Reality Check: Strickland Breaks Promise to End Pay-to-Play Fundraising

Reality:  

Invitations to two fundraisers for Gov. Ted Strickland's re-election campaign that advertised special access to state officials appear to perpetuate a pay-to-play political system that the governor promised in 2006 that he would end.  

A third fundraising invitation by the Ohio Democratic Party to join Strickland and a high-ranking party official "to discuss Ohio's current issues" raises questions about whether input on public policy can be bought for a political contribution. ...

Strickland acknowledged that the original invitation pitching access to officials by attending the fundraiser could create a perception of pay-to-play: "I will certainly see that it doesn't happen again." (The Columbus Dispatch, 11/11/09)

Reality Check:

Strickland promised to "end the pay-to-play system":

"We are going to once and for all end the pay-to-play system in Ohio," said Strickland. "There is a corruption tax being levied on the people of this state, and we're going to put a stop to it." [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/22/06)

Strickland promised a government "free of pay-to-play politics":

[Strickland] pledged to "give Ohio a government that it deserves, free of scandal, free of pay-to-play politics, free of corruption, free of criminality." (Columbus Dispatch, 5/6/06)

Strickland criticized his opponent in 2006 for featuring a state official at a fundraiser:

The Democrat said Blackwell's recent meeting with more than 60 contractors and the Ohio Department of Transportation's director, Gordon Proctor, is a sign that the pay-to-play culture in Columbus will not change if the Republican is elected governor. Strickland said these contractors contribute millions of dollars to political campaigns and, in return, often receive lucrative state contracts, many unbid. "For me, it's unethical behavior that borders on illegal,'' Strickland said, adding state officeholders are desensitized to public perceptions and that the people of Ohio are angry about this behavior. (Akron Beacon Journal, 8/27/06)

Noting that many of the contractors have change-order requests before ODOT, Strickland said he objected to Proctor's presence. "I think it's just inappropriate for that kind of activity to take place with the director of a department of state government within that kind of political context," said Strickland. (The Plain Dealer, 8/22/06)

Strickland promised to "end the corruption tax" in Columbus:

Strickland said Ohio "is suffering from a corruption tax," promising to bring sweeping changes to the way public business is done in Columbus and elsewhere. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/17/06)

"It's long been rumored around the Statehouse that if you want to do business with the state you first have to do business with the Strickland campaign," said Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine.  "Ted Strickland is trying to sell access to state officials in exchange for campaign contributions, and that's exactly the kind of pay-to-play fundraising culture he campaigned against in 2006.  Not only did he fail to end the so-called corruption tax in Columbus, but it looks like he actually raised it. "