KASICH ENDORSEMENT: A GOOD OR BAD THING FOR GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL MARY TAYLOR?

Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor announced at the Cleveland City Club (LINK to podcast of the announcement) on Friday that she is a Republican candidate for governor in 2018.

About five months ago, Governor John Kasich said he would support Mary should she decide to get into the race.

So the immediate question is:  Does a Kasich endorsement harm or hurt Taylor's chances come the Republican primary in the Spring of next year?

Answer:

It depends on where one sits on the Republican political spectrum these days?

If you are a dyed-in-the-wool Trump supporter, there is no way Mary Taylor accepts Kasich's embrace in any way, shape or form and still gets your vote.

If you are not "a-wedded-to-Trump-Republican, then maybe.

My take on the state of the Ohio Republican Party voter support is that the dyed-in-the-wool variety will dominate the May 8, 2018 Ohio Republican gubernatorial primary election.

It such proves to be the case, then Taylor's announcement for governor on Friday the 7th will likely to turn out to be a futile effort.

Although Kasich handily defeated Donald Trump in the Ohio presidential primary of 2016, a couple of relatively recent polls suggests that a head-on-head between Kasich and Trump may be reversed in Trump's favor.

LINK to People's Pundit Poll of May 6, 2017

Ohio's May 8, 2018 primary election will not have President Trump's name on it, but perhaps in a surrogate way his name will be.

Current 16th District Congressman Jim Renacci seems to positioned himself best to be the Trump stand-in next May.

The internals of the People's Pundit Daily poll show that the major categories of voters for a candidate to be aligned with in terms of tapping into Trump core support in terms of Trump approval percentages as of May 3rd are:

• Republican (91%),
• Conservative (82%),
• White (62%)
• Male (61%)

A less reliable groups in terms of being toss-up categories includes:

• Female (54%)

While Trump has a 52% rating with "independent" voters, nominal Republican "independent-esque" voters in the May 8th primary likely will be far and few in between come next year's primary.

Moderate Republicans may be a significant factor, but not independent-minded Republicans.

Of course, linking to Trump is a gamble inasmuch as nationally his polls are not doing that well, and, moreover as we approach May, 2018,  there may revelations out in the public domain on what is reportedly an "in process" FBI investigation into whether or not Trump campaign officials colluded with Russians to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election and whether or not the FBI assesses that Trump has obstructed justice in the presidential election collusion probe.

Ohio's Republican gubernatorial candidates cannot have it both ways.

For those like Renacci who all-out embrace Trump will be either viable or a bust depending on what happens in the Ohio public's view on approving or disapproving of Trump over the next eight months.

Secretary of State Jon Husted seems to be flirting with an "all-out-for-Trump" position in proudly adopting be deemed a "deplorable;" a term Democrat Hillary Clinton used to describe "core" Trump supporters in the course of the 2016 presidential campaign.

But, recently he was put in a bind when the Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission (PACEI) on Election Integrity and it demanded of secretaries of state that they make available to the commission data including sensitive information such as date of birth and social security numbers of the respective state voter registration databases.

Husted has refused to provide the sensitive information to PACI.

Attorney General Mike DeWine appears to me to be the best positioned on that score.  He certainly has not been anti-Trump but neither has he wholeheartedly cottoned to Trump.

So highly visible local supporters of DeWine (i.e. Stark County commissioner Janet Creighton, Stark County treasurer Alex Zumbar, North Canton mayor David Held and former state Rep/mayor of North Canton Dave Johnson) likely will have hope for success come the primary election even if Trump reverses his polling fortunes nationwide.

Mary Taylor seems to be "between a rock and hard place" politically in the Trump/Kasich feud that has gone on since right before the Republican National Convention in mid-July, 2016 held in Cleveland.

Taylor is definitely waffling on the Kasich endorsement thing.

For her, the Kasich endorsement has to be "bittersweet."

On the one hand she wants to be identified with what she thinks are accomplishments of the Kasich/Taylor administration (without naming Kasich as the prime architect of the successes, LINK) and on the other differing with her governance mate on the desirability of Obamacare and most importantly the continued expansion of Medicare in Ohio which has been a very big deal for Kasich over the past several years.

