Common Cause Ohio

"During our reporting, many records requests were often ignored or delayed for months. We pushed back. Records matter. They force elected officials to act." ~ The Marshall Project- Cleveland's @MarkPuente ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/03/19/sun…

Happy @SunshineWeek! Know your government transparency/public records rights. Here's a trove of resources from @CommonCauseOhio. share.google/i9HBHhJz4gG91o…

📚 Cover reveal My new book with @RileyTopping, Draw the Line in Ohio, tells the story of Ohio’s redistricting battles and explains how gerrymandering works — and why it fuels political corruption. Preorders: amazon.com/dp/1493098039 
Publishing Sept. 15 #DrawTheLineInOhio

New from Citizens for Ethics— Trump business partner connected to data center development in Canton citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

Celebrate Sunshine Week with us! Panelists include ACLU Ohio's Gary Daniels, veteran Statehouse reporter Randy Ludlow & environmental reporter Kathiann Kowalski RSVP: commoncause-org.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

$4.3M to Sam Randazzo in January 2019 before his appointment by Gov DeWine to the PUCO Defense argues that law doesn't apply because Randazzo wasn't public servant at the time of the alleged criminal act dispatch.com/story/business…

NEW: Check our @MTLegalAF podcast episode on uncovering dark $ in the 2024 Ohio Supreme Court election, and what to expect in 2026. @MeidasTouch @CommonCauseOhio youtu.be/cm-7afpOoGU?si… via @YouTube

Interesting find here from JP -- this particular data center is owned by the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm with $477 billion in assets. It's getting a $4.5 million state sales tax exemption and creating 10 new jobs

Join us March 11 at 6pm for our Fair Districts Huddle when we will explore benefits of open records as part of SUNSHINE WEEK With Gary Daniels, @acluohio.bsky.social, retired Statehouse reporter Randy Ludlow & environmental reporter Kathiann Kowalski RSVP: commoncause-org.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

Check out the recording from yesterday's Buying the Bench. Thank you to the indomitable Lisa Graves & intrepid researcher Evan Vorpahl for walking us through dark $ and its impact on the Ohio Supreme Court. youtube.com/watch?v=_zsrL6…

Join Common Cause Ohio & the Ohio Fair Courts Alliance tomorrow, March 4 at 6pm ET for a webinar that explores dark money. Panelists include True North Research's Lisa Graves and Evan Vorpahl! bit.ly/buyingthebench #FairCourts

Check out this new podcast Taking Initiative about direct democracy, the Ohio Constitution, and the obstacles to taking action! The hosts are Judge Pat Blackmon and Ohio Ballot Protection co-chair Laura Lucarelli. youtube.com/watch?v=FtSyci…

Mike Dowling, a longtime FirstEnergy lobbyist accused of paying a $4.3 million bribe, speaks out for the first time, explaining what he meant when he texted the company CEO that he had an amendment to HB6 "greased" signalohio.org/longtime-first…

Ohio House lawmakers have approved a measure aimed at banning ranked choice voting. Under the bill, no state election may be conducted with ranked choice and any local government that decides to use a ranked choice system would forfeit state dollars. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/03/02/ohi…

🗓️ Join us on Wed, March 4 @ 6:00 pm ET. Lisa Graves, one of the nation’s foremost experts on dark money and the courts, will walk us through the nearly $6M spent on political ads in the 2024 Ohio Supreme Court Election. Register: bit.ly/buyingthebench

Thank you to Local Elected Officials and Voter Rights groups defending our constitutional powers of local self-government from Ohio’s #RankedChoiceVoting Ban #SB63. Follow @CommonCauseOhio @lwvohio & @RankTheVoteOhio for more on how to #DefendHomeRule: rtvo.org/StopTheBan

How the US Supreme Court set the stage for partisan gerrymandering arms race “If there were a consistent, ‌enforceable federal ​limit on gerrymandering, we’d see much less – maybe close to none – of this activity,” -Nick Stephanopoulos whtc.com/2026/02/14/how…

This is a huge loss for journalists and others who follow politics. @Gallup has been the top source for presidential approval since FDR and particularly valuable because of that historical context with apples-to-apples numbers that allow us to make comparisons and see patterns.

NPR’s @davidfolkenflik says the Post’s stated strategy is to emphasize “national politics and national security,” but it’s “hard to do that without very sophisticated international coverage.” Post layoffs include the China correspondent, Asia editor and most of the Mideast team.

🚨SCOOP: Trump’s FBI summoned state election officials from across the country for an unusual briefing on “preparations” for the midterms, according to emails I obtained. It’s the “strangest thing in the world,” one top state election official told me.