Re: ORP vs Morgan Supporters

I also received the email that touched off posts at Right Ohio and BizzyBlog claiming that legislators who have endorsed Seth Morgan for Auditor are being denied use of the Ohio Republican Party's (ORP) bulk mailing permit. In checking in with various sources, I had heard from several folks that legislators were confirming this story to them so I decided to check in with ORP Executive Director, Jason Mauk, who said this in reply:

By law, candidates are not entitled to "use" the party's mail permit. The party may choose to send mail on behalf of a candidate, as we do many times in every election. In fact, I'm looking at an ORP mail piece for Rep. Cliff Hite right now, and we have one in the works for Rep. Barbara Sears. Both are listed on Rep. Morgan's website as endorsees. You need better sources.

I was later told that this was "being driven" by State Rep. Ron Maag, who according to the ORP, "hasn't once asked the chairman or anyone in our shop for support." I don't have close contacts with Maag, so I am hoping that he or someone on his team will see this and send me an email to confirm or to comment.

DEVELOPING...

UPDATE: This just in from ORP...

Chairman DeWine spoke with Ron [Maag] this afternoon, and they had a great conversation about how the party can help his primary campaign. He agreed to dispel this endorsement rumor.