Who's responsible for this ad?

The Ohioans United for Public Education is responsible for this ad. Little information is available about them. While the organization filed incorporation papers with the Ohio Secretary of State on June 19, 2024, Ohioans United for Public Education did not file as a political action committee and no contributions or expenditures have been reported. The group filed two 48-hour independent expenditure reports with the Federal Election Commission in October, reporting just under $200,000 total in ad expenditures opposing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno and two candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives: Kevin Coughlin and Derek Merrin. There is no additional information about who is funding the organization or about the spending on this particular ad.

In March, Jeffrey Ruppert of The Ruppert Co., LLC filed to trademark the organization’s name. Ruppert served in the Strickland administration and is an attorney and entrepreneur. 

Unfortunately, it is often difficult to tell who is behind political ads, including those for judges and justices. That is not an accident. Individuals and groups take pains to make it hard to see who is paying for ads by using “dark money” groups set up specifically to hide the source of funding. This makes it difficult for voters to hold the funders of political ads responsible for the content of these ads. 

Greater transparency would allow voters to consider the source of information and reduce corruption by shining a light on the political motivations behind big ad buys.

Discussion and Analysis

Context provided by Jessica Dickinson, Outreach and Engagement Manager, Ohio Fair Courts Alliance & Catherine Turcer, Executive Director, Common Cause Ohio

The Ohioans United for Public Education’s website states that it is a “citizen led organization fully committed to the values that form thriving communities through robust investments in public education.” The website names Justice Joe Deters and the other two Republican candidates running for Ohio Supreme Court as “community dividers,” defined on their site as “politicians who have been endorsed by special interests groups and are driving a dangerous agenda for our schools including voucher expansion, school privatizations or get rich quick schemes where they care more about lining the pockets of their pro-voucher special interest supporters, rather than fully funding public schools.”

This attack ad points out Deters’ 2004 pay-to-play scandal that led to his departure from his position as Treasure of the State. Deters resigned in 2004 amid a pay-to-play scandal in which his chief of staff Matt Borges pleaded guilty to improper use of a public office. Justice Deters was never charged; Borges was later convicted for his role in the Householder/HB6 corruption scheme. 

The deceptive citation in this ad were wholly unnecessary and will lead voters to question the veracity of the 2004 scandal.  

This political ad suggests that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. A school voucher lawsuit currently in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas will likely make its way before the Ohio Supreme Court eventually. The candidates that are selected by voters this fall will likely end up ruling on this pivotal school funding case.