Ken Blackwell

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John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948), is a former secretary of state of the U.S. state of Ohio who made an unsuccessful bid as the Republican nominee for Governor of Ohio in the 2006 election. He was the first African-American to be the candidate for governor of a major party in Ohio.

Blackwell gained national prominence for his dual roles as Chief Elections Official of Ohio and honorary co-chair of the "Committee to re-elect George W. Bush" during the 2004 election. Allegations of conflict of interest and voter disenfranchisement led to the filing of at least sixteen related lawsuits naming Blackwell. Regarding voter disenfranchisement, the US Court of Appeals ruled, in agreement with Blackwell, that provisional ballots cast in the wrong polling location should not be counted in the election. Blackwell was also named in a 2006 lawsuit related to his office's public disclosure of the Social Security numbers of Ohio residents.

A conservative, Blackwell successfully campaigned for the 2004 State Constitutional Amendment banning state recognition of same sex marriage, is a staunch proponent of gun ownership rights, and has stated that he is against abortion except in order to protect the life of the mother. He was defeated in the 2006 Ohio gubernatorial election, winning only 37% of the vote.

[edit] Early years

Blackwell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to George (a meatpacker) and Dana (a part-time nurse) Blackwell in 1948. He has two brothers, Carl and Charles. He married his wife Rosa in 1969 while he was in college. They have three children, Kimberly, Rahshann (a Denver resident and Ohio Northern Law School graduate looking to become an attorney) and Kristin.

Blackwell attended Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio on a football scholarship. Blackwell received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Xavier in 1970 and his Master of Education degree, also from Xavier, in 1971. He taught at Xavier from 1974 to 1991 and has served as a trustee of Wilberforce University and Wilmington College. After college, he was invited to the Dallas Cowboys' training camp; he states that he gave up football when he was told he would have to convert from linebacker to offensive lineman.^[1]

[edit] Political career

From 1979 to 1980, Blackwell served as Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. Earlier, he had been a member of the Cincinnati city council.

Blackwell served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush as undersecretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1990. He returned to Cincinnati to run for the first district seat in the United States House of Representatives being vacated by Tom Luken. Blackwell lost to Luken's son, Charlie Luken. Following his defeat, President Bush appointed Blackwell ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Blackwell served in that post from 1992 to 1993.

Blackwell was appointed Ohio State Treasurer by then-Gov. George Voinovich in 1994 to complete the term of Mary Ellen Withrow, who was appointed U.S. treasurer by President Bill Clinton. Blackwell was elected treasurer in 1994 and was elected Ohio Secretary of State in 1998. That year, Blackwell considered a run for governor, but Ohio Republican Party chairman Robert T. Bennett persuaded Blackwell to run for secretary of state instead, leaving the governorship open to Bob Taft. Blackwell was national chairman of longtime friend Steve Forbes' presidential campaign in 2000. [1] Blackwell was re-elected secretary of state in 2002.

Blackwell, a strict fiscal and social conservative, has become a vocal critic of the moderate wing of the Ohio Republican Party, including Taft, for adopting tax increases in the face of budget shortfalls in recent years. He has also demanded the resignation of Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican, whose staff has become embroiled in fund-raising scandals.

He was also the most prominent Republican to support adding an amendment to the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. The state's Republican U.S. Senator George Voinovich and then-Senator Mike DeWine opposed the amendment's broad language, fearing it could bar not only same-sex marriage but also civil unions, domestic partnerships, and possibly wills and any legal contracts for homosexuals. Taft later also came out against the amendment, expressing his concern that its ambiguous language would have unintended consequences and leave the state open to a number of lawsuits. During the campaign Blackwell lobbied hard for this measure and was widely credited with attracting many conservative evangelical African Americans to the polls to vote for the measure and for Bush's re-election. The amendment passed with the approval of 61.64% of the voters.

[edit] 2006 Ohio gubernatorial campaign

Main article: Ohio gubernatorial election, 2006

[edit] Campaign and national significance

Blackwell was the Republican candidate for Governor of Ohio in 2006. He beat state Attorney General Jim Petro in the 2006 Republican primary. (The then current governor, Republican Bob Taft, could not run because of term limits.) Blackwell's opponents in the general election were Democratic Congressman Ted Strickland, Libertarian professor emeritus Bill Peirce and Green Bob Fitrakis. Blackwell chose Ohio State Representative Tom Raga to be his running mate. Blackwell was the first African-American to be nominated as a candidate for the Ohio governorship by either major political party.

