Ken Blackwell

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John Kenneth Blackwell

John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948), currently serves as the secretary of state for the U.S. state of Ohio and is the Republican nominee for Governor of Ohio in the 2006 election. Blackwell gained national prominence because of his controversial actions in matters relating to the voting on November 2, 2004, including that for the U.S. Presidency and for state and county offices, and is still under investigation for voter fraud. He also actively led a successful and divisive campaign in 2004 for a State Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Contents

Early years

Blackwell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to George (a meatpacker) and Dana (a part-time nurse) Blackwell in 1948. He married his wife Rosa in 1969 while he was in college. They have three children, Kimberly, Rahshann and Kristin.

Blackwell's ability to play football and a brilliant academic record allowed him to attend Xavier on an athletic scholarship. Blackwell received a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1970 and his master of education degree, also from Xavier, in 1971. He taught at Xavier from 1974 to 1991 and has served as a trustee of Wilberforce University and Wilmington College. After college, he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys professional football club to play guard but he left the team before the season began. [link]

Political career

From 1979 to 1980, Blackwell, served as Mayor Cincinnati as a member of the Charter Party. As mayor and as a member of the Cincinnati, Ohio, city council, Blackwell was at times a Democrat and also a member of the Charter Party; however, he switched to the Republican party at some point during the 1980s.

Blackwell served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush as undersecretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1990, when he returned to Cincinnati to run for the First District seat in the United States House of Representatives being vacated by Tom Luken. Blackwell lost to the retiring Luken's son Charlie Luken. Following his defeat, President Bush appointed Blackwell ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Blackwell served in that post from 1992 to 1993.

Blackwell was appointed Ohio State Treasurer by then-Gov. George Voinovich in 1994 to complete the term of Mary Ellen Withrow, who was appointed U.S. treasurer by President Bill Clinton. Blackwell was elected treasurer in 1994 and was elected Ohio Secretary of State in 1998. That year, Blackwell considered a run for governor, but Ohio Republican Party chairman Robert T. Bennett persuaded Blackwell to run for secretary of state instead, leaving the governorship open to Bob Taft. In 2000, Blackwell supported the candidacy of Steve Forbes for the Republican nomination for president. Blackwell was re-elected secretary of state in 2002.

Blackwell, a strict fiscal and social conservative, has become a vocal critic of the moderate wing of the Ohio Republican Party, including Governor Bob Taft, for adopting tax increases in the face of budget shortfalls in recent years. He has also demanded the resignation of Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican, whose staff has become embroiled in fund-raising scandals.

In 2004, Blackwell served as the co-chair of the Committee to Re-elect George W. Bush in Ohio. He was also the most prominent Republican to support adding a marriage amendment to the state constitution. The state's Republican U.S. Senators Mike DeWine and George Voinovich opposed the amendment's broad language, fearing it could bar not only same-sex marriage but also civil unions, domestic partnerships, and possibly wills and any legal contracts for homosexuals. Republican Governor Taft later also came out against the amendment, expressing his concern that its ambiguous language would have unintended consequences and leave the state open to a number of lawsuits. During the campaign Blackwell lobbied hard for this measure and was widely credited with attracting many conservative evangelical African Americans to the polls to vote for the measure and for Bush's re-election. The amendment passed with the approval of 61.64% of the voters.

After the 2004 election, he was criticized for having laid the groundwork for a gubernatorial campaign by sending a fundraising letter that solicited corporate contributions, which are illegal in Ohio. A Blackwell campaign officer blamed the printer for the mistake. [link]

Though there has been some speculation that Blackwell might try for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, some consider him "a bit of a long shot" (Ross 2004).

2006 Ohio Gubernatorial Campaign

Campaign and national significance

Blackwell is the Republican candidate for Governor of Ohio in 2006. He beat state Attorney General Jim Petro in the 2006 Republican primary (The current governor, Republican Bob Taft, cannot run because of term limits.) Blackwell's opponents in the general election are Democratic Congressman Ted Strickland, Libertarian professor emeritus Bill Peirce and Green Bob Fitrakis. Blackwell chose Ohio State Representative Tom Raga to be his running mate.

