A political action committee with murky origins is once again targeting Ohio Democrats with a mailer urging them to abandon gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton, this time criticizing her support for Issue 3, the ballot measure that would enshrine the state's voter ID law in the Ohio Constitution. The mailer is the second from the group aimed at peeling away Acton supporters ahead of Election Day.
The new mailer comes from Progressive Families PAC, which as cleveland.com describes it, hits Acton over her support of Issue 3 — a GOP-authored proposal on this year's ballot to put Ohio's voter ID law in the state constitution. The mailer claims Acton sides with MAGA in requiring what it calls racist voter ID to steal voters' right to vote, according to the outlet. Acton, a former state health director from suburban Columbus, is the Democratic nominee for governor.
This isn't the group's first attempt to peel votes away from Acton. An earlier mailer from Progressive Families PAC bashed Acton as too conservative, citing her comments earlier this year in support of a state law banning transgender athletes from playing girls' and women's sports. The two mailers take opposite tacks — one painting Acton as too conservative, the other as too aligned with efforts to restrict voting — but both aim at discouraging the same pool of likely Acton supporters.
Little Known About the Group Behind the Mailers
Little is known about Progressive Families PAC's organization, and the group has a limited digital presence, per the outlet's reporting. When the group registered with the Federal Election Commission on Oct. 6, it listed its address as a mailbox at a printing shop in Dayton. Its FEC registration also listed Chain Bridge Bank, a Washington, D.C.-area bank with longstanding ties to Republican campaigns, as its bank.
The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com said they reached out to Progressive Families PAC for comment on the mailers. The official ballot language for Issue 3, as excerpted by the Ohio Secretary of State, describes the proposal as requiring voters to present photo identification in order to vote.
Ohio's Voter ID Law Already Three Years Old
Ohio's voter ID law has been on the books for three years, and the outlet's reporting notes that it is criticized for needlessly disenfranchising minority voters, who research suggests are more likely to lack government-issued identification. The dynamic has made the law — and now the push to lock it into the constitution — a flashpoint in this year's statewide races.
Pattern Extends to the Ohio Senate Race
The Acton mailers are not an isolated tactic this cycle. The Ohio Democratic Party and Sherrod Brown's campaign have sent mailers that appear at first glance to be attacks on Libertarian U.S. Senate nominee Bill Redpath, but the attacks make claims designed to make conservatives more likely to vote for Redpath over GOP U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, the outlet reported. The mailers describe Redpath as a proud supporter of gun rights and someone who will radically cut taxes. WOSU Public Media confirmed the mailer carried a disclosure noting the Ohio Democratic Party paid for it.
A mirror-image tactic has played out on the Republican side of that same Senate race. Enough Promises Ohio has sent mailers urging likely supporters of Brown to vote for Greg Levy instead, according to the outlet's reporting, though Levy has disavowed the mailers. Federal campaign-finance reports show Enough Promises Ohio received funding through a network of conservative political organizations, and the group reported spending more than $2 million backing Levy and opposing Brown — far more than the roughly $108,000 spent by Levy's own campaign as of mid-October. WOSU separately reported the group had spent more than $1.58 million to boost Levy as of Oct. 23.
Jeremy Pelzer, who has worked in cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer's Columbus bureau since 2013, reported the story for the outlet's Ohio politics coverage.