There had been increased national attention on the ability of the Republican party to maintain control in Ohio. On a national level, The New York Times went so far as to suggest that the results of the election would be a "bellwether" for the 2008 US presidential election.^[2]

Blackwell faced an uphill battle; according to a broad survey reported by Cleveland Plain Dealer on April 30, 2006, Ohio voters would "prefer to see a Democrat occupy the governor's mansion."^{[3] [4]} Still, he had his supporters. John Stemberger, president and general counsel for the Florida Family Policy Council, was quoted as saying that Blackwell could "potentially be president of the United States someday, and the first black president at that."^[5]

On November 7, 2006 Ted Strickland was elected Governor, defeating Blackwell by a 24% margin.^[6]

[edit] Conservative platform

Blackwell has taken some very conservative positions. In 2005, he supported keeping Terri Schiavo on life support indefinitely, saying, "I really do think that life is sacred, no matter how painful." When asked on Hardball with Chris Matthews if he would keep her on life support for 30 years, Blackwell said he would.

In his 2002 campaign for re-election to the post of Secretary of State, Blackwell took the position that he would favor abortions in the case where the life of the mother was at stake. He has since taken a more conservative position of opposing abortions even in the case where the mother's life is at risk ^[7].

[edit] May 2 primary

Blackwell won the Republican Primary on May 2, 2006 against Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro with 56% of the vote. ^[8] Blackwell's strongest support came from his home town of Cincinnati and much of rural Ohio.^[9] The run up to the primaries was dominated by strongly critical television ads that Blackwell and his opponent Jim Petro ran against one another.^[10]

Blackwell was criticized by Petro, for declining to engage in three planned debates which had been organized by the Dayton Daily News and the City Club of Cleveland. The debate at the City Club of Cleveland occurred on April 25, 2006, despite Blackwell's absence. The event was originally scheduled to be broadcast on public television around Ohio. According to the Columbus Dispatch, "Blackwell said he has 'shared plenty of forums' with Petro and that he wants to focus on talking to Republicans in the final days of the campaign." ^[11]

On April 29, the Hamilton County Democrats publicly demanded that Ken Blackwell pull radio ads which urged unregistered Democrats to ask for Republican primary ballots on May 2, 2006 (rather than the issues only ballot which unregistered voters normally get) and thereby become registered Republicans. The Democrats argued that the ads are using "illegal and unethical political tactics."^[12]

[edit] Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) amendment

One of the major components of Blackwell's primary campaign was his support of the proposed "Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL)" constitutional amendment. The amendment proposed to limit increases in state and local government spending to 3.5 percent or the inflation rate plus population growth rate (whichever is higher).^{[13] [14]}

Shortly after Blackwell's May 2, 2006 primary win, Blackwell agreed to withdraw support for the TEL issue in return for legislation limiting expenditures. (However, unlike the TEL, the legislative limits applied to state government, not local governments). The Ohio General Assembly passed and Governor Taft signed the state limitation dubbed "Legis-TEL." Accordingly, the sponsors of the original petition withdrew their ballot issue.^[15]

Blackwell's opponent, Ted Strickland, objected to Blackwell's change of stance saying, "it shows he has a real weakness to be firm in his convictions and that his ideas are being rejected by the people." ^[16] Strickland subsequently used Blackwell's agreement to withdraw the TEL as an example of Blackwell's alleged "flip-flopping" on issues.^[17]

[edit] Campaign finance

During the primary, Blackwell led the Republican candidates in his ability to raise significant amounts of money for his campaign. He raised $1.09 million between January 31, 2006 and April 12, 2006, from approximately 12,000 individuals and businesses. This was nearly $800,000 more than his main competition, Jim Petro, but less than the $1.1 million raised by his main Democratic competition, Ted Strickland.^{[18] [19]} Blackwell, along with 14 other candidates, (including Petro and Strickland) were accused by the Ohio Citizen Action group of failing to meet Ohio's campaign contribution law which requires best efforts to disclose the names, addresses, employment status, employer, and place of employment of individuals who donate $100 or more to a political campaign. Blackwell, Petro, and Strickland all received a "B letter grade" from the group for their levels of disclosure.^[20]

