Ohio Citizen Action Follows the Money: Cash From Cincinnati-Based Insurance Cos. Flows To GOP Supreme Court Candidates

Cincy Cash Floats GOP Justices

CINCINNATI (TDB)-- Half the money raised by Republican Justice Maureen O'Connor -- who is campaigning for the chief justice slot this year -- has come from insurance companies.  Justice Judith Lanzinger, the GOP nominee who is seeking reelection, got 49% of her campaign kitty from insurers.  And a significant chunk of the campaign cash raised by the two judges flowed in from insurers who have their home offices in Cincinnati.  Ohio Citizen Action pored over campaign contribution reports and compiled data about who is financing the Supreme Court campaigns this year, and The Daily Bellwether has the complete text (pdf) of the 14-page report available here. Citizen Action says that Ohio should stop judges from presiding over cases that involve their financial backers -- the money raises the possibility of bias.  A sample of the findings:

"Insurance companies dominated the contributions to the Republican candidates. In fact, insurance companies just from Cincinnati (American Financial Group, Cincinnati Equitable Corp, Cincinnati Financial Corp, Cincinnati Insurance Company, Hukill Hazlett Harrington Agency, Ohio National Financial Services, Ohio National Life Insurance, Schiff, Keidler-Shell, Inc., Stay Focused Insurance, Union Central Life Insurance Co., and Western & Southern Life Insurance) together contributed $157,845 to the contested Republican candidates for Ohio’s high court."