BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
Bob Taft
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COLUMBUS - Republican Bob Taft and Democrat Lee Fisher spent nearly $18 million combined on the most expensive governor's race in Ohio history, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday.
The reports show Mr. Taft enjoyed a dramatic advantage during the last two weeks of the campaign, outspending Mr. Fisher 4-to-1. As a result, Mr. Taft was a constant presence on TV just as voters were starting to pay attention to the race. The strategy enabled the Cincinnati native to stay on the attack and drown out Mr. Fisher's ads.
Mr. Taft defeated Mr. Fisher and two minor-party candidates. "The money is a reflection of the support Gov.-elect Taft enjoys around the state," said Brett Buerck, Mr. Taft's spokesman.
The most recent campaign finance reports covered the period between Oct. 15 and Dec. 4. They showed that Mr. Taft spent $4.4 million during the period, compared to $1.1 million spent by Mr. Fisher. The disparity can be attributed in part to when the candidates cut checks for their media-driven campaigns. Mr. Fisher bought his last round of TV ads in early October, while Mr. Taft waited until two weeks before Election Day.
In the first test of Ohio's campaign-finance reforms during a statewide contest, the reports show Mr. Taft and Mr. Fisher were hardly constrained by contribution limits.
Indeed, when it came to raising money, the two men were nearly equals. From January 1997 to Dec. 4, 1998, Mr. Taft raised $9.1 million, compared with $8.8 million collected by Mr. Fisher, according to reports filed with the secretary of state's office.
They easily surpassed the $16.3 million raised in 1990 by Republican George Voinovich and Democrat Anthony Celebrezze Jr.
Most of the money raised by Mr. Fisher and Mr. Taft came from individuals and political-action committees that are limited to giving $2,500 to candidates in both the primary and general elections.
"Folks who have money are finding legal ways to give more than they can individually," said Laura Yeomans of Citizen Action, a group that first put contribution reports on the Internet.
For instance, Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner, his wife and other family members gave Mr. Taft a combined $59,500. Most of the contributions were posted on two days, one before the primary and the other before the general election.
Several corporate and union PACs held fund-raisers to stay within the limits by showering their candidates of choice with a bundle of contributions.
Spending by the two gubernatorial candidates doesn't count money spent by their political parties to support candidates with get-out-the-vote drives and other efforts.
Bob Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said one of his party's political funds is $450,000 in debt because he refused to slash the number of phone calls placed to voters during the last week of the campaign.
Ohio Republicans bucked the national trend that saw a resurgence of Democrats across the country Nov. 3.
"I think that shows we made the right decision," said Mr. Bennett, who said that he already is planning fund-raisers to erase the debt. The Ohio Democratic Party, meanwhile, raised nearly $8 million this year to support its candidates, said David Leland, chairman of the state party.
Mr. Leland had little to show for it on Election Day. Republicans swept the nonjudicial statewide races for the second time in four years.
Other campaign finance reports for Oct. 15 to Dec. 4 show:
- Attorney General Betty Montgomery, a Republican who won re-election, outspent Democratic challenger Richard Cordray $1.4 million to $82,285.
- State Treasurer Ken Blackwell, the Republican winner in the secretary of state's race, outspent Democrat Charleta Tavares $178,469 to $86,022.
- Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters, who won the race to replace Mr. Blackwell as state treasurer, outspent Democrat John Donofrio $333,986 to $183,759.
- Auditor Jim Petro, another Republican who was re-elected, was outspent by Democrat Louis Strike of Symmes Township $54,417 to $21,417. During the previous four months, though, Mr. Petro spent $1 million to Mr. Strike's $80,070.
