This morning I attended the Ohio Elections Commission’s probable cause hearing of Bob Latta vs. The Club for Growth. Birthright Bob was represented by Scott Pullins, and the issue at hand was mostly about the wording of an email. The Club for Growth did not have representation.

This email is from The Club for Growth’s President, Pat Toomey:

Difference #1 — Taxes. Both Latta and Buehrer voted on the largest tax increase in Ohio history.

Latta voted yes. Buehrer voted no.

Because Buehrer voted no, GOP leadership stripped him of his seats on both the Finance and Appropriations committees. This proves that Buehrer not only votes right, he votes right even when threatened by political bosses in his own party.

Even after the retaliation, Buehrer didn’t waver two years later, opposing the second largest tax hike in Ohio history in 2005.

Latta also supported a $1 billion tax hike in 1998 that was later rejected by 80% of the voters in a referendum.

The ballot issue in and of itself was not for a tax increase, and apparently, the Ohio Elections Commission also found probable cause against a political opponent of Senator Larry Mumper on this EXACT same issue. After finding probable cause, the matter was settled before a final decision was made.

However, even though the placement of this 1998 ballot issue wasn’t directly putting a tax increase for public schools before voters, it certainly was asking voters for an endorsement of raising taxes… which the voters soundly rejected.

So the question comes down to: Was Latta’s vote to put this issue on the ballot a vote to support a tax increase? I say it is, since Bob Latta certainly could have opposed the bill, which wouldn’t have put the tax increase recommendation ballot issue before voters. But I suspect the Ohio Elections commission will say otherwise.

It is also important to note that Pullins and Latta’s campaign have absolutely nothing to say about The Club for Growth’s tv ad, even though that is what they have spent so much money on and what will have a major impact on the race in the 5th district. Latta cannot deny any of this:

Latta is still a major tax raiser, and he is a moron for working hard to bring more attention and press coverage to this fact. But it will be interesting to see what the Ohio Elections Commission decides.

Do Republicans really want to support a guy who is going to argue, “No I didn’t vote for a tax increase in 1998… But I voted for a ballot issue to put before voters in hopes that they would endorse the legislature’s efforts to raise taxes?” What gobbledygook!

I’m also wondering why this complaint would be filed with the FEC instead. I’ll have more to say about all of this later.