On April 16, 2006, the Toledo Blade reported that Blackwell had accepted more than $1 million dollars in campaign contributions from "employees of firms seeking business with the statewide offices he's held over the past 12 years." Furthermore, the same organizations donated $1.34 million dollars to the Ohio Republican Party, $1.29 million of which was forwarded directly to Blackwell's campaign fund. Several of the firms which have been awarded contracts from Blackwell's office have also been hired on to his gubernatorial campaign. The investigators argue that the suggestion of quid pro quo based on the actions of contributors raise an issue of a serious conflict of interest. Petro has responded by demanding that a law which bans political contributors from being awarded state contracts. Blackwell has stated that no illegal activity took place. In response to Petro's call for reform, Blackwell stated "If you are asking me ... 'Am I advocating for campaign spending limits?' No. Never have. Never will." ^[21]

After winning their respective primaries, both Blackwell and his Democratic opponent were able to raise record sums, in part because of the national attention paid to the race. As of September 9, 2006, Strickland led Blackwell, $11.2 million to $10 million.^[22]

[edit] Support from religious groups

Blackwell had been well supported by many religious leaders in Ohio both politically and financially; according to campaign filings, Blackwell has received $25,031 from clergy and more than 27 times as much as Strickland.^[23]

However, on January 16, 2006, a group of 31 pastors, led by Rev. Eric Williams, pastor of North Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Columbus, wrote a 13-page letter to the IRS alleging that Blackwell has enjoyed "special treatment" by two Ohio "mega-churches," World Harvest Church and Fairfield Christian Church. In the letter, the pastors accused the two organizations of sponsoring at least nine events with Blackwell as the sole invited politician, "partisan voter-registration drives," and distribution of biased voting guides. Rev. Russell Johnson, pastor of the Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, Ohio defended his actions by saying that the event in question was not a "meet the candidate forum," but rather he was giving Blackwell "an award for courageous leadership." ^[24] Blackwell later called the group of 31 pastors "bullies." ^[25]

On May 7, 2006, the members of the Lord of Life Lutheran church in Columbus, Ohio publicly complained that Blackwell's campaign workers placed fliers on the windshields of those attending the church service on April 30, two days before the May 2 primary. The church pastor, Rev. Jim Wilson, stated "the tactic was offensive and suggested the church was endorsing Blackwell." Wilson said that he had tried to contact the Blackwell campaign in response to the incident but did not get a "satisfactory response." When questioned, Blackwell's campaign said the practice was "standard... for Republicans and Democrats." ^[26]

On Wednesday, May 14, 2007, Ken Blackwell was appointed a senior fellow at the well-known conservative religious, political group Family Research Council.^[27]

As the organizations are 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, not-for-profit organizations, they are explicitly barred from campaigning for, endorsing candidates or "becoming involved in any activity which is beneficial or harmful to any candidate." ^{[28] [29]} Johnson and Rev. Rod Parsely, pastor of World Harvest church have argued that the investigation is politically motivated and violates their constitutional right to free speech. Mark Everson, commissioner of the IRS responded "you don't have an automatic or constitutional right to a tax exemption, and that's where the line has been drawn." ^[30]

[edit] Support from pro-gun organizations

Ken Blackwell has earned an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Political Victory Fund. Blackwell is also endorsed by the Ohio Gun Collectors Association, Ohioans for Concealed Carry and Gun Owners of America.

"I unequivocally support the Second Amendment right of every law-abiding Ohioan to keep and own firearms for hunting, personal protection and any other lawful purpose," said Blackwell. "I am proud to receive the NRA’s highest rating and will be an unflinching advocate for gun owners as governor."

[edit] Ohio Secretary of State

[edit] Involvement in the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy

As Secretary of State of a hotly contested swing state, Blackwell played a prominent role in the controversial 2004 U.S. presidential election.

