Ohio
Federal judge blocks Ohio’s ban on foreign political donations

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge blocked Ohio’s new law limiting who can participate in the political process just hours before it was set to go into effect. The controversial legislation would have prevented lawful permanent residents, known as green card holders, from contributing to campaigns.
House Bill 1, passed during Ohio’s special session in May, was meant to stop foreign donations to state and local ballot-issue campaigns. This could be by directly donating from outside the country or by donating to an entity, like a political action committee (PAC).
But it did much more than that.
It would have prohibited lawful permanent residents (LPRs) or green card holders from making contributions or expenditures regarding ballot issues or candidates. It would also prevent campaigns from accepting donations from them.
“These are people who pay taxes, these are people who work here and contribute to society,” state Rep. Michele Grim (D-Toledo) told me Monday. “[The law] is really undermining the voice of Ohio voters and telling them that their voice doesn’t matter.”
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson, a Republican appointed by former President George W. Bush, has temporarily stopped this major provision — thus effectively blocking the entirety of the law.
“I think the judge did make the correct ruling in this decision,” state Rep. Michele Grim (D-Toledo) said. “Green card holders can participate in the political process.”
Ohio Republicans are being accused of, once again, attempting to make it harder for citizens to have their voices heard. The GOP denies this, as they did the previous three times. This story is from May 29, the day before the final proposal was unveiled, which didn’t include some of the provisions the House said were unconstitutional.
Ohio GOP again attempts to go around voters, this time on redistricting and minimum wage
Ohio GOP again attempts to go around voters, this time on redistricting and minimum wage
Grim fought against it during the committee process but was glad when the fight continued in court.
“Defendants ask this Court to hold that individual LPRs—who the Federal Government allows to fight and die in the U.S. Armed Forces—present such a high risk of ‘foreign influence’ on Ohio’s political processes that Ohio may prohibit them from speaking on Ohio politics,” Watson wrote in a rare Saturday opinion. “The Court declines to do so.”
The judge said the law was “likely unconstitutional” since federal law allows permanent residents to use their First Amendment rights to political speech.
Many Statehouse Republicans have argued that this legislation is about more than just green card holders and would help protect the state.
“Most Ohioans would agree that we shouldn’t have foreign dollars affecting our ballot initiatives,” Senate President Matt Huffman said back during special session.
In early March, Republican senators passed S.B. 215, which is similar to H.B. 1.
This bill is stemmed from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a dark money group that contributes to progressive causes, state Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) explained.
Ohio Senate passes bill to stop foreign donations on ballot campaigns
Ohio Senate passes bill to stop foreign donations on ballot campaigns
Data from the state’s campaign finance disclosure portal shows the 501(c)(4) spent about $11.5 million on the groups advocating for abortion access and keeping majority rule on ballot issues in elections. Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights and the organization’s prior name, Ohioans For Reproductive Freedom, received about $6.4 million. One Person One Vote got around $5.1 million.
The fund, although it doesn’t have to disclose its donors, has received over $200 million from Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss since 2016, according to the Associated Press.
Foreign money in elections is already illegal federally. But Huffman explained that H.B. 1 would have given a way for Ohio officials to enforce criminal penalties, including felony charges and prison time.
“The local actors who are taking that money and knowing that it’s against the law, if there’s no recompense from them, if there’s no penalty for doing anything — then it will continue,” the president continued.
According to Ohio law and numerous nonpartisan prosecutors we reached out to, Attorney General Dave Yost could petition a court to freeze a campaign account in order to conduct his investigation into “foreign interference.”
Democrats say that the Republicans who introduced this measure are just mad about their losses.
“They are sore losers from last year and they’re trying to make it more difficult again,” state Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) said.
Supporters of Ohio abortion rights amendment far outraising opponents
All three ballot proposals that passed in 2023 were started because voters weren’t happy with the state legislature, and didn’t feel like their voices were being heard. The August special election was proposed by lawmakers because they didn’t want abortion to become legal — a direct result of the angry voices of citizens.
This alleged “foreign money” ban is directly to stop the anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment from passing, Grim said.
“It was really about undermining the voice of voters last year,” she said. “And now the Citizens Not Politicians ballot initiative.”
Who is funding Ohio’s redistricting amendment?
Warnings
This ruling isn’t a complete shock. A dozen House and one Senate Republican tried to prevent this aspect of the law.
House Majority Floor Leader and attorney state Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) predicted this would happen. The H.B. 1 that he had worked on didn’t have this provision in it. Seitz said this was a last-minute floor amendment.
“The General Assembly, whenever they try to push the envelope too hard and try to go swing for the fences, go for broke, hit the home run — whenever that happens, it generally blows up in our faces,” Seitz said during his floor speech, attempting to convince his colleagues to table the amendment.
