Thank you for those of you who joined our March coffee hour. You can view the slides here and watch the recording here.

Voting and Elections – Take Action

• • Check/update your voter registration at voteohio.gov
  • Encourage voters to check their registration. Share Voter Lookup.
  • Sign up to be a poll worker and recruit poll workers
  • Board of Elections monitoring (There’s a training tomorrow, 3/20) 
  • Join Ohio Voter Rights Coalition calls every other Friday at noon

Key Dates for Primary on May 5

• April 6: Deadline to register
• April 7: Early Vote begins; In-person schedule
• Bring unexpired Photo ID to vote
• 🚨Share voter education info Don’t wait to mail your absentee ballot!

Sign up to join Ohio’s largest nonpartisan Election Protection, voter support network: protectthevote.net

Buying the Bench

• Buying the Bench: Uncovering Dark Money Donors in the 2024 Race for Ohio Supreme Court, Common Cause Ohio, February 26, 2026

• The Politics of Judicial Elections 2023–24, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, February 26, 2026
• Five groups poured millions in dark money into 2024 Ohio Supreme Court races, study finds, Cleveland.com, February 26, 2026
• Dark Money Pours into Supreme Court Race, Meidas Legal AF, March 9, 2026
• JudgeTheAds.org – Check out the 2024 ads: judgetheads.org/the-ads/ 
• Get to know the candidates– Vote411.org
• We Don’t Talk About Leonard, On the Media & Pro Publica, October 13, 2023

Sunshine Week 

• Ohio Sunshine Laws: An Open Government Resource Manual (Attorney General, 2026) 
• Keep an Eye on Your Government: The Activist’s How-To-Guide on Ohio Public Records and Open Meetings Laws (ACLU Ohio, March 2025) 
• Check out last week’s webinar! 
• Additional resources 
• Yost warns Ohio public officials against using Signal, other messaging apps, Columbus Dispatch, March 18, 2026

FirstEnergy Executives Trial 

• December 18, 2018: Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former Senior VP of external affairs Mike Dowling met with Governor-elect Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor-elect Jon Husted at the Columbus Athletic Club. They discussed Sam Randazzo’s appointment to the PUCO, according to the state’s indictment. The indictment says that Jones and Dowling then drove to Randazzo’s condo and negotiated the $4.3 million bribe.
• February 4, 2019: Gov. DeWine appointed Randazzo to the Public Utilities Commission.
• March 11. 2026: Former Lt. Gov. Jon Husted testified via Zoom. He said the reason for this was because he was in DC because of the  war in Iran, but the Senator still made it to Ohio over the weekend for a fundraiser. Husted told the court he wasn’t aware of a meme with Dowling and Randazzo’s faces photoshopped onto a picture of Mount Rushmore.

Faces on Mt. Rushmore from left to right: Ty Pine, former FirstEnergy VP Mike Dowling, former PUCO Chair Sam Randazzo, and the President of the Boich Companies Matt Evans. Pine received a $25,000 bonus after passage of House Bill 6 in 2019. 

Data Center in Canton Connected to President Trump 

• Data centers are spiking Ohio utility prices. One developer is Trump’s business partner, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, March 12, 2026
• New Poll Shows Ohioans Deeply Concerned About Rising Energy Costs and Strongly Support Clean Water Protections, Ohio Environmental Council, March 12, 2026

OSU President resigns and JobsOhio

• A university president, an inappropriate relationship, $60K podcasts, and another scandal in Ohio, News from the States, March 17, 2026
• The “record(s)” on JobsOhio, Columbus Dispatch, February 7, 2014
• Additional background on JobsOhio: In a 5-2 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled on June 10, 2014, that ProgressOhio.org, and two state legislators lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of JobsOhio, the private nonprofit economic development corporation. The Court found the plaintiffs failed to show a “direct, concrete, and individualized injury” to warrant a lawsuit. 

ICE in Ohio 

• Central Ohio Resources
• ICE Watch Resources Linktree
• Hotline for families of people detained: 614-874-1189

Upcoming Events 

• Ongoing Tues. & Thurs. at 6pm: Join Common Cause’s Democracy Phonebank 
• Friday, March 20 at noon:  Board of Election Monitor Training 
• Tuesday, March 24, 9am-3pm: Red Wine & Blue Lobby Day  (Today is the last day to register)

• Wednesday, March 25, 9am-2pm League of Women Voters of Ohio Lobby Day
• Saturday, March 28: No Kings 

• Friday, April 3 at noon: Ohio Voter Rights Coalition meeting 

• Wednesday, April 8 at 6pm:  Fair Democracy Huddle–  Primary Elections 

Follow Common Cause Ohio:

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