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Signs of trouble for hemp repeal as deadline nears
A group trying to block and repeal Ohio’s new intoxicating hemp law has until next week to collect the 250,000 voter signatures needed to put the issue before voters in November.
It’s hard to say whether the group will succeed. But there are clear indications the campaign is short on cash, which isn’t a great sign.
In a Feb. 28 Facebook post, one worker said he and others who traveled to Ohio to collect signatures had been “stranded in Ohio” after the petition drive “imploded.”
In an interview, another worker for the campaign said their campaign supervisor told them Feb. 25 that signature gathering was to stop immediately. Signal Statewide agreed not to identify the worker due to concerns about retaliation.
Even before that, the worker said one of their two paychecks bounced, although they were able to get paid by being persistent.
“The people who were on the ground were nice, good people. The problem was the funding. And it was not very well organized,” said the worker.
Dennis Willard, a spokesperson for Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, told the Columbus Dispatch last week that his group had “paused” paying temp workers and instead shifted to a network of volunteers to gather the needed signatures.
Willard also said the group “felt good” about its chances and would reassess its decision on paid campaign workers at a later time. He reiterated those same points in a text message to Signal on Tuesday.
Nonetheless, the campaign’s efforts to gather signatures continue. The group’s website on Wednesday afternoon listed 81 businesses in 27 counties – a collection of breweries, bars and head shops – where petition signing is taking place.
Scotty Hunter, a campaign leader and co-owner of the Urban Artifact brewery in Cincinnati, said in an interview on Wednesday that Ohioans for Cannabis Choice will soon begin the process of collecting and counting its signatures. They’re due to the state by March 19.
Hunter couldn’t say whether his group will have enough signatures by next week, or whether it will have money to reinitiate a paid signature drive.
“We feel good about where we are. But we’re wrapping our hands around what more we need to do,” he said.
Also, relatedly, the Ohio Supreme Court gave the state until Friday to respond to an emergency lawsuit from the hemp industry, including Urban Artifact, seeking to block the law.
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Making sense of the Statehouse |
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What happens in Columbus doesn't stay in Columbus. At Signal Statewide, we track what lawmakers are debating — and what it means for your town, school or small business. Our team explains complicated bills, asks tough questions and puts the focus where it belongs: on everyday Ohioans. If our reporting helps you stay informed, have better conversations, or feel more in control of what's going on in Ohio, we hope you'll support it.
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Husted’s day in court
On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted deadpanned that he was “thrilled” to testify as a defense witness in a crowded courthouse in Akron.
Spoiler alert – he wasn’t.
In the end, there were no bombshells, just an uncomfortable hour for Ohio’s junior senator. For the defense attorneys who summoned him, Husted testified that he thought FirstEnergy supported Jason Rafeld for a top gubernatorial appointment rather than Sam Randazzo, the lawyer the FirstEnergy defendants allegedly bribed.
The prosecutors seized their opportunity, asking Husted about his 2018 dinner with then-governor-elect Mike DeWine and FirstEnergy executives – a key event in the prosecutors’ theory that Husted said he largely doesn’t remember. They cornered him into calling the upscale Athletic Club of Columbus a “normal restaurant” and then asked him about opulent details.
In contrast, Democrats may have been thrilled with the appearance. They got what they likely wanted – TV news images of Husted appearing in a courtroom that will be available for use in later campaign commercials.
They also got a meme-worthy moment from Husted’s halting testimony about the Athletic Club. “Is that caviar on the website header?” asked an X account called “Sherrod Brown burner.”
We’re not sure what that picture shows – you be the judge – although one semi-informed source told us they “100%” believed it was actually just whole-grain mustard. |
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DeWine’s State of the State
Gov. Mike DeWine delivered a relatively modest wish list for the state legislature this week during his eighth and final State of the State address.
In his hour-long speech, attended by state lawmakers, Ohio Supreme Court justices and other state dignitaries, DeWine asked the legislature to pass several laws:
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Giving police authority to pull drivers over solely for failing to wear a seatbelt
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Explicitly criminalizing AI-generated child pornography
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Imposing legal penalties on technology companies whose AI platforms are shown to have encouraged a child to harm themselves or others
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Requiring phone companies to include parental control features in their devices
DeWine also praised an existing proposed law change that would double school recesses from 30 to 60 minutes and asked lawmakers to permanently fund his H2Ohio water quality program and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel’s youth fitness program.
