Rotunda Rumblings

All’s fair: Gov. Mike DeWine opened the Ohio State Fair on Wednesday. During a gaggle with reporters, DeWine avoided answering questions about a pending bill banning virtually all abortions, including whether he thinks there should be exceptions for rape and incest or whether he thinks there should be clarifications in the heartbeat bill. As Laura Hancock reports, there’s been confusion over whether the 10-year-old girl who sought an abortion in Indiana would have qualified for an exception in Ohio.

Records request: FirstEnergy received a new subpoena from federal regulators earlier this month, the first the Akron-based utility had gotten since April 2021. Per Andrew Tobias, FirstEnergy said in a federal disclosure on Tuesday the Securities and Exchange Commission had subpoenaed the company for unspecified information on July 11. The federal investigation relates to the House Bill 6 scandal, which embroiled the company in numerous investigations and lawsuits, some of which have begun to wind down.

Approved: The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to approve a scaled-down version of the CHIPS Act, legislation that would provide $52 billion in subsides for the semiconductor industry, including a planned massive Intel factory in the Columbus area. Per Tobias, the Senate voted 64-33 to advance the bill, which now heads to the Democratic-controlled House for final approval. Intel officials have pressured Ohio politicians to pass the CHIPS Act, saying it will affect their eventual plans to make the Ohio factory even bigger. Both Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Sen. Rob Portman voted “yes” on the bill, which saw opposition from the left and right from senators who viewed it as corporate welfare.

Abortion fallout: The Indiana doctor who provided an abortion for a 10-year-old rape survivor from Ohio is now being investigated by the state attorney general, per CNN. A lawyer for Dr. Caitlin Bernard said Tuesday that a notice from Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita informed Bernard of the inquiry. Bernard has said she is considering a defamation lawsuit against Rokita, who publicly said Bernard may have committed a crime by not reporting the abortion, even though Bernard did.

Dividing lines: The Ohio rape case has caused some division in the Republican Party, especially in states where they have full control over government, over how far to take abortion bans, the New York Times’ Mitch Smith and Julie Bosman report. Smith and Bosman highlighted the neighboring state of Indiana, where protesters marched on the Capitol during a debate over an impending ban. Some Republicans have tried to avoid talking about the issue at all.

Food for thought: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost joined 21 other Republican attorneys general in a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture, challenging changes to the Food and Nutrition Service program aimed at expanding Title IX protections to include gender orientation and sexual identity, the Columbus Dispatch’s Anna Staver reports. The change in policy would require any program receiving funds to update their non-discrimination policies and signage to include those two categories. Yost said USDA was weaponizing federal dollars for needy children.

Probation: A self-described social media influencer was sentenced to probation for making threats in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Wilmington’s Justin Stoll pleaded guilty to threats. He was not charged in connection to his attending the rally, the Enquirer’s Cameron Knight and Kevn Grasha report.

Gun violence: As Canada tries to combat gun violence, they continue to run into a problem: America. As Reuters’ Steve Scherer and Anna Mehler Paperny report, around 85% of handguns traced to crime in 2021 came from the United States. Most of those come from Texas, but firearms from Ohio are in the top five.

Extra seat: Ohio is among the states that could get an extra congressional seat if a plan by a Montana attorney works. A largely forgotten part of the 14th Amendment states that if voting rights are denied or abridged, states that violate the rights could lose seats in Congress. In that scenario, Ohio would pick up an extra member of Congress. The attorney now has a complaint before the U.S. Census Bureau against voting changes in Wisconsin, Michael Linhorst writes for Politico.

Senate map: Ohio got a quick mention in this Politico story detailing national Republican concerns that candidate issues could cause them to lose what should be several winnable U.S. Senate races this year. Like other national outlets have lately, it points out Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan’s fundraising advantage, while also noting polls haven’t shown Republican J.D. Vance “with a commanding lead.” It also quoted Portman predicting a Vance win, since Ohio is “redder than it used to be.”

Back in state: On that note, Vance made a public appearance in Ohio on Tuesday, speaking at the Scioto County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner. Vance has caught some flack lately – including from some Republicans -- for not campaigning more actively in Ohio, so it’s more notable when Vance shows he’s hitting the traditional GOP campaign circuit.

Door to door: The conservative Washington Free Beacon visited Ryan’s former neighbors in Niles recently, quoting some of them in a story that like, many others before it, generally pointed to the conservative shift that’s taken place in the Mahoning Valley over the past several election cycles. “I voted Democrat until my early 50s. My dad was a Democrat, he was a union guy,” said one, Dave Sherman. “But I think a lot of people here who aren’t talking are going to vote for J.D., there’s just a loud minority for Ryan.”

Clear my tab: The Lucas County Board of Elections informed voters that votes cast for Nick Komives, a Democrat who withdrew from the race for the Ohio House District 42, will not count in the election, per The Blade. Komives, a Toledo City Councilman, dropped out to create a clear path for Erika White, a local union leader.

Full Disclosure

Five things we learned from the March 31, 2022 financial disclosure of Sen. Steve Wilson, a Maineville Republican:

1. In addition to his legislative salary of $76,057.63, he disclosed eight sources of income of at least $1,000 last year. Among them: he made more than $100,000 from the American Automobile Association Allied Group, where he serves as a board member and treasurer; and he made more than $100,000 in deferred compensation from LCNB National Bank, where he retired as CEO.

2. He or an immediate family member does business under a company called Otterbein Homes Inc.

3. He also serves on the boards of LCNB National Bank, LCNB Corp. and the Warren County Foundation, and is a trustee for Countryside YMCA in Warren County.

4. At some point in 2021, he owed at least $1,000 to three sources: Visa/USAA, LCNB and American Express.

5. He made $25,000 to $49,999 renting an apartment in Naples, Fla.

Birthdays

Vincent Keeran, Ohio Senate clerk

Ex-state Sen. Lou Gentile

Straight From The Source

“These are his bets, and he’ll continue to support them. I would not be shocked if he goes back into his wallet closer to the general...if he thinks it’ll make a difference to Vance’s candidacy.”

-Max Chafkin, a journalist and author of a biography on tech venture capitalist Peter Thiel, quoted in the Columbus Dispatch on the possibility that Thiel will heavily fund Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance’s general election. Thiel spent $15 million funding Vance’s primary race via the super PAC Protect Ohio Values.

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