Ohio Dems hit Boehner on remap)
By ALEX ISENSTADT |
12/13/11 1:26 PM EST
Ohio Democrats are pouncing on reports that House Speaker John Boehner and his top political hands, led by Tom Whatman, worked behind the scenes to push through a GOP-friendly congressional remap in Ohio.
“What is clear is that Boehner and his team had a hand in the map drawing,” Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday morning.
A public records request first reported by the Associated Press on Monday painted a detailed portrait of a back-and-forth between Boehner aides and top GOP legislative leaders, who according to the report were committed to passing a map that Boehner supported. Among the moves Whatman pushed for was to place Timken, a Canton-based steel company, to be included in the northeastern Ohio-based district of freshman GOP Rep. Jim Renacci, whose campaign the company had been financially supportive of.
Shoving a campaign contributor into Renacci’s district, Redfern said, was damning evidence that Boehner’s office was playing dirty with redistricting.
“Sometimes it’s difficult in politics to prove a quid pro quo,” Redfern said on the call. “This is the definition of a quid pro quo.”
Boehner spokesman Cory Fritz shot back in an email: "Instead of engineering pure political stunts, Ohio Democrats should focus on working with Republicans to help create private-sector jobs and get our economy moving."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/david-catanese/2011/12/ohio-dems-hit-boehner-on-remap-107268.html
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