The requests are vintage examples of DeWine’s approach to politics – skipping more controversial topics and instead focusing on children’s programs and safety-related measures that seem likely to have broad political support among voters.
DeWine also got a familiar response from Republican legislative leaders – ranging from noncommittal (AI, tech provisions) to somewhere approaching a hard “no” (the seatbelt law change, which DeWine has pitched before).
House Speaker Matt Huffman did offer one compliment: “I'm glad he talked about his successes, which I think are also, in many ways, the General Assembly’s successes.”
Democrats, meanwhile, accused DeWine of focusing on the wrong issues and said everyday life hasn’t improved for average Ohioans over the last year.
House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn offered “yes, but” praise for sections of DeWine’s speech in which he shouted out kids whose personal stories reflected DeWine initiatives. One highlighted DeWine’s “science of reading” changes to the state reading curriculum, and the other Tressel’s youth fitness program.
“Those stories are real, and they are meaningful,” Isaacsohn said, “but they are not the story for most Ohio children. When you zoom out … you wonder what happens to those kids when they go home.”
“With all due respect to our lieutenant governor, a wall sit is not going to take care of gun violence,” Isaacsohn said. |
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Ohio Democrats weigh in, stay out of separate primaries
A low-key Ohio Democratic Party meeting this week was notable for how it handled two separate contested downballot state races.
First, the ODP’s executive committee voted to endorse Upper Arlington City Council Member John Kulewicz over former state Rep. Elliot Forhan in the Democratic primary for state attorney general.
That decision wasn’t surprising, given Forhan’s current relationship with Democratic leaders.
But the party also passed on endorsing in another contested primary election for Ohio Secretary of State between state Rep. Allison Russo, a former Democratic legislative leader, and Bryan Hambley, a doctor and first-time candidate.
Hambley has managed to impress Democrats through his fundraising and hard campaign work. Influential labor leader Joe Rugola’s recent appearance on Hambley’s campaign podcast also shows the inroads Hambley has made with party leaders. It’s not hard to envision a different scenario where the party endorsed the more well-established Russo had Hambley not gained political traction.
For her part, Russo’s stance was that the party shouldn’t endorse in the SOS race. She sent a letter in late February urging the committee to remain neutral.
The party also endorsed two more uncontested candidates, Marilyn Zayas for Ohio Supreme Court and Annette Blackwell for state auditor.
“All endorsement decisions are aimed at ensuring we have candidates who will take on Republicans in Washington DC and Columbus who have raised costs, cut healthcare, gutted public schools, and attacked our democracy,” Ohio Democratic Party Executive Director ODP Cade Leebron said in a statement. |
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Making the rounds: Sherrod Brown has held hundreds of roundtable discussions during his political career, and he’s leaning on the format again as he campaigns for the U.S. Senate. Andrew Tobias explored how the curated format nonetheless has produced some unpolished and memorable stories.
Drinking the rounds: A former top PUCO staffer tells jury of a late night at the bar with FirstEnergy CEO and lobbyists.
Buckeye down: Our colleague, Amy Morona, wrote this week about the abrupt resignation of Ted Carter as president of the Ohio State University involving an “inappropriate relationship.” The Columbus Dispatch has since published an update to the story, detailing how JobsOhio paid up to $60,000 for now-removed podcasts linked to Carter.
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We want to make sure you don't miss these stories from other media.
Haitian TPS: The Dispatch's Bethany Bruner reports that President Donald Trump's administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a judge's order allowing temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants to remain in place. This would target about 330,000 Haitians, with about 12,000 or more living in Springfield, Ohio.
Attendance award: Ohio’s Bernie Moreno was one of two U.S. senators to get a perfect voting attendance score in 2025, according to Roll Call. The achievement was a point of pride for Moreno, who shared the article with reporters on Wednesday. Three Ohio U.S. representatives – Republicans Dave Taylor and Bob Latta and Democrat Shontel Brown – also got gold stars. |
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