Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine delivers his 2024 State of the State address in the Ohio House chambers at the Ohio Statehouse. (Pool photo by Barbara J. Perenic, Columbus Dispatch.)
Versions of this story are published by the USA Today Network, Floodlight, Energy News Network and the Ohio Capital Journal.
In 2018, Akron-based FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a Republican Governors Association-affiliated dark money group backing GOP nominee Mike DeWine in a competitive race for governor.
The previously undisclosed money shows how invested FirstEnergy was in the outcome of the Ohio governor’s race between DeWine and Democratic challenger Rich Cordray. At the time, FirstEnergy wanted to save two nuclear power plants then owned by a subsidiary, but faced opposition from Ohio leaders like then-Gov. John Kasich.
Both DeWine and Cordray had pledged to save two nuclear power plants in northern Ohio if they became governor, and the company publicly donated money to both the Republican Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association.
But newly released data shows that FirstEnergy has donated $2.5 million over three installments to State Solutions, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit affiliated with the Republican Governors Association that is not required to disclose its donors. One installment of $500,000 is called ‘DeWine’; the other two are listed as “RGA,” according to data released by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, Floodlight, Ohio Capital Journal and the Energy News Network.
DeWine met with FirstEnergy executives at an RGA fundraiser in downtown Columbus on Oct. 10, 2018, the Dayton Daily News first reported. Soon after, FirstEnergy Solutions donated $500,000 to RGA, according to tax records.
FirstEnergy also donated $200,000 to the Citizens Policy Institute, which accused Cordray of being “Republican Lite,” according to released records. Cleveland restaurateur Tony George, a close ally of FirstEnergy, stood behind the group, BuzzFeed News reported at the time.
In November 2018, DeWine defeated Cordray 50.4% to 46.7% as Democrats captured elections across the country. In 2019, FirstEnergy helped Republican lawmakers craft House Bill 6, an energy overhaul measure that included $1 billion for the two nuclear power plants. DeWine signed House Bill 6 within hours of it reaching his desk.
Asked whether the donations influenced DeWine’s support of nuclear power, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said: “Gov. DeWine’s support for nuclear energy has been documented well before 2018, including during his tenure as a United States Senator.”
FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young said the company could not comment on pending litigation. Shareholders have sued FirstEnergy after federal investigators uncovered an extensive pay-to-play scandal funded by the Ohio utility.
That federal investigation led to a 20-year prison sentence for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, a five-year prison sentence for former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, and the firing of several FirstEnergy executives. Lawyers in the shareholder lawsuit have tried to subpoena DeWine’s documents and depose Husted, but neither faces criminal charges.
FirstEnergy donated $1 million through a dark money group to support Husted’s bid for governor in 2017, according to previously released records. Husted and DeWine were competitors until they merged campaigns in November 2017.
Concerns expressed
In 2018, the nuclear plant’s owner, FirstEnergy Solutions, was bankrupt. That’s why creditors raised concerns about a $1 million payment intended to help DeWine’s campaign, according to emails exchanged on August 11, 2018. “They mentioned that this is very large compared to DeWine’s current fundraising.”
Senior Vice President of External Affairs Michael Dowling tried to allay concerns by explaining that donors can support DeWine’s bid in several ways, including by donating to DeWine’s campaign fund, the Republican Governors Association, State Solutions and the state candidate fund of the Republican Party of Ohio.
“Theoretically, DeWine/Husted could have a $10 million balance in their campaign account and the RGA could spend $40 million supporting DeWine in Ohio,” Dowling explained in an email. “My point is that comparing the size of a contribution to the RGA with what the DeWine campaign has yielded or what the current balance of the DeWine campaign is can be done, but I’m not sure this makes sense is.”
Republican fundraiser Brooke Bodney, who worked with the RGA, confirmed: “All factually correct.”
Meanwhile, David Griffing of FirstEnergy Solutions assured Rick Burdick of Akin Gump that there was no connection between State Solutions and DeWine’s campaign. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is a high-powered law firm that represented FirstEnergy Solutions during its bankruptcy and lobbied for House Bill 6.
The issue was important because exchanging a political favor for a campaign donation would be illegal, a quid pro quo.
“Thank you,” Burdick wrote. “Just to confirm that there is also no agreement with the DeWine campaign on its position on regulatory relief for nuclear power plants in connection with this contribution.”
“Right,” Griffing replied.
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations in Ohio.
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The report that FirstEnergy gave $2.5 million to GOP governors’ dark money group to support DeWine’s 2018 bid first appeared on Ohio Capital Journal.