There has been increased national attention on the ability of the Republican party to maintain control in Ohio. On a national level, The New York Times went so far as to suggest that the results of the election would be a "bellwether" for the 2008 US presidential election. [link] Further increasing the stakes, the state of Ohio has reported that 630,000 more citizens are eligible to vote in the 2006, as compared to the previous one in 2002. [link] Any Republican earning the nomination will face an uphill battle; according to a broad survey done by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio voters would "prefer to see a Democrat occupy the governor's mansion." [link] [link]

Blackwell has received a number of high-profile endorsements from Republican politicians around the United States including Jeb Bush, John McCain, Sam Brownback, Jack Kemp, Newt Gingrich [link] and Grover Norquist. [link] John Stemberger, president and general counsel for the Florida Family Policy Council, was quoted as saying that Blackwell could "potentially be president of the United States someday, and the first black president at that." [link]

A recent polling of Ohio Republicans found that a full 20% planned to vote for Blackwell's Democratic opponent, Ted Strickland, and that he only earned 70% among registered Republicans in the state.[link]

Conservative platform

Blackwell has taken some very conservative positions. In 2005, he supported keeping Terri Schiavo on life support indefinitely, saying, "I really do think that life is sacred, no matter how painful." When asked on Hardball with Chris Matthews if he would keep her on life support for 30 years, Blackwell said he would.

In his 2002 campaign for re-election to the post of Secretary of State, Blackwell took the position that he would favor abortions in the case where the life of the mother was at stake. He has since taken a more hard line position of opposing abortions even in the case where the mother's life is at stake [link].

May 2 Primary

Blackwell won the Republican Primary on May 2, 2006 against Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro with 56% of the vote. [link] Blackwell's strongest support came from his home town of Cincinnati and much of rural Ohio. [link] The run up to the primaries was dominated by strongly critical television ads that Blackwell and his opponent Jim Petro ran against one another. [link]

Blackwell was criticized by Petro, for declining to engage in three planned debates which had been organized by the Dayton Daily News and the City Club of Cleveland. The debate at the City Club of Cleveland occurred on April 25, 2006, despite Blackwell's absence. The event was originally scheduled to be broacast on public television around Ohio. According to the Columbus Dispatch, "Blackwell said he has 'shared plenty of forums' with Petro and that he wants to focus on talking to Republicans in the final days of the campaign."[link]

On April 29, the Hamilton County Democrats publicly demanded that Blackwell pull radio ads which urged unregistered Democrats to ask for Republican primary ballots on May 2, 2006 (rather than the issues only ballot which unregistered voters normally get) and thereby become registered Republicans. The Democrats argued that the ads are using "illegal and unethical political tactics." [link]

Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) Amendment

Rationale behind the TEL

A major component of Blackwell's platform is the support of the Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) constitutional amendment on the Ohio ballot in November 2006. The TEL is a fiscally conservative plan which proposes to limit increases in state spending to the inflation rate or the inflation rate plus population growth rate (which ever is higher). Blackwell asserts that the TEL would allow the state to operate on a balanced budget and would end an era of big government spending. Blackwell supported his plan by saying, “state and local government in this state have been spending money like drunken sailors. And, the only difference between them and drunken sailors is that drunken sailors spend their own money." [link] Furthermore, limiting government spending is a popular public sentiment in polls.

Criticisms of the TEL

Critics of the TEL state that it places a heavy burden on local governments and entities which depend on some level of state funding such as school districts, libraries and universities which have limited or no ability to collect tax dollars to support themselves. [link] Furthermore, critics argue that the TEL could hurt Ohio's bond rating and severely underfund social program. [link] This plan has proven very unpopular among local officials. Franklin County GOP Chairman Doug Preisse was quoted saying, "University officials, community officials are complaining that the TEL would tie their hands...they are asking, ‘Why are we telling local officials how to operate?'" [link] On April 26, 2006, 20 Republican mayors of Ohio cities, led by Jerry N. Hruby, mayor of Brecksville, OH, wrote an open letter endorsing Petro over Blackwell, primarily due to their opposition of Blackwell and his TEL proposal. [link] Jim Petro supports a very similar plan that caps spending increases at a fixed 5.5%. [link] Ohio Representative Ross McGregor, a Republican and former businessman said, “it [Blackwell's TEL] shows a lack of business knowledge in the ability to respond to the unknown.” [link]

