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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sen. Voinovich to be on CNBC Wednesday morning
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, will appear on CNBC’s Squawk Box Wednesday morning, July 22, at 7:30 a.m. According to a statement released by Garrette Silverman, the senator’s communications director, Voinovich will talk about “the economy, federal debt and his Securing America’s Future Economy Commission Act.”
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Brunner burning through campaign coffers faster than Fisher
Here’s the rest of the story on Ohio’s U.S. Senate race, apologies to Paul Harvey.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is burning through her so-far limited resources at a faster pace than her opponent in the Democratic primary, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, spending more in the second quarter of this year than she raised.
Brunner raised $228,021.57 in the second quarter, which ended June 30. She spent $255,123.93 during that period.
According to her report filed with the Federal Election Commission, Brunner ended the second quarter with $165,451.57 in cash on hand. So far during the campaign, she raised $435,257.43 and spent $269,805.86.
Fisher, meanwhile, raised $903,762.89 during the second quarter and spent $414,865.24 during that period. He ended the quarter with about $1.47 million still on hand, according to his report. That was after raising about $1.91 million over six months and spending $433,390.40.
Both trail Republican Rob Portman who had $4.3 million in cash on hand after six months.
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Casino ballot signatures get Brunner OK
County boards of election found that backers of a four-casino plan submitted enough valid signatures from voters to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner ruled on Tuesday, July 21.
The county boards reported 452,956 valid signatures statewide, more than the 402,275 required, Brunner’s office said in a press release.
Also, the Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan, the casino supporters, gathered signatures equal to more than 5 percent of registered voters in the 2006 gubernatorial race in 73 counties, surpassing the requirement that signatures equal to 5 percent of the voters be gathered in at least 44 counties.
The ballot proposal would ask voters to approve casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. It still faces challenges.
Opponents have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to order Brunner to investigate irregularities in how signatures were gathered with the apparent goal of knocking the issue off the ballot.
On Monday, Brunner launched a statewide inquiry into irregularities involving petition circulators with findings to be referred to the Ohio attorney general and local county prosecutors.
County boards found cases in which convicted felons illegally gathered signatures and in which signatures from deceased voters showed up on petitions. There also were questions about whether circulators listed their permanent addresses as required.
Brunner said that the Ohio Constitution gives the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to ballot signatures.
However, her probe focuses on the potential for criminal prosecution for election wrongdoing, she said. She said she has independent authority to investigate alleged election law violations.
“While I’m obligated to fulfill my duties under the constitution and certify the issue, I believe it’s important to investigate these allegations to ensure the integrity of this and future ballot initiative elections,” she said.
Brunner previously has said that “in the end it is likely to be the Ohio Supreme Court that will detemine whether this issue is submitted to voters this fall.”
Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for the pro-casino group, said backers consider Brunner’s probe and the certification of signatures as separate issues and are preparing mount an aggressive campaign to win voter approval.
“What this allows is for the voters to make a decision on whether they want expanded gambling in Ohio and the jobs and economic development that go with it,” said Tenenbaum.