As Secretary of State, Blackwell held the position of Chief Elections Officer, overseeing Ohio's elections process. In Congressional testimony, Blackwell stated that every Republican holder of statewide office in Ohio was named an honorary "co-chair" of the Bush campaign, that the position carried no responsibilities, and that previous Ohio Secretaries of State from both parties had held similar honorary positions.^[31]

Blackwell also announced he would enforce an Ohio State election law decreeing that any person who appeared at a polling place to vote but whose registration could not be confirmed would be given only a provisional ballot; if it were later determined that the person had attempted to vote in the wrong precinct, yet still in the correct city, or the correct building, (some buildings were authorized polling places for more than one precinct), or even the correct room of said building, but had unwittingly waited in line at the wrong table, then their provisional ballot would not be counted in any election totals. The Democratic party promptly filed a lawsuit claiming that the policy was "intended to disenfranchise minority voters" and in violation of federal election law, HAVA (Sec. 302).^[32]

On October 21, 2004, U.S. District Court Judge James G. Carr issued an order rejecting Blackwell's policy, indicating that "Blackwell apparently seeks to accomplish the same result in Ohio in 2004 that occurred in Florida in 2000." ^[33]

Blackwell appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Joining him in the appeal as a citizen intervener was Thomas Noe, who would become the key figure in Coingate. The Appeals Court reversed the District Court decision on October 26, 2004. (pdf)(pdf) In accordance with the Appeals Court ruling, provisional ballots cast in the wrong precincts were not counted in Ohio's 2004 elections.

On September 6, 2006, The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ballot access requirements for primary elections were too restrictive for third parties.

The majority opinion stated that Ohio's rules violated the First Amendment and had "a negative impact ... on minor parties and on political activity as a whole in Ohio," according to Yahoo News.

The Libertarian Party of Ohio's legal battle started when they appealed Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's 2004 decision to deny them access to the ballot.

Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary asked Blackwell to explain irregularities in the Ohio election in two letters, (pdf) (pdf) and requested his presence at a Public Congressional Hearing. (pdf) He did not attend the hearing, but responded to the first letter, refusing to comply with their requests for explanation, noting that he was already responding to requests from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Justice. (pdf)

Keith Olbermann has interviewed Blackwell regarding the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy. (video)

On December 27, 2004, Blackwell requested a court order to protect him from being interviewed in the Moss v. Bush case, a challenge of the presidential vote, and fought a subpoena, arguing that the litigation was frivolous.^[34] The acceptance of Ohio's electoral votes by the U.S. Congress (following a rare electoral contest) effectively overruled the case; it was dismissed at the plaintiffs' request.

[edit] List of legal suits and rulings

As Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell has been a party to many election-related lawsuits.^[35] Some of these include:

• Moss v. Bush; Dismissed at request of plaintiff after certification of electoral votes
• Beacon Journal Publishing Company, Inc. and Charlene Nevada v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections; Ohio was ordered to permit reporters to enter polling places during the Fall 2004 election, notwithstanding ORS § 3501.35.(pdf)
• Lucas County Democratic Party et al. v. Blackwell^[36]
• The Sandusky County Democratic Party v. J. Kenneth Blackwell; Blackwell was forced to pay nearly $65,000 in legal fees to the Sandusky County Democratic party.^[37][38]
• The League of Women Voters of Ohio et al v. Blackwell^[39]
• Miller et al v. Blackwell et al.^[40]
• Spencer v. Blackwell^[41]
• Summit County Democratic Central and Executive Committee et al. v. Blackwell et al.^[42]
• American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. et al. v. Blackwell^[43]
• State of Ohio Ex Rel. Matthew Wolf, et al. v. Blackwell^[44]
• Sarah White v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections of Lucas County, Ohio^[45]
• Nader et al v. Blackwell^[46]
• Schering v. Blackwell^[47]
• Ohio Democratic Party v. Blackwell; Upheld in federal appeals court in favor of Blackwell^[48]
• Anita Rios et al v. Blackwell^[49]
• State ex. rel David Yost et al v. National Voting Rights Institute et al^[50]

[edit] Release of Ohio Social Security numbers

On March 1, 2006 Blackwell's office accidentally published a list of 1.2 million Social Security numbers of Ohio citizens on a website along with their business filings. A Federal class-action lawsuit was filed by Darrell Estep who claimed that the release of the data had caused his Social Security number to appear three times on the website.^[51] The lawsuit was settled on March 28, 2006 after the numbers were removed from the website, a registration process was enacted to view the data and Blackwell's office agreed to make monthly progress reports to the court.^[52] The data was part of a centralized voter database, required by Federal law. At that time, Blackwell promised to only retain the last four digits of the Social Security number in the database to prevent future problems.^[53]