Other critics have complained that the TEL is merely a wedge issue designed to create a large Republican voter turnout, similar to what occurred with the 2004 amendent to ban gay marriage which brought a record 70% of registered Ohio voters to the polls. Republican state auditor, Betty Montgomery stated that "the use of constitutional amendments to drive up turnout for political candidates a cynical use of the system." [link]

On May 5th, 2006 the board of directors of The Ohio State University became yet another public institution to denounce Blackwell's TEL plan, unanimously stating that it "would undermine the university's ability to reasonably function." They also announced a 6% (approximately $477) tuition increase for all students in light of falling state spending on education and in anticipation of the passage of the TEL amendment. [link]

Legislative replacement of the TEL

The Republican Party of Ohio has tried to distance itself from the TEL. In 2005 the GOP persuaded Blackwell to postpone a vote on the TEL until 2006. Republican Senator Gary Cates has drawn up a competing bill for the 2006 ballot, based on the plan of Blackwell's primary opponent, Jim Petro, which would limit state spending increases to 5.5% Senator Cates stated, that the TEL could "undermine his [Blackwell's] whole campaign." [link]

On May 13, 2006 Blackwell publicly announced that he would "accept legislation that accomplishes the same goal" as his TEL plan, namely the cap on government spending. The new legislation may address the strong opposition to the TEL from local governments, which has been called "a particularly serious problem for him and the GOP ticket." When asked if the legislation would allow local governments an exemption Blackwell said, ""I’m sure that if they see that as an impediment to building a consensus for establishing a framework, they’ll put that on the table." Blackwell's opponent, Ted Strickland, objected to Blackwell's change of stance saying, "it shows he has a real weakness to be firm in his convictions and that his ideas are being rejected by the people." [link]

On May 17, 2006 the AP released details about a deal made between Blackwell and Republican Ohio representatives to pass legislation that "matches [the TEL] in principle." The bill exempts local governments, school districts and libraries from the spending limit. The intent behind the bill was to provide a means for the TEL to become law, yet free Blackwell from continuing to defend the amendment which is developing increasing opposition from some sectors. It still remains unclear as to whether the amendment proposal can be legally removed from the Ohio ballot; a situation further complicated by a potential conflict of interest with Blackwell's role as the executor of Ohio elections. Furthermore, the proposed bill still faces a potential veto from embattled governor, Bob Taft who has gone on record calling the TEL amendment "fatally flawed." State Representative Chris Redfern (who is the chair of the Ohio Democratic Party) said that the new bill was created in order to "save Ken Blackwell from himself." [link]

On May 24, 2006 the legislative replacement for the TEL was proposed, approved by the Ohio Congress and signed into law by Governor Bob Taft in only seven hours. The law was supported by almost every Republican and almost universally opposed by Democrats who complained that the vote "was rushed." State law requires that the amendment proposal be withdrawn 60 days in advance of the election. However, as the new bill does not become law for 90 days, Republicans had only 9 days to pass the replacement or would risk having to pull the amendment without prior passage of the bill. A number of Republicans later stated that " they approved the bill only because it’s replacing the TEL amendment," a sentiment echoed by Bob Taft who signed the new law with the strict promise from Blackwell that the TEL ammendment would be removed from the November ballot. [link]

Significant concerns, similar to those voiced about the original TEL amendment, still exist. An analysis of the bill by Cleveland's Center for Community Solutions showed that nearly half of the funding for public schools in Ohio would be subjected to the spending cap, and would be among the "hardest hit" by the new law. Opponents cited a law passed in Colorado which contained a similar spending cap that was later repealed due to the financial hardship experienced by schools. Republican Senator Jeff Jacobson complained that the new law "does not allow the budget to recover if the state hits a reccesion." Blackwell disagreed however, and stated that "Ohio has taken a great step forward in the fight to reform our tax code, cut taxes and create jobs." [link]

