Ohio Republican Party Central Committee Meeting

By Contributing Writer on December 5, 2021

LFC Comments by Brian Massie, Executive Director:

We had the opportunity to see the ORP State Central Committee in action on Friday, December 3, 2021. We became very curious after five patriots filed a lawsuit against the ORP Chairman, Bob Paduchik, and Treasurer, Dave Johnson. Here is our prior article providing the details of the lawsuit.

Ohio Republican Party Sued by Central Committee Members

Our overall impression of the whole meeting was that it was a huge disappointment. There was a deliberate maneuver to make the public uncomfortable by packing us in like sardines. Some of the public had to watch the event from the hallway. The disdain for the public was obvious in the words, actions and body language of the newly hired Executive Director, Justin Bis. He warned us to stay behind the barrier before the meeting started, and was rebuked by citizens saying he works for us, and we don’t work for him.

Although Chairman Paduchik did seem to be knowledgeable in how to keep the meeting moving forward, his decision to halt the meeting at the request of a member was not appropriate, and gave the public the distinct impression that we are not welcome at their meetings.

Treasurer Dave Johnson’s utter incompetency in the field of accounting very clearly shows, in our opinion, that he should be removed from office. You will hear Mr. Johnson in the video below, when pressed on the financial statements, try to sound smart by educating Committeeman Mark Bainbridge, that assets minus liabilities equals equity. Mr. Bainbridge is a CPA and former partner in a large accounting firm. He needs no accounting lessons from Johnson. As a former accountant that has prepared a great number of financial statements, I am totally disenchanted by the fact that AUDITED financial statements have not been prepared for over 10 years by the ORP. There are no acceptable excuses, and if improper conduct can be verified then legal challenges should be filed. All of those individuals in a leadership position in the last ten years should be dismissed, or never endorsed by the Party. If they cannot ethically run a State Party, what makes them think that they should move to higher office?

The ORP is definitely split between those in power (DeWine acolytes) that are “feathering their own nest” by doing the bidding of the special interest groups, and the patriots that trying to bring the Party back in line with the average Ohio voter. The patriots are going to need a switch of between 10 – 20 votes to their side in order to control the Party. That is a very tall order!

Here are the current salaries for the ORP:

Here is a video that LFC took at the meeting. We apologize in advance for less than a stellar video, but we were standing in the cheap seats and had to contend with “bobbing heads” in front of the camera.

Another major problem is the Party’s desire to continually endorse candidates before the primary election. This allows the Party to give money to the candidates to spend in the primary – a decided advantage. If the Party continues to follow the policy of endorsing before the primaries, then I have to ask the question: “Do the voters really have a choice, or is it all predetermined by the power brokers?”

From what we saw in Columbus, we have to say that it is all just an illusion with pre-determined outcomes. It is a Party, but the average citizen is not invited.

If you want to contact your State Central Committee Representative, here is a list of names for you. You just have to know your Senate District number.

list of committeemen Download