In January, 2017 when Ohio's Republican leadership met to decide who was going to be the the party's chairperson going forward, Taylor initially sided up with Kasich political protege Matt Borges.

However, as decision time arrived, Taylor switched over to ardent Stark County-based Trump supporter Jane Timken (a key figure in terms of being connected to a Stark County-sited major industrial employer [Timken]) who had the support of then-president-elect Donald Trump.

Taylor may not do all that well statewide come next May, but she should be a major player in Stark County.

She lives right on the northern border of Stark County just over the line in the City of Green which is located in Summit County.  Prior to politically bursting onto the statewide scene, she was involved in City of Green politics and governance.

As State of Ohio Auditor, Taylor played a major role in the political demise of then Stark County Democrat and Stark County treasurer Gary D. Zeigler by virtue of her office issuing a scathing report chastising Zeigler's administration of the office in the wake of an April 1, 2009 revelation that then Chief Deputy Treasurer Vince Frustaci had stolen what turned out ultimately to be nearly $3 million in Stark County taxpayer money from the county treasury.

The-then Democratic county auditor Kim Perez and other "organized" Stark County Democratic officials accused state Auditor Taylor of being "asleep at the switch" in terms of chastising Zeigler only AFTER the April 1st revelations.

Indications are that Taylor's office only started looking into the state of affairs in the Stark County treasurer's office in March of 2009 while Frustaci was on vacation.

Nevertheless, for the general Stark County voting public, the name Taylor is likely to be highly positive when it counts next May.

With Jim Renacci having a toe-hold in north-northeast (with a spur down to the Timken Company complex in the heart of Canton) Stark County, and major Stark County political players being on board the DeWine candidacy, Taylor might eke out a win in Stark, if she stays in the race.

The Stark County Political Report has had doubts that she would enter the race in the first place given her current straggler status in a couple of polls on Republican on 2018 gubernatorial prospects and her personal misfortune of having two sons reported in the media as having opioid addiction problems.

The polls:

It is amazing that Taylor with all her years as state auditor and lieutenant governor only mustered 10% in the January and May 2017 polls.

While Ohioans in general are concerned about the mounting opioid addiction problem statewide and nationwide, it is not issue of the magnitude of healthcare including Medicaid insurance coverage.

Accordingly, dealing with the opioid problem is not likely to be a top issue concern of voters.

Taylor may however, because of her personal closeness to and familiarity with the matter, be able to neutralize a negative chord that the family misfortune might strike with Republican Ohio voters who have not had the experience her family has had.

For Taylor, the main question is:  Can she hang in the race through the Republican primary?

The SCPR thinks it is a tall order for her and she may well be the first if not the only of the four announced so far to drop out early.

It would be a stunning political happening, should she gain the Republican nomination for governor.

And it might be that the Kasich endorsement factor proves to be overall hurtful in the current slanted towards aligning with Trump Republican state of affairs in Ohio.

NO DOUBT THAT ZEIGLER SHOULD RESIGN; BUT HOW ABOUT COUNTY AUDITOR PEREZ AND STATE AUDITOR TAYLOR?

UPDATE 06/27/2010 at 6:50 AM

A video of Mary Taylor's presentation at the Frustaci press conference has been added to this blog.  It is incredible to watch Taylor's sleight-of-hand on how authorities got onto Frustaci.

Yesterday, Governor Ted Strickland complained that Taylor's office has yet to produce "a performance audit" being done on the Ohio Lottery. 

Hmm?

Maybe a performance audit needs to be done of the State of Ohio Auditor's office?

The Report has had another email from Pat DeLuca (Q92) informing that none of the commissioners nor Perez nor Zeigler have responded to his request that they appear on air Monday morning to answer questions about the Frustaci matter.

Here's the Taylor video.

ORIGINAL POST

Without benefit of Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor's Supplement to the Special Audit Report for the period January 1, 2005 to April 13,2009 handed out at today's press conference, the SCPR called for Stark County Treasurer Gary Zeigler's resignation months ago.

Anytime over $2 million dollars can come up missing in any government agency, the head of the unit of government bears responsibility for not having safety measures in place to ensure that money does not get stolen.

Accordingly, it is no surprise that Taylor's report confirmed what The Report suspected had to be the case.