Campaign finance

Blackwell leads the Republican candidates in his ability to raise significant amounts of money for his campaign. He raised $1.09 million between January 31, 2006 and April 12, 2006. This was nearly $800,000 more than his main competition, Jim Petro, but less than the $1.1 million raised by his main Democratic competition, Ted Strickland. 12,000 individuals and businesses have donated this money. [link] [link] Blackwell, along with 14 other candidates, (including Jim Petro and Ted Strickland) were accused by the Ohio Citizen Action group of failing to meet Ohio's campaign contribution law which requires best efforts to disclose the names, addresses, employment status, employer, and place of employment of individuals who donate $100 or more to a political campaign. Blackwell, Petro, and Strickland all received a "B letter grade" from the group for their levels of disclosure. [link]

On April 16, 2006 the Toledo Blade reported that Blackwell has accepted more than $1 million dollars in campaign contributions from "employees of firms seeking business with the statewide offices he's held over the past 12 years." Furthermore, the same organizations donated $1.34 million dollars to the Ohio Republican Party, $1.29 million of which was forwarded directly to Blackwell's campaign fund. Several of the firms which have been awarded contracts from Blackwell's office have also been hired on to his gubernatorial campaign. The investigators argue that the suggestion of quid pro quo based on the actions of contributors raise an issue of a serious conflict of interest. Blackwell's chief Republican competitor, Jim Petro, has responded by demanding that a law which bans political contributors from being awarded state contracts. Blackwell has stated that no illegal activity took place. In response to Petro's call for reform, Blackwell stated "If you are asking me ... 'Am I advocating for campaign spending limits?' No. Never have. Never will.." [link]

Support from religious groups

Blackwell is also well supported by the religious leaders of Ohio both politically and financially; according to campaign filings, Blackwell has received $25,031 from clergy and more than twenty-seven times as much as Strickland. [link] [link].

However, on January 16, 2006, a group of 31 pastors, led by Rev. Eric Williams, wrote a 13 page letter to the IRS alleging that Blackwell has enjoyed "special treatment" by two Ohio "mega-churches," World Harvest Church and Fairfield Christian Church. In the letter, the pastors accuse the two organizations of sponsoring at least nine events with Blackwell as the sole invited politician, "partisan voter-registration drives," and distribution of biased voting guides. Rev. Russell Johnson, pastor of the Fairfield Christian church defended his actions by saying that the event in question was not a "meet the candidate forum," but rather he was giving Blackwell "an award for courageous leadership." [link] Blackwell later called the group of 31 pastors "bullies." [link]

On May 7th, 2006, the members of the Lord of Life Lutheran church in Columbus, Ohio publicly complained that Blackwell's campaign workers placed fliers on the windshields of those attending the church service on April 30th, two days before the May 2 primary. The church pastor, Rev. Jim Wilson, stated "the tactic was offensive and suggested the church was endorsing Blackwell." Rev. Wilson said that he had tried to contact the Blackwell campaign in response to the incident but did not get a "satisfactory response." When questioned, Blackwell's campaign said the practice was "standard..for Republicans and Democrats." [link]

As the organizations are 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, not-for-profit organizations, they are explicitly barred from campaigning for, endorsing candidates or "becoming involved in any activity which is beneficial or hamful to any candidate." [link] [link] Rev. Johnson and Rev. Rod Parsely, pastor of World Harvest church have argued that the investigation is politically motivated and violates their constitutional right to free speech. Mark Everson, commissioner of the IRS responded "you don't have an automatic or constitutional right to a tax exemption, and that's where the line has been drawn." [link]

Ohio Secretary of State

Involvement in the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy

Blackwell's position as Secretary of State of a hotly contested swing state led to his playing a prominent role in the controversy concerning the 2004 U.S. presidential election, both before, during and after the voting on November 2.