Both Seitz and state Sen. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) urged their caucus to drop it, taking jabs at amendment proposer state Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) and original bill sponsor McColley.
Seitz, talking to me on Monday, explained his frustration that the GOP didn’t listen to him — although noting that it is always nice to say “‘I told you so.’”
“I worried that it was going to poison the bill, and that’s exactly what Judge Watson found,” he said.
Although Watson didn’t completely strike down the entirety of the bill, he might as well have, Seitz said, adding that it was effectively unenforceable.
“He went beyond invalidating it as to green card holders, finding that certain other parts of the bill were, so shall we say, infected by the green card holder amendment, that they too had to be enjoined,” the representative said.
Despite his pleas, he was only joined in throwing out the amendment by 11 others — including House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill), who noted concerns about legality.
Something the Republicans should have paid attention to was the fact that all the Democrats voted to keep the amendment in, Seitz said.
“They wanted this to be put into the bill, thereby rendering it constitutionally suspect,” he said. “At the point where the motion to table failed so dismally, the proponents of the amendment should have realized that they were riding into a trap.”
I reached out to Stewart for comment but didn’t hear back. That being said, Monday was Labor Day, a holiday that lawmakers have off.
In the other chamber, Antani struggled to even get lawmakers to listen to him. After this story aired, I spoke with Antani. He slammed Senate GOP leadership, with whom he has a contentious relationship already.
“I think that the competence of leadership is really under question here,” Antani said, insulting McColley at length. “It’s really just unfathomable incompetence.”
McColley, the Senate majority floor leader, is expected to be the next Senate president, which Antani has a problem with.
“[He] can’t understand simple constitutional concepts — that is certainly a problem,” Antani said.
Ignoring Antani’s insults, McColley sent a response about the legal steps moving forward.
“Our multi-tiered judicial system is built on the premise that reasonable minds can differ on a legal conclusion. Accordingly, parties can exercise their right to appeal a lower court decision. I am confident in the extensive legal analysis that went into the crafting of House Bill 1. I expect the decision of the trial court to be appealed shortly. The appeal will remain focused on the principle that non-citizens who are barred to voting are also barred from directly influencing elections through monetary contributions,” McColley told me.
Seitz believes that the lawmakers need to try again next General Assembly.
“Our Democratic friends played it like a Stradivarius violin,” Seitz said.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.

Ohio
Ohio State vs. North Carolina softball game NCAA Regional: Buckeyes hit 8 home runs in win
How the SEC’s softball dominance could carry it through to the Women’s College World Series
he Oklahoman’s Jenni Carlson shares the top storylines she’s following through the NCAA softball tournament, starting with the SEC’s biggest strengths.
- Jasmyn Burns hit two home runs for Ohio State in an NCAA tournament victory over North Carolina.
- Megan Frye hit a three-run homer for the Buckeyes.
- OSU will now face Tennessee in a game May 18.
The No. 2 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes softball team (44-12-1) beat No. 3 North Carolina May 17th by a final score of 9-6 in the Knoxville Regional of the NCAA tournament.
The Buckeyes, making their 13th NCAA appearance, scored in five of their six turns at bat.
Reagan Milliken got OSU going with a solo home run in the second inning. Hadley Parisien and Jasmyn Burns hit back-to-back homers in the sixth.
Burns had two bombs on the afternoon. Morgan Frye hit a three-run home run over the center field fence with two out in the fifth. Taylor Cruse belted a solo shot. Ohio State’s other run came off a Kaitlyn Farley RBI single.
The offensive explosion was little surprise. The Buckeyes entered the postseason leading the nation in runs scored (473), home runs (137), slugging percentage (.707) and runs per game (8.44).
Ohio State will battle the region’s top seed, Tennessee, in Knoxville on May 18. The game starts at noon.
The Volunteers are coming off a 17-0 over the MAC champion Miami Redhawks.
The winner of the Knoxville Regional will face the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional next weekend in a Super Regional.
Ohio
Ohio fracking operation suspended in connection to recent earthquakes

NOBLE COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) – Fracking operations at a site in Ohio were halted in connection to recent earthquakes.
According to WFMJ, hydraulic fracturing operations at a well pad in Noble County, Ohio were halted due to recent seismic activity in the region.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) spokesperson Karina Cheung confirmed to WFMJ Wednesday that the earthquakes were directly connected to gas and oil operations, namely hydraulic fracturing operations by Energy Acquisition Partners (EAP).
