Capitol Insider: ‘Voter shaming’ hits special election for Ohio congressional seat

Shortly before the 2016 New Hampshire primary, a group backing John Kasich for president mailed controversial campaign fliers to Granite State voters bearing the ominous message "What if your friends, your neighbors, and your community knew whether you voted?" While the Kasich team's role in the "voter shaming" effort was not revealed until well after the primary, the mailers caused an immediate stir in New Hampshire and raised claims of voter intimidation and privacy violations. Last week, many voters in Ohio's 12th Congressional District received similar mailers from the Republican National Committee on behalf of state Sen. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville, ahead of next week's special election.

Ohio’s Republians campaign for Balderson in buildup to special election

Ohio's Republican heavy-hitters showed up in full force Saturday to kick off a team of canvassers in support of Troy Balderson's bid to represent the 12th district in Congress. With the Aug. 7 special election just 10 days away, state Sen. Balderson, R-Zanesville, is using the home stretch to galvanize the historically Republican district to turn out and vote.

The Democratic Party doesn’t need unifying, factions are fine

It is an assumption about the nature of political parties that they must have a direction, and that direction must speak for most candidates and politicians within the party family. But why? Why can't there be factions, as there most assuredly are in the Democratic Party ? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is going to run in November as a Democratic Socialist regardless of what direction, if any, the Democratic Party takes in the months ahead.

GOP lawmakers introduce articles of impeachment against Rod Rosenstein

A handful of conservative members of Congress officially introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday in a move that had been threatened for weeks. The articles were introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, along with 9 cosponsors.

Gov. Kasich’s laudable Lake Erie protections, Ohio…

Key General Assembly Republicans are unhappy with their fellow Republican, Gov. John Kasich, for what his own press release termed "aggressive new action" to protect Lake Erie from agricultural runoff in western Ohio's Maumee River basin. On Wednesday, responding to Kasich's July 11 executive order, House Speaker Ryan Smith, a Republican from Gallia County's Bidwell, and other top Republican lawmakers asked Kasich to rescind it .

Dark money groups spent millions on Ohio legislative races

Four secretive political groups raised more than $2.6 million for ads targeting Republican primaries for Ohio House of Representative seats in the lead up to last May's election, new campaign finance filings show. The money was spent in roughly a dozen state legislative races that were a proxy fight to be Ohio's next House speaker.

Kasich: Trump is wrong; Putin a KGB operative who cannot be trusted

Ohio Gov. John Kasich hoped he he was wrong - that President Donald Trump would emerge from his private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin having achieved something “significant.” But the Republican who aspires to run again for president in 2020 - after failing to take down Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016 - did not have high hopes for the Helsinki meeting. “It's very concerning … I just view this with great trepidation,” Kasich told CNN's Anderson Cooper during a TV appearance on the cable network on Monday morning.

Four Democrats outraise GOP incumbents in Ohio U.S. House races

Four Democratic challengers out raised Republican U.S. House incumbents last quarter, including Rep. Steve Stivers, the Upper Arlington Republican who oversees the House Republicans' campaign efforts. Stivers raised $484,242 last quarter to newcomer Rick Neal's $496,309 - a difference of more than $10,000.

Strzok explains how anti-Trump dossier made its way from Clinton camp to eager FBI

The lengths to which the FBI relied on the Hillary Clinton opposition research dossier to investigate her political rival came into sharper focus with the testimony of the lead investigator, FBI agent Peter Strzok. Mr. Strzok told a joint House committee last week that the FBI received from Associate Attorney General Bruce Ohr a raft of documents - including sections of the anti- Trump dossier - during the investigation into Russia election interference.

Editorial: Retirees counting on Congress to find solution to pensions crisis

Thousands of workers - most pensioners, others nearing the time they plan to collect their earned benefits - will gather at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus today for a rally designed to draw attention to a political meeting with serious national ramifications. Friday, a bipartisan joint congressional committee will hold a field hearing in Columbus to gather information from testimony to help federal lawmakers solve a looming crisis jeopardizing the pensions of about 60,000 Ohioans and 1.5 million Americans.