Female officeholders ace campaign disclosure class

Three Ohio officeholders scored A's, while five other statewide candidates flunked a campaign contribution scorecard released today by a non-partisan public advocacy group.

Ohio Treasurer Jennette B. Bradley got an A+, while Auditor Betty D. Montgomery received an A, said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action. Bradley, a Republican, is running for re-election. Montgomery is running for her former job as Attorney General.

State Rep. Mary Taylor, Republican candidate for state Auditor, also got an A.

Ohio law requires candidates to identify the business or occupation of contributors -- or at least make a "best effort'' to identify their employment background. Ohio Citizen Action found about one of every five contributions did not detail that information on campaign-finance reports. The requirement is never enforced, but Turcer said candidates have recently updated their reports.

Ohio Citizen Action gave F's to any candidate that failed to identify less than 65 percent of its contributors' employment background. Candidates reporting the detail more than 90 percent of the time got A's.

State Sen. Tim Grendell, Montgomery's Republican opponent in the May 2 primary, got an F, according to the analysis of 2005 campaign contributions.

Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O'Brien, Bradley's Republican primary opponent, also scored an F as did state Rep. Barbara Sykes, a Democrat running against Taylor for Auditor.

Locally, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann, a Republican running for Secretary of State, received a B+ for detailing nearly 89 percent of his contributions. Hartmann's Democratic opponent, former Franklin County Common Court Pleas Judge Jennifer L. Brunner, got a D.

Former Rep. Bryan E. Flannery, a Democrat for governor, also got an F. In fact, no gubernatorial candidates received a grade higher than a B.

The fifth F went to state Sen. Marc Dann, a Democratic candidate for Attorney General.

The complete report will appear at this Web address later today:
http://www.ohiocitizen.org/moneypolitics/mp.html

Read Tuesday's Enquirer for the complete report card and additional details.