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Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, said she will issue three executive orders on her first day in office, if elected, that would crack down on corruption.
The orders would be limited to what the governor controls in state government, which is wide-ranging, but doesn't include the other executive branch offices -- attorney general, auditor, secretary of state and treasurer -- or the state Legislature or Ohio Supreme Court.
Acton said: "It's time to put the needs of working families over the wants of billionaires, corporations and special interests. As governor, I will crack down on the corruption that raises our costs -- requiring transparency, fighting to end pay-to-play schemes and shining a light on bidding, contracting and appointment processes to ensure decisions are made on behalf of our taxpayers."
Acton said she would create an anti-corruption task force to take public input, conduct audits, interview stakeholders and make recommendations within the first 100 days in office to tackle corruption, fraud and abuse, add strict oversight, lower costs and ensure the government is working for Ohioans.
Action said she would address the governor's appointment process, which she called "broken and has been at the root of many of the state's corruption scandals. We need stronger guardrails to prevent this cost of corruption before they happen."
Acton said she would prohibit lobbyists, lawyers and consultants who have represented, been employed by or received money from any organization regulated by an Ohio regulatory entity in the past three years to then serve on the same regulatory agency. These appointments are limited to those made by the governor. It would require state regulators appointed by the governor to sign an ethics pledge to prohibit them from working for three years after leaving state government for an organization they regulated.
Acton said the FirstEnergy nuclear bailout scandal, which led to the federal convictions of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, has cost Ohio ratepayers more than $2 billion.
FirstEnergy admitted paying a $4.3 million bribe to Sam Randazzo, who was appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, in exchange for favors. Randazzo was criminally charged on the federal and state levels and killed himself in April 2024.
The third order would go after dark money in politics, requiring state contractors and advocacy groups that spend on political campaigns to publicly disclose their donors. This again is limited to those under the authority of the governor.
It would require additional disclosures by state contractors and vendors and create a public procurement database.
Evan Machan, spokesperson for Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, said: "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Amy Acton blasting waste, fraud and abuse in the very government system she comes from, while dark-money groups she pretends to denounce are spending millions to prop up her campaign."