COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — A judge in Franklin County denied a motion Wednesday to freeze the funds within the Ohio House GOP’s campaign account, the latest in a legal squabble that stems from more than a year of turmoil among some members of the majority caucus.
News
A judge declines to freeze Ohio House GOP’s campaign account funds before the March primary
By: Sarah Donaldson | Statehouse News Bureau
Posted on:
“We are very pleased with the ruling, including that freezing these funds would not have benefited anyone,” Robert Tucker wrote in an email statement. Tucker is serving as the defense attorney for Stephens and Rep. Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Twp.), who is also named as a defendant.
Lisa Ferguson, the plaintiffs’ attorney and Rep. Ferguson’s mother, wrote in an email statement she believes a final ruling will fall in their favor.
“A majority of the Republican caucus has never elected Jason Stephens to do anything, let alone to seize the caucus’s legislative campaign fund and use it to prop up only his hand-picked Blue 22 allies,” she wrote. “Judge Serrott’s decision notes that this case, and the discovery process, will continue.”
Ads against some GOP lawmakers’ primary challengers from the campaign committee have begun to populate online and on-air, with Election Day a little more than a month away on March 19. Six days later, a virtual status conference is scheduled for March 25.