Ohio’s Democrat Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is running for the U.S. Senate, creating a great opportunity for Republicans to snatch up this way to often overlooked, but vitally important office. If you’re not sure why this office is important in Ohio just think back to a certain election in 2004.
There are two Republican candidates in this race – Jon Husted and Sandra “Sandy” O’Brien. Husted is a state senator, and former state representative. O’Brien is the Ashtabula County Auditor.
At a recent candidate debate, Husted and O’Brien sparred over who, this being a Republican primary it’s what one does, was the more conservative candidate. They jousted over taxes, elections, redistricting, and lastly campaign finance. It was on the issue of campaign finance, or more specifically disclosure that a very interesting contrast was brought to light.
He supports requiring greater disclosure by corporations in their political advertisements and has introduced legislation to require that. O’Brien said shareholders should be allowed to vote before a corporation gives money to a candidate.
The “He” in the above quote refers to Jon Husted. As Secretary of State, Husted said he supports increased disclosure to the public of who is paying for what. A very admirable and seemingly sensible goal. He backs it up with legislation that he introduced to accomplish just that. O’Brien on the other hand takes a slightly different approach – an approach that is immensely popular with the more progressive branch of the Democratic party – which is to require share holders to sign off on a company’s political activities. It’s an interesting approach, but not sure if it’s one that a GOP primary is quite ready for.
Regardless of the outcome, Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy is waiting for the winner of the May 4th primary.
