow assessments, the results of which are used to confirm narratives about the ineducability of children of color;
  4. school discipline policies that disproportionately impact students of color and compromise their educational outcomes (such as dress code policies prohibiting natural Black hairstyles);
  5. school funding inequities, including the persistent underfunding of property-poor districts, many of which are composed primarily of children of color; and
  6. the persistence of racially segregated education.

WHEREAS, mayors understand that policies focused on equity can reduce gaps within public institutions, including public-school systems; and

WHEREAS, policymakers and educators have the opportunity to identify solutions and implement evidence-based programs that advance academic achievement and provide culturally-aware resources for students of color for post-secondary and career readiness,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the nation’s mayors support the implementation of CRT in the public education curriculum to help engage our youth in programming that reflects an accurate, complete account of BIPOC history; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors supports access to equitable programs that reflect history, decrease achievement gaps, and better ensure that BIPOC students receive resources to ensure their success upon the completion of their primary education.

 

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Statement from Ohio Republican Party Chairman Paduchik on the Democrat Advocacy Group, Ohio Citizens’ Redistricting Commission

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS, OH— Chairman Bob Paduchik issued the following statement on Ohio Citizens’ Redistricting Commission:

“The biggest lie in Ohio politics today is the notion that the Ohio Citizens’ Redistricting Commission is a group of voting rights activists instead of a Democrat advocacy organization.

“The next biggest lie is the idea their ‘unity map’ is anything other than a Democrat gerrymander of Ohio legislative districts.”

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Background

The Ohio Citizens’ Redistricting Commission promotes itself as an “independent, nonpartisan commission,” however all but two of its 16 members are registered Democrat voters, and those two individuals have social media presence and posts that advocate for Democrat causes and candidates. There is not a single Republican or Independent member of the commission. OCRC’s claim to be nonpartisan is as hollow as the fairness behind its “unity map.”
The Democrat party has a geography problem because most Democrat voters live in seven of Ohio’s 88 counties; the 2020 Presidential election demonstrates this fact. To make a map Democrats believe is fair would require legislative districts that are extremely gerrymandered.

The so-called unity maps from the OCRC appear to divide 60 county boundaries, and there is no way to tell how many smaller political subdivisions it divides in the House and Senate maps. The “unity map” is nothing more than the Democrat’s best-case scenario under the new redistricting law. It will also be the predicate for an OCRC lawsuit, as stated in public testimony by board member Mr. Sam Gresham.

In addition to drawing Democrat maps, the OCRC has served as an AstroTurf clearing house for pro-Democrat public testimony. Democrat activists can use the OCRC website to submit testimony and draw maps, and the OCRC has done an effective job in driving their activists to public hearings.

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Statement from Ohio Republican Party Chairman on Justice DeWine’s Decision to Seek Reelection

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS—Chairman Bob Paduchik issued the following statement on Justice Pat DeWine’s reelection bid for his current Ohio Supreme Court seat:

“Ohio Republicans can be proud that Justice Pat DeWine will seek reelection on the Supreme court.  Justice DeWine is a principled conservative, dedicated to judicial restraint, and committed to defending the rule of law. Justice DeWine’s decision gives our party the strongest possible conservative majority on the court.

“We look forward to supporting Justices Kennedy, Fischer, and DeWine to keep Ohio’s Supreme Court in Republican hands.”

 

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ORP Statement on Democrat John Cranley’s Gubernatorial Announcement

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS, OH— Ohio Republican Party Executive Director Justin Bis issued the following statement on Democrat Mayor John Cranley’s gubernatorial bid:

“Ohioans need look no further than John Cranley’s mayoral record to know what kind of governor he would be—Cincinnatians face the third highest homicide rate per capita in the nation and suffer from sky high poverty rates, double Ohio’s.

“Like fellow Democrat Nan Whaley, John Cranley failed the very people and city he was elected to serve in pursuit of a bigger job.”

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Chairman Paduchik Statement on President Biden’s CNN Town Hall in Cincinnati

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS, OH—Chairman Bob Paduchik released the following statement on President Biden’s CNN town hall in Cincinnati:

“Tonight, President Joe Biden will visit a great city suffering from devastating levels of violent crime caused by the failed leadership of Democrat Mayor John Cranley.

“Just like how Joe Biden failed to protect Americans and our southern border, John Cranley is failing to protect Cincinnatians as they face the third highest homicide rate per capita in the nation.”

 

 

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Statement from Chairman Paduchik on Signing of the Most Conservative Budget in Ohio Legislative History

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS—Chairman Bob Paduchik issued the following statement on Governor DeWine’s signing of the FY2022 and FY2023 budget:

“Ohio working families can be proud of Republican leaders Governor DeWine, Senate President Huffman, and Speaker Cupp.

“While Washington Democrats are fighting to raise taxes, Ohioans are benefiting from the largest personal income tax cut in state history. Not only does this pro-growth budget return billions of dollars to taxpayers, it ensures that our children have access to quality education regardless of where they live.”

“This budget reaffirms what we already know: Republican leadership works. It is the reason Ohio is a top 10 state to do business, and why a company like Peloton chose to build its first domestic manufacturing plant in Ohio.”

 

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Ohio Republican Party Statement on Tim Ryan’s Demands to End the Senate Filibuster

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS, OH—The Ohio Republican Party Communications Director Tricia McLaughlin released the following statement on Tim Ryan’s dangerous calls to end the Senate Filibuster:

“Today ‘moderate’ Tim Ryan went on MSNBC to demand an end to the filibuster. Make no mistake, this blatant power grab will undermine the checks and balances of American democracy. Tim Ryan and other Democrats should be careful what they wish for —2022 is right around the corner.”

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ORP Statement on S.1

Posted on by tmclaughlin

COLUMBUS, OH—The Ohio Republican Party Executive Director Justin Bis released the following statement on the Democrats’ S.1 power grab:

“Among numerous democracy eroding provisions, the Senate’s version of H.R. 1 would strip states of commonsense voter ID laws and would take Ohio taxpayer dollars to bankroll politicians’ campaigns in states they don’t even live in. The decision to make a political donation should be personal –not mandated by the federal government.”

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