However, on April 26, 2006, Blackwell's office disclosed Ohio Social Security numbers again, mailing out computer disks containing the names, addresses, and the Social Security numbers of 5.7 million registered voters in Ohio (80% of all registered voters in the state).^[54] The list was released as a standard practice under the Freedom of Information Act and Help America Vote Act. Blackwell's office apologized, indicating that the release of the Social Security numbers was accidental and attempted to recall all 20 of the disks. At least one recipient of the disks has refused to comply.

Jim Petro, then Republican Attorney General of Ohio, has launched an investigation into the disclosure, citing a legal requirement to "investigate any state entity where there may be a risk of a loss of private data." Blackwell stated that he considered the issue to be closed, but Petro disagreed, saying that he will use "maximum due diligence" to ensure that the data was not copied before it was returned. Ohio law requires that individuals be notified if their Social Security numbers are compromised.^[55][56]

[edit] Diebold controversies

Ohio State Senator Jeff Jacobson asked Blackwell in July 2003 to disqualify Diebold Election Systems' bid to supply voting machines for the state, after security problems were discovered in its software,^[57] but was refused. Blackwell had ordered Diebold touch screen voting machines, reversing an earlier decision by the state to purchase only optical scan voting machines which, unlike the touch screen devices, would leave a "paper trail" for recount purposes.^{[citation needed]} The controversy was inflamed the next month when Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold, sent a fund-raising letter to Ohio Republicans, stating that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."^[58] Although he clarified his statement as merely a poor choice of words, critics of Diebold and/or the Republican party interpreted this as at minimum an indication of a conflict of interest, at worst implying that those newly purchased electronic voting machines which did not leave any verifiable paper trail represented a risk to the fair counting of ballots.

On April 4, 2006, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Blackwell "owned stock [83 shares, down from 178 shares purchased in January 2005] in Diebold, a voting-machine [and ATM] manufacturer, at the same time his office negotiated a deal" with the company. After discovering the stock ownership, Blackwell promptly sold the shares at a loss.^[59] He attributed the purchase to an unidentified financial manager at Credit Suisse First Boston who he said had, without his knowledge, violated his instructions to avoid potential conflict of interest.^[60]

When Cuyahoga County's primary was held on May 2, 2006, officials ordered the hand-counting of more than 18,000 paper ballots after Diebold's new optical scan machines produced inconsistent tabulations, leaving several local races in limbo for days and eventually resulting in a reversal of the outcome of one race for state representative. Blackwell ordered an investigation by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections; Ohio Democrats demanded that Blackwell, due to his prior role in acquiring the Diebold equipment as well as his status as the Republican gubernatorial candidate in this election, recuse himself from the investigation due to conflicts of interest, but Blackwell did not do so.^[61]

On September 6, the Ohio Libertarian Party won a lawsuit in the 6th circuit. That court invalidated the procedure for new parties to get on the ballot, a petition of 1% of the last vote cast, due a year before the general election. Although there was no indication the state would ask for a rehearing, it had always been a possibility. However, the deadline for such a request has now passed, and the state made no such request. (pdf)

[edit] Bibliography

• Kenneth Blackwell and Jerome R. Corsi. Rebuilding America: A Prescription for Creating Strong Families, Building the Wealth of Working People, and Ending Welfare. WND Books, May 4, 2006. ISBN 1581825013

[edit] See also

• Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 1st District

[edit] References

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can (October 2007).

• "Broadening the Field for 2008" by Tara Ross, The American Enterprise Online, December 2, 2004, retrieved October 29, 2005

[edit] External links

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• Official biography on Secretary of State's site, with photo
• Ohioans for Blackwell - Gubernatorial campaign site
• Ken Blackwell profile, at NNDB
• The Chicago Tribune: The anti-Obama
• Hardball with Chris Matthews, March 22, 2005, Terri Schiavo case
• Was the 2004 Election Stolen? : Rolling Stone

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