Major funders of Issue 1 opponent Ohio Works include the American Jobs and Growth Fund, a dark-money organization with financial ties to the utility and methane gas industries, and the Ohio Oil and Gas Association.

Ohio’s Issue 1 is a ballot measure that aims to depoliticize how voting districts are drawn in the Buckeye State and end partisan gerrymandering that has enabled Republicans to exert control over the state legislature that exceeds the level of voter support the party has received in statewide elections. 

Republican lawmakers have used that power to deliver favors to their donors in the utility and gas industries.  

Ohio Works reported that it raised $5.6 million and spent $4.5 million in a new campaign finance report filed in Ohio this week. It’s the only time Ohio Works has publicly disclosed its donors. 

In addition to opposing Issue 1, Ohio Works has reported making nearly $2.7 million in independent expenditures supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and opposing Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in its FEC filings.  

American Jobs and Growth Fund: $1.75 million paid to Ohio Works

“American Jobs and Growth” contributed $1.75 million in September, making it the largest contributor to Ohio Works. 

The American Jobs and Growth Fund is a 501(c)(4) dark-money group that paid $500,000 to the Affordable Energy Fund PAC and Affordable Energy Fund LLC in 2022. The Affordable Energy Fund PAC and LLC spent over $1 million supporting Republican candidates in Ohio during the 2022 election, including U.S. Senator J.D. Vance. The Affordable Energy Fund PAC also spent more than $700,000 this month on direct mail and digital ads opposing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. 

Records obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute in 2022 revealed the Affordable Energy Fund PAC was started by another 501(c)(4) named The Empowerment Alliance (TEA). TEA is a project of Republican megadonors Karen Buchwald Wright and Tom Rastin, whose family owns the gas compressor maker Ariel Corporation. 

The American Jobs and Growth Fund reported nearly $4.8 million in revenue on its annual Form 990 report to the IRS for 2022. The IRS does not require 501(c)(4)s to publicly disclose their donors, but other 501(c)(4) dark-money groups like The Revitalization Project and Government Accountability Alliance (also known as Illinois Policy Action) reported making contributions to the American Jobs and Growth Fund in 2022.  

The Alliance for Secure Energy, a 501(c)(6) industry association based in Oklahoma, also reported it paid $275,000 to the American Jobs and Growth Fund in 2022. Tiffini Jackson, the  vice president of external affairs for Public Service Company of Oklahoma, a utility owned by American Electric Power, was listed as a member of the Alliance for Secure Energy’s board of directors in the group’s annual tax reports for 2020-2023. Ken Miller, vice president of regulatory affairs for OGE Energy, was also listed as a board member. 

An obscure 2021 rate case filing by Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), an AEP utility in Texas, revealed more than $1 million in AEP funding for the Alliance for Secure Energy. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, a utility owned by OGE Energy, also disclosed in an Oklahoma rate case filing that it paid millions of dollars to the Alliance for Secure Energy in 2022. 

Ohio Works’ campaign finance report lists an H Street address in Washington, D.C. for American Jobs and Growth. The Leadership for Ohio Fund, a federal Super PAC that supported Ohio Secretary of State Frank Larose’s failed GOP primary campaign for the U.S. Senate, listed the same H Street address for the American Jobs and Growth Fund in a federal campaign finance report earlier this year. 

The American Jobs and Growth Fund contributed $1.5 million to the Larose Super PAC. Ohio Works now lists Larose, in his capacity as Secretary of State, as a member of the “NO ON ISSUE 1 TEAM” on its website.

The American Jobs and Growth Fund’s annual Form 990 report to the IRS also listed the same H Street address for the Affordable Energy Fund PAC.  

American Jobs and Growth is also the name of a federal Super PAC, which has not reported making any contributions to Ohio Works in campaign finance reports filed with the FEC this year.  

Ohio Oil and Gas Association: $200,000 to Ohio Works

The Ohio Oil and Gas Association contributed $200,000 to Ohio Works. Earlier this week, the Energy and Policy Institute reported on how OOGA and its members have benefited from Republican control of Ohio’s state legislature, which is enabled by gerrymandering. 

Suburban Natural Gas: $5,000 to Ohio Works

David Pemberton, the president of Suburban Natural Gas, contributed $5,000 to Ohio Works. Suburban Natural Gas is a gas distribution company in Ohio. 

Top image by revisorweb from Wikipedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Posted by Dave Anderson

Dave Anderson is the policy and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute. Dave has been working at the nexus of clean energy and public policy since 2008. Prior to joining the Energy and Policy Institute, he was an outreach coordinator for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He is also an alumnus of the Sierra Club and the Alliance for Climate Protection (now the Climate Reality Project). Dave’s research has helped to spur public scrutiny of political attacks on clean energy and climate science by powerful special interests, such as ExxonMobil and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). His work has been cited by major media outlets, such as CBS News and the Wall Street Journal, and he has served as a speaker on panels at national solar industry conferences. Dave holds a MA in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire, where he also received a BA in Humanities.

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