As Secretary of State, Blackwell's duties also include the position of Chief Elections Officer, overseeing the elections process for the state. Some claim that this is a direct conflict of interest regarding Blackwell's positions as both the Chief Elections Officer and the co-chair of the Committee to Re-elect George Bush in Ohio (Rappoport 2004).

Blackwell came under fire when on September 7 2004 his office directed Ohio's county election boards to strictly enforce a rule requiring voter registration forms be printed on 80-lb paper. Any form printed on lighter paper, such as newsprint or typing paper, would be considered an application for a new registration form, to be returned to sender to fill out again and resubmit. Many of Ohio's official forms were printed on lighter stock. Democrats alleged the rule had never been enforced, was outdated in the era of computerization, and would disenfranchise citizens unable to resubmit forms by the October 4th deadline. On September 28 Blackwell revoked the directive.

Blackwell also announced that, in keeping with Ohio State election law, any person who appeared at a polling place to vote but whose registration could not be confirmed would be given only a provisional ballot. If it was later determined that the voting took place in the wrong precinct, even if in the correct city, the ballot would not be counted in any election totals. The Democratic party immediately filed a lawsuit charging that the policy was "chaotic" and "intended to disenfranchise minority voters." [link]

On October 21, 2004, U.S. District Court Judge James G. Carr issued an order rejecting Blackwell's policy. He stated, "Blackwell apparently seeks to accomplish the same result in Ohio in 2004 that occurred in Florida in 2000."

Blackwell immediately appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The Appeals Court reversed the District Court decision on October 26, 2004. [(pdf)][(pdf)] In accordance with the Appeals Court ruling, none of the provisional ballots cast in the wrong precincts were counted in Ohio's 2004 elections.

Various individuals and advocacy groups have accused Blackwell of state-wide voter suppression in Ohio, including:

Failure to process voter registrations
Uneven voting machine allocation
Arbitrary and unreasonable exclusionary procedures in provisional ballot counting

(See 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy, vote suppression)

Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary asked Kenneth Blackwell to explain irregularities in the Ohio election in two letters, [(pdf)] [(pdf)] and requested his presence at a Public Congressional Hearing. [(pdf)] He did not attend the hearing, and he responded to the first letter, refusing to comply with their request, noting that he was already responding to requests from the GAO and Department of Justice, the bodies authorized by Congress to assess alleged violations. [(pdf)]

Keith Olbermann has interviewed Blackwell regarding the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy. [(video)]

On December 27, 2004, Kenneth Blackwell requested a protective order to prevent him from being interviewed as part of a court challenge of the presidential vote and fought a subpoena, arguing that the litigation was frivolous.[(AP)] The acceptance of Ohio's electoral votes by the U.S. legislature (following ) made the case moot, and the case was dismissed at the plaintiffs' request.

List of legal suits and rulings

As Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell has been a party to many election-related lawsuits.^[link] Some of these include:

Moss v. Bush
*Dismissed at request of plaintiff after certification of electoral votes
Beacon Journal Publishing Company, Inc. and Charlene Nevada v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections
Lucas County Democratic Party et al v. Blackwell
The Sandusky County Democratic Party v. J. Kenneth Blackwell
*Reversed in federal appeals court in favor of Blackwell

The League of Women Voters of Ohio et al v. Blackwell
Miller et al v. Blackwell et al
Spencer v. Blackwell
Summit County Democratic Central and Executive Committee et al v. Blackwell et al
American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. et al v. Blackwell
State of Ohio Ex Rel. Matthew Wolf, et al. v. Blackwell
Sarah White v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections of Lucas County, Ohio
Nader et al v. Blackwell
Schering v. Blackwell
Ohio Democratic Party v. Blackwell
*Upheld in federal appeals court in favor of Blackwell
Anita Rios et al v. Blackwell
State ex. rel David Yost et al v. National Voting Rights Institute et al

