When Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected a Republican-backed effort to make it harder for voters to approve amending their state’s constitution, they also handed a significant defeat to some of the same well-financed forces who backed GOP candidate Darren Bailey in his unsuccessful effort to unseat Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker last November.
The defeat of Ohio Issue 1, designed to make it more difficult for a Democratic-backed proposal to enshrine abortion rights in that state’s constitution to pass in November, in some respects mirrored the outcome of last year’s Illinois gubernatorial election for conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein, right-wing radio show host Dan Proft and fake newspaper publisher Brian Timpone.
Pritzker, an ardent reproductive rights supporter who made abortion the signature issue of his reelection campaign, defeated abortion opponent Bailey, who was backed by Uihlein, Proft and Timpone, 55% to 42%.
In Ohio on Tuesday, the Republican effort to require a 60% voter approval to amend the state constitution, backed by Uihlein and the fake newspapers put out by Proft and Timpone, lost 57% to 43%, according to unofficial results.
Though abortion wasn’t directly on the ballot in Ohio, the vote on Issue 1 was largely viewed as a symbol of how politically potent the issue of abortion rights remains for the electorate more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and left decisions about the legality of the procedure to the states.
Pritzker, a billionaire entrepreneur and heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, in June gave $250,000 to the Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom PAC, a coalition of abortion rights organizations, Ohio campaign finance records show.
“What went on in Ohio leading up to the vote last night was solely an effort to stop pro-choice forces from passing an amendment to their constitution. That’s all it was about,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated event.
“And I’m proud to have supported the ‘vote no.’ That’s the side that supported choice, and it was a resounding victory — as you saw in 2022 in so many places around the country — a resounding victory for those of us who are pro-choice and for the people who live in those states who just want to preserve their reproductive freedom. So I was pleased with the outcome,” the governor said.
In Ohio, Uihlein, the founder of the Uline office supply and package goods business, was the primary contributor to the group Protect Our Constitution, donating $4 million of the $4.8 million raised by the organization, according to state campaign financial records.
In Illinois last year, Uihlein spent $54 million in the failed effort to elect Bailey, a downstate evangelical populist. He gave $12 million directly to the candidate and $42 million to an independent political action committee called People Who Play by the Rules that is run by Proft and backed Bailey.
Proft is an ally and business partner of Timpone, whose firm publishes and distributes political mailings designed to resemble newspapers. The misinformation-filled mailings were sent to homes across Illinois last year in an effort to boost Bailey and other Republicans.
In Ohio, residents received by mail the “Buckeye Reporter,” postmarked with a Chicago return address matching one for Timpone’s business.
The Associated Press reported that the “Buckeye Reporter” highlighted prominent elected Republicans who supported Issue 1, while spreading misleading claims about opponents of the measure and stereotyping them as communists, Black Lives Matter supporters and LGBTQ+ allies. It also included information on efforts by the Uihlein-backed Protect Our Constitution group, which included a TV ad, in support of the ballot issue.
In one story, the “Buckeye Reporter” incorrectly identified Illinois as one of 15 states that allow for statewide citizens’ initiatives to change their constitutions, similar to the push for an abortion rights amendment that will be on Ohio’s November ballot.
But under the Illinois Constitution and state Supreme Court rulings, Illinois allows only for a very limited citizens initiative to amend the state’s governing document, and it can only involve changing the “structure and procedure” of the legislature.
Uihlein has been a major benefactor for Proft’s political interests. Illinois state records show that Proft’s People Who Play by the Rules PAC raises less than $2,000 beyond the $42 million provided by Uihlein.
The PAC reported paying $760,000 to Starfish Consulting LLC of Chicago, including $25,000 a month since the start of the year. State business records do not show a listing for Starfish Consulting LLC. But they do show that a Starfish Consulting Inc., with Proft as president, as a business that was dissolved last October.
The Illinois Democratic Party has a pending complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections alleging Bailey and Proft unlawfully coordinated their efforts to oppose Pritzker’s reelection. Under law, an independent expenditure PAC cannot coordinate spending with the candidate it supports.
Overall, since 2000, Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth, have given more than $90 million to Republican state candidates and causes in Illinois. He’s also been a major donor nationally to Republican candidates and the party’s causes at the federal level, campaign finance documents show.
Tribune reporter Dan Petrella contributed.