“There has been some recent earthquake activity in Noble County due to oil and gas operations, specifically hydraulic fracturing operations by Energy Acquisition Partners (EAP) operating as Encino Energy. Hydraulic fracturing operations have been halted on the well pad,” Cheung told reporters with WFMJ.
Cheung told the station that some of the quakes in Noble County were strong enough to be felt.
The Ohio Seismic Network is responsible for monitoring earthquake activity across the state. The organization has recorded multiple small quakes in Noble County near Pleasant City, Ohio in the past few weeks, including the following:
- April 29: 2.8 magnitude earthquake detected approximately 2 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 10:09:14 p.m. EDT. (33 felt reports recorded)
- May 2: 2.4 magnitude earthquake detected around 2 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 6:43:30 a.m. EDT. (12 felt reports recorded)
- May 6: 2.3 magnitude earthquake detected approximately 2 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 4:00:45 p.m. EDT. (One felt report recorded)
- May 8: 3.2 magnitude earthquake detected about 2.5 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 11:13:43 p.m. EDT. (33 felt reports recorded)
According to WFMJ, ODNR officials did not say how long the suspension of operations would last.
The station noted that there have been several instances where seismic activity has been linked to oil and gas operations in Ohio, including the following:
- A 2011 quake that was centered on Division Street in Youngstown, Ohio was linked to a brine injection well. The Northstar fluid injection well in Youngstown was closed after multiple earthquakes occurred.
- The State of Ohio shut down an injection well in Wethersfield Township in 2014 due to earthquake activity.
- A temporary moratorium on drill and fracturing was issued after multiple earthquakes occurred in Poland Township.
According to WFMJ, fracking was linked to seismic activity, including earthquakes, in a 2023 study examining data from Eastern Ohio.
Professor Michael Brudzinski, a professor of geology and environmental earth science at Miami University, concluded that earthquakes can be induced by both the injection of fluids during hydraulic fracturing and the subsequent extraction of oil and gas, per the station.
Ohio
Ohio legislator introduces bill to curtail Ohio State football noon kickoffs

In recent years, Ohio State football fans have become increasingly frustrated with the high volume of noon kickoffs their beloved Buckeyes have been forced to play.
One Ohio legislator is hoping to remedy that.
Ohio Representative Tex Fischer has authored a bill that would prohibit Ohio State from playing marquee games before 3:30 p.m. ET. A notable exception would be for the Buckeyes’ annual rivalry game against Michigan, which traditionally kicks off at noon.
Since Fox, one of the Big Ten’s television partners, introduced its “Big Noon Saturday” window ahead of the 2019 season, Ohio State has become a fixture of the earliest broadcast time of the day. The Buckeyes have played 35 noon games since the start of the 2019 season, including seven last year on their way to their first national championship in a decade. Each of Ohio State’s final six regular-season games began at noon, three of which came at home.
The bill, as written, would prevent any game from being played in the state of Ohio if it meets both of the following criteria:
- One of the competing teams is a football team from a state university
- Both teams are ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll of the FBS
Of note, only one of the Buckeyes’ 2024 games would have fallen under that criteria: The Nov. 23 meeting with Indiana, a game in which the Buckeyes and Hoosiers were ranked No. 2 and No. 5 in the AP Top 25, respectively. Ohio State played only one other top-10 team in the noon slot against No. 3 Penn State, though that was on the road.
If the bill becomes law, the ramifications for skirting it would be steep. The legislation states that if a game starts before 3:30 p.m., the Ohio attorney general will impose a fine of $10 million against either the host team’s conference (the Big Ten) or the television network, whichever one scheduled the earlier kickoff.
While noon kickoffs offer fans, particularly those watching from home, time to take in other college football games from across the country later in the day, they’re generally an annoyance for fans attending the game in person, forcing them to wake up earlier in the morning and giving them less time to tailgate.
When Fox debuted “Big Noon Saturday,” it was a way for the network to air a marquee matchup during what’s typically a barer early slate rather than having to compete against the SEC’s longstanding 3:30 p.m. game on CBS or ESPN’s primetime game (CBS now primarily airs a Big Ten game during the 3:30 p.m. slot as part of a new media rights deal with the conference). Fox adds some pageantry to its noon kickoff by bringing the network’s pregame show, “Big Noon Kickoff,” to the site of the game, much in the same way ESPN does with “College GameDay.”
Unfortunately for Ohio State, the Big Ten’s most consistently successful program since “Big Noon Saturday” launched six years ago, that interest in putting the Buckeyes in marquee time slots for Fox often means receiving a disproportionate share of early start times.
The bill hasn’t yet appeared on the Ohio legislature database, but text of it was published Thursday by journalist D.J. Byrnes of The Rooster.
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