Accidental releases of Social Security numbers

On March 1, 2006 Blackwell's office accidentally published a list of 1.2 million Social Security numbers of Ohio citizens on a website along with their business filings. A Federal class-action lawsuit was filed by Darrell Estep who claimed that the release of the data had caused his Social Security number to appear three times on the website. [link] The lawsuit was settled on March 28, 2006 after the numbers were removed from the webite, a registration process was enacted to view the data and Blackwell's office agreed to make monthly progress reports to the court. [link] The data was a part of a centralized voter database, which is required by Federal law. At that time, Blackwell promised to only retain the last four digits of the Social Security number in the database to prevent future problems. [link]

However, on April 26, 2006, it was discovered that Blackwell's office had again, accidentally mailed out computer disks containing the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 7.7 million registered voters in Ohio. [link] The list was intended to be used by political activism groups to contact voters with campaign information. Blackwell's office recalled the twenty disks that were sent out with Blackwell's assurance that the privacy of voters was intact. [link]

Jim Petro, the Republican Attorney General of Ohio, has launched an investigation into the accidental disclosure citing a legal requirement to "investigate any state entity where there may be a risk of a loss of private data." Blackwell stated that he considered the issue to be closed, but Petro disagreed saying that he will use "maximum due dilgence" to ensure that the data was not copied before it was returned. Ohio law requires that individuals be notified if their Social Security numbers are comprimised. [link] [link]

Diebold controversies

Ohio State Senator Jeff Jacobson, Republican, asked Blackwell in July, 2003 to disqualify Diebold Election Systems' bid to supply voting machines for the state, after security problems were discovered in its software,[US-CERT Cyber Security Bulletin SB04-252] Summary of Security Items from September 1 through September 7, 2004 but was refused. Blackwell had ordered Diebold touch screen voting machines, reversing an earlier decision by the state to purchase only optical scan voting machines which, unlike the touch screen devices, would leave a "paper trail" for recount purposes. The controversy was inflamed the next month when Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold, sent a fund-raising letter to Ohio Republicans, stating that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." [Will Bush Backers Manipulate Votes to Deliver GW Another Election?] Democracy Now, September 04, 2003 Although he clarified his statement as obviously merely a poor choice of words, critics of Diebold and/or the Republican party interpreted this as at minimum an indication of a conflict of interest, at worst implying that those newly purchased electronic voting machines which did not leave any verifiable paper trail represented a risk to the fair counting of ballots.

On April 4, 2006, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Blackwell "owned stock [83 shares, down from 178 shares purchased in January 2005] in Diebold, a voting-machine [and ATM] manufacturer, at the same time his office negotiated a deal" with the company. After discovering the stock ownership, Blackwell promptly sold the shares at a loss. [Blackwell reports shares in Diebold]The Columbus Dispatch, April 04, 2006 He attributed the purchase to an unidentified financial manager at Credit Suisse First Boston who had, without his knowledge, violated his instructions to avoid potential conflict of interest. [Blackwell reports embarrassing buy of Diebold stock Rivals pounce on controversy over accidental share purchase] Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 04, 2006

When Cuyahoga county's primary was held on May 2, 2006, officials ordered the hand-counting of more than 18,000 paper ballots after Diebold's new optical scan machines produced inconsistent tabulations, leaving several local races in limbo for days and eventually resulting in a reversal of the outcome of one race for state representative. Blackwell ordered an investigation by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections; Ohio Democrats demanded that Blackwell, due to his prior role in acquiring the Diebold equipment as well as his status as the Republican gubernatorial candidate in this election, recuse himself from the investigation due to conflicts of interest, but Blackwell has not done so.[Democrats want Blackwell to remove himself from election probe] Canton Repository, May 9, 2006

External links

[Official biography on Secretary of State's site, with photo]
[Ohioans for Blackwell] - Gubernatorial campaign site
[Ken Blackwell profile, NNDB].
[The Chicago Tribune: The anti-Obama]
[Hardball with Chris Matthews, March 22, 2005, Terri Schiavo case]

References

["Broadening the Field for 2008"] by Tara Ross, The American Enterprise Online, December 2, 2004, retrieved October 29, 2005

["Enter, Mr. Blackwell: Was He Bush's Trump Card In Ohio?"] by Jon Rappoport, Populist Party of America, November 3, 2004, retrieved October 29, 2005

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