Why is a fat cat in Illinois trying to influence lawmaking in Ohio that attempts to destroy the ability of citizens to amend their constitution? Good question. Kind of goes right to the heart of the phony Republican argument for making it near-impossible to pass citizen initiatives in the state: To protect the Ohio Constitution from meddling outside influences.
Yet here we are. On the cusp of Ohio House Republicans possibly approving their legislative initiative — to change the century-old standard for passing state constitutional amendments from a majority vote to a 60% threshold — a super-rich guy two states away is putting big money on passage of that anti-voter measure in the Statehouse.
A ProPublica report details the family’s generational history of pouring millions into far right causes and candidates. Uihlein’s father gravitated to ultraconservative political groups in the 1960s, including the John Birch Society, and supported politicians who embraced segregation. His son leaned into MAGA extremism.
A Big Lie promoter buying his way into Ohio politics to subvert our right of self-governance is no champion of democracy. The corrupt Statehouse Republicans, on the verge of passing a sinister assault on Ohio voters via a sneaky summertime election, are not on your side. Neither is the right-wing rubberstamp in the governor’s office.