Auditor Taylor's office found, among other things, that in the Stark treasury there were insufficient checks and balances to ensure the correspondence of money collected, money deposited in banks and money reported to the Stark County auditor. 

Repeatedly, in making recommendations for changes (which have since been made), Taylor's auditors cite that the way monies were being handled made them more vulnerable to theft.  It was hard to believe that cashiers' drawers were left unlocked and therefore vulnerable to being pilfered when a cashier stepped away momentarily.

Gary D. Zeigler is the boss at Stark treasury.  And, the procedural deficiencies cited by Taylor have been in place since he took office and were only recently corrected after money came up missing, to wit:

There definitely is a groundswell of public opinion and public official opinion that Zeigler should resign including Stark County Commissioners Bosley, Meeks and Ferguson, Stark County Democratic Party Chairman (also Jackson fiscal officer and chief deputy - Canton Municipal clerk of courts) Gonzalez, and Stark County Auditor Kim Perez.

Yesterday, Zeigler was saying he will not resign.

If he doesn't, then the healing that Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero called for today in his remarks at the press conference will not begin until January 1, 2013 when a new treasurer takes office when voters presumably select the replacement in November, 2012.

Take a listen at Ferrero is this video.

Moreover, if Zeigler hangs in and does not resign; look for Democrats to challenge him in any re-election try in that year's Democratic primary.  It is hard to see how Zeigler could survive a primary among Democrats with party chairman Gonzalez already calling for his resignation.

ON PEREZ

How about county auditor Kim Perez, should he resign?  Although some Stark citizens have somehow associated Perez with the problems at the Stark treasury, the SCPR is not aware of any public official who has made such a call.

However, Perez received an e-mail from radio personality Pat DeLuca (whose show yours truly has appeared on in the past) demanding his resignation, to wit:

Patrick DeLuca ... 6/25/2010 2:43 PM >>>

As a citizen, homeowner, voter, and taxpayer in Stark county I hearby (sic) demand the resignation of county Treasurer Gary Zeigler and Auditor Kim Perez.

The actions demonstrated by both departments, as detailed in State Auditor Mary Taylor's Special Audit Report, call in to question the competance(sic)and ability for both Kim Perez and Gary Zeigler to serve the citizens of this county.

I am disgusted and enraged by the lack of accountablity afforded to my hard earned and much paid tax dollars.

Sincerely,
Patrick DeLuca 

The SCPR did contact Pat via e-mail and confirmed the sentiments reflected in the e-mail cited above.

Moreover, DeLuca has issued a scathing "open letter" on Zeigler and Perez which can seen on his DeLuca Show facebook page.

The Perez folks tell yours truly that they have trying to get in touch with DeLuca (without success) to explain Perez's role.  Apparently, they believe that if DeLuca hears them out, he will think differently.

Well, the SCPR went to the Taylor report and examined it in detail re:  Perez.

The Report interprets Taylor's auditors to be saying that Perez failed to be an effective "checks and balances" on the treasury and that he merely took the data submitted to his office at face value and made no effort to get original source documents. 

In light of the Taylor report description of the Stark County auditor's office failure, Perez should make a public explanation as to why DeLuca is wrong on his demand that Perez resign.

As f0r talking DeLuca out of his take on Auditor Perez, the SCPR does not see that happening.


ON TAYLOR

To the SCPR, Taylor's office has been a major failure in this whole debacle.  But who audits the auditor?

Note from the Prosecutor Dettelbach's chart above, the thefts have been going on since 2003.  Six years, mind you.   All the while the Ohio Auditor has been doing "routine" audits annually.

What kind of audits were these?  Unbelievable!  And Taylor wants to be lieutenant governor.

Many Stark County Republican politicians including Todd Snitchler (Ohio House - 50th), Republican North Canton Mayor David Held, are big believers in having Taylor's office audits done at state and local levels.

Really?  In light of the six years of failing to spot the thefts occurring at the Stark Treasury.

Should Taylor resign?

Not as auditor, as she only has months to go as Ohio's auditor.  All that would do is disrupt the functioning of the office for very little, if any, public benefit.  But she might want to get off the Republican gubernatorial ticket.  Kasich has his own problems with the Lehman Brothers thing.

Will the Taylor auditing failure in Stark County cost him in a close election with the vulnerable Ted Strickland?

Could Mary Taylor have lost it all for the Republicans, if Stark Countians are the deciders in the Kasich/Strickland match up?

DISCUSSION: "THE BLAME GAME" HAS BEGUN?

How come it took this long?

Yes, the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report/SCPR) has learned that "The Blame Game" has begun.

A Stark County based official has told The Report that Republican Mary Taylor (of nearby City of Green - Summit County) and Ohio's auditor has started pointing her finger at Stark County treasurer for not providing enough oversight of Vince Frustaci, Zeigler's chief deputy.

Mary Taylor is the only elected Republican holding statewide office in Columbus (except for the Ohio Supreme Court which is staffed by seven Republican justices - including, of course, the chief justice)

One of the things Taylor can and likely is doing (in the opinion of The Report). is using her office as a political weapon against Democrats (not in an exclusionary to Republican officeholders sense) both at local levels of government as as her office fans out across Ohio and at the state level. The Report suspects that a Democrat would do the same thing for the Democratic party. It is all part of the political game playing that goes on between elected Republicans and Democrats.

In this day and age, the general public is highly cynical of the motives of most "high powered" politicians of whichever political party.

So when it comes to government accountability, you and I are left to choose our political poison.

Who do you believe in a finger-pointing contest which is apparently underway in the Frustaci investigation?

On the one hand, Zeigler tries to pass off Frutaci as a person who qualified on his merits to be hired nine years ago. And this may be. But, The Report, being as knowledgeable of how politics works as yours truly is; is more than a tad skeptical of Zeigler protestations.

Even if the Frustaci hire was essentially a hiring as a consequence of his political connections, how does that make Zeigler responsible for what he alleged to have done - if the allegations are proven?

The argument that appeals to The Report is that relationships become so chummy and cozy because of the frequent outside-of-work political camaraderie environment contacts, that due diligence standards ("trust, but verify") get relaxed and a ripe opportunity for troubles comes into being.

Did this kind of relationship develop between Zeigler and Frustaci? Was Zeigler taken advantage of? Did he create the conditions to be taken advantage of?

The Report believes that Zeigler set himself up to be had by buying too much into "good ol boy political buddy" world.

If so, Zeigler will bear some, if not most, of the responsibility, if the Frustaci allegations are proven to be true.

On the other hand, The Report understands that Mary Taylor, the Ohio auditor, has been checking the Stark County books for a little over two years now (Taylor took office in January, 2007). And up to now, no problem. How come?

It was Stark County auditor Kim Perez and Zeigler himself who spotted the trouble with the account in question after being called by the county treasury's banker.

Because Democrats control Stark County, The Report believes that Republican Taylor has the standard added incentive political motivation (as described above) to ferret out Democratic wrongdoing. How did she miss this one?

The Columbus-centered Republican pols are not going to be happy with this screw-up, Mary!

The Stark County based-official referred to above, speculates that it is one of two things (sort of an "either/or" thinking model that people like to use in trying to make sense of a situation) that accounts for the Taylor failure to pick up on the missing money for the two years her office has been inspecting Stark County treasury's books.

One would be that somehow one of Taylor's subordinates was in on the whole scheme.

Hum? Not something The Report believes is the case.

The Report's source on the whole Frustaci saga hss all along been suggesting to The Report that a bank employee may have facilitated the missing money situation. Zeigler himself may have inadvertently given credibility to this possibility in telling The Report on Wednesday that there may be a federal aspect to this case because of the banking factor.

Were there three individuals in on the whole set up? For two years?

In 2009, The Report is shocked by very little. But if it turns out that the source's take is borne out; yours truly will be astonished.

The other source conjecture is that the Ohio auditor's operation is inept. At least on the Stark County watch.

Inept? What would such portend for the finances for the entire state of Ohio?

If the official is correct on either premise, doesn't Mary Taylor deserve blame just the same as Stark Countian Gary Zeigler?

If both are to blame, who is left to protect the public's interest?

THE ANSWER: No one. That's why Stark County is missing "a lot of money!"

When politics and/or political relationships enter the picture, then all safeguards get neutered. If one has an alarm, but the alarm gets disarmed; what good is the alarm in the first place?

And all that is left is? You've got it: FINGER-POINTING.