In the months since Ohio lawmakers empowered the state attorney general to investigate foreign influence on elections, the state’s top lawyer has received no complaints about illegal donations and initiated no investigations into suspicious contributions.
In June 2024, Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 1, a law that gave Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost the power to investigate illegal foreign contributions to ballot campaigns. The change was part of a bill to get then-President Joe Biden on the 2024 Ohio ballot because Democrats scheduled their convention after Ohio’s candidate filing deadline.
As lawmakers debated the bill, Republicans expressed concerns about widespread foreign interference in Ohio elections. They pointed to the 2023 ballot measure to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution as evidence. Meanwhile, Democrats feared the change would empower Yost’s office to go after political enemies.
So far, neither has been the case.
As of mid-February, there have been “no tips received and no investigations initiated on foreign election interference,” according to a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which includes a form to submit complaints on its website.
A spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who supported the new investigative power, said the lack of complaints is evidence that the law is working.
“When we have the right safeguards in place to deter crime, people commit less crime,” LaRose spokesman Ben Kindel said.
But Bria Bennett with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative had a different takeaway.
“House Bill 1 is another example of how some legislators are manufacturing crises to put up unnecessary roadblocks. Ohio organizations must shift their processes and systems to accommodate or face punitive penalties,” she said.
‘Terrifying power grab’ or well-equipped investigators?
Republicans picked the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to enforce the new foreign donation rules because it has the resources and time to investigate complicated election issues.
“The reason we’re giving the attorney general this authority is because the attorney general has a bigger shop with greater expertise in complex cases, with greater expertise in delving into where we might find this foreign money, which will be difficult to track even under optimal circumstances,” said then-state Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, during a House floor debate.
Republicans didn’t trust the bipartisan Ohio Election Commission to oversee these investigations. Months later, GOP lawmakers would shutter that commission, criticizing it as slow and ineffective. They replaced it with the Ohio Election Integrity Commission, a new five-member panel under LaRose’s office.
But Democrats were wary of giving Yost that authority.
“It is a terrifying power grab by the attorney general,” state Rep. Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, said at the time.
Isaacsohn, who now leads House Democrats, said foreign interference in Ohio elections is wrong, but it shouldn’t be