“Dangerous” ad from the Ohio Democratic Party
Watch the ad:
Text of the ad: In a voiceover, “Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer have a dangerous agenda for Ohio. DeWine and Fischer will ban abortion with no exceptions for rape and incest even if the victim is a child. Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer. They are just too extreme.”
This ad includes a citation: “Ohio Man Arrested for Raping 10-Year-Old Girl Who Was Forced to Travel Out of State for an Abortion,” Politics and Policy, 7.14.22.
Who's responsible for this ad?
The ad is paid for by the Ohio Democratic Party, making “following the money” fairly simple. Contributions to all the Ohio Democratic Party’s committees and accounts are available on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website.
- Total contributions to the Ohio Democratic Party (Jan. 2021-Sept. 2, 2022): $6,334,140.12
- Total contributions to the Ohio Democratic PartyState Candidate Fund (Jan. 2021-Sept. 2, 2022): $2,059,560.42
You can also take a deeper dive. Click here for contributions to the Ohio Democratic Party.
These contributions were downloaded from the Ohio Secretary of State’s website. Column U, “Organizational Affiliation,” highlighted in yellow, was added to clearly identify the economic interests of both individual donors and Political Action Committees (PACs).
Political party and the candidate committees are required to file a Pre-General election filing on October 27.
Click here for information about campaign contribution limits.
The Brennan Center for Justice’s Buying Time project has been tracking political spending in state Supreme Court races. Click here for information about political ads and spending in the Ohio Supreme Court races this year.
Discussion and Analysis
OVERVIEW:
In June in Dobbs v. Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, ruling that there is not a constitutional right to an abortion. This leaves the state to determine the legality of abortion.
In 2019, the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill that prohibits abortions starting at six weeks. On October 6, the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas granted abortion providers’ and advocates’ request for a preliminary injunction. The Ohio Supreme Court will have the final word, making control of the court a top priority for both sides of the abortion debate.
Cincinnati Right to Life conducted a survey of candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court. Justices Pat Fischer and Pat DeWine responded that “life begins at conception.”
- Click here for Pat Fischer’s survey
- Click here for Pat DeWine’s survey
On November 3, the Ohio State Bar Association Judicial Election Advertising Monitoring Committee sent a letter to the Ohio Democratic Party calling for them to pull this ad.
“The ad could serve to erode public trust and confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary and unfairly lead voters to believe that these justices will decide issues in a predetermined manner,” wrote Chair of the Committee Paul Hervey, “We encourage voters to be mindful of the attack ads they are seeing and to always remember the unique role of judges in our government.”
Click here for a link to the press release from the Bar Association.