The Ohio Republican State Convention
Why Ohio Republicans don't have Conventions and why so many are asking to return to having a Convention
A State political convention has many purposes.
A State Convention normally happens every 2 or 4 years. They help to build interest in the party and they are a rallying point for many Republicans. They also help to loosen wallets and are normally a big source of revenue. Most important of all - they help to check any illegitimate political power that has become concentrated within the SCC (State Central Committee). This is where Ohio is at.
When only 66 (the SCC has 66 members) people are in charge of making decisions for the party - you can bet that there will be tremendous efforts to try to influence, bribe, manipulate, or otherwise cajole these officials to control Ohio politics. If unsuccessful, these controlling entities will actually run their own “yes-men” for these SCC seats.
A seat on the SCC is incredibly powerful as members are in charge of running the Ohio Republican Party (ORP). SCC members make the decisions on the biggest factor in winning a primary contest, ORP endorsements. Failing to win an endorsement by the SCC is almost a near certainty that the candidate will lose in the primary to an endorsed candidate. It is in this way that the party shapes politics in Ohio. What you never hear about are those that control the SCC.
Of the 66 members of the SCC at least fifteen of the members are appointees of a statewide candidate. Those same statewide candidates that members vote on to endorse or not endorse. Isn’t that a little too convenient? Clearly and incontrovertibly, these appointees are in violation of Ohio’s ethics laws which prevent them from having a conflict of interest that may benefit them, their family members, or their boss. But, Ohio lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and ethics commission members, have somehow rationalized that this type of improper influence is proper and above board.
So the deals can be made with taxpayer dollars. “Endorse me when you are on the State Central Committee and I will ensure that you will get a cozy and well-paid appointment.” Nothing to see here - keep moving along people.
People wonder why Ohio’s top Republican leaders keep getting stung in unethical scandal and controversy - that is because the party is built upon an unethical foundation.
The Republican Party no longer reflects the will of registered Republicans in Ohio. It hasn’t for quite some time. The Republican Party reflects the will of the Chairman of the Party (which is hired - not elected) that reflects the will of the elites that got the Chairman hired.
Unfortunately for Ohioans, Ohio’s elitists have their own self-interests at heart and do not want a booming economy ripe with competition. These elitists want to preserve their businesses and shut out competition. As such - Ohio has the 2nd most complex statute of codified laws in the United States - only being outdone by California. Yet, the SCC members cannot be bothered to draft a platform to bind endorsed candidates to - to move our economy in a positive direction.
Ohio is one of the nation’s most left states - people are leaving by the droves and by this year we see that we hemorrhaged enough to lose yet another Congressional seat. That is nine Congressional seats since the 1970s’. While legislators used cherry-picked statistics to make the free-fall seem to be not so bad - Ohio’s major cities are ripe with unemployment, illiteracy, crime, violence, opioid deaths, and human trafficking. Ohio’s pastel purple governors and statewide officeholders are not fixing the problem. Ohio is in need of candidates with a bold red conservative vision. Unfortunately, they cannot get past the SCC and that is where the problem lies.
Too many people do not know about State and County Central Committees and their role in the governance of the party. Too many focus exclusively on the candidates that they (the SCC) picks.
When a legislature fails to act the prevent a monopoly from controlling party politics the people face a herculean effort to call for a State Convention. A State Convention takes primary endorsements out of the hands of the few 66 people and puts it in the hands of the many - too many to be bought off with appointments and political promises. Ohio has ping-ponged back and forth from having State Convention and not having them throughout its history. As soon as the State Convention was made optional in the 1980s’ - the SCC has never allowed another one even though the Ohio Revised Code still provides for a State Convention option.
The State Convention makes any primary endorsements, drafts a platform that sets the goal, mission, and vision for the party, and can draft new bylaws for the SCC. With as poorly as the SCC picks candidates - Ohio is in a definite need of a State Convention to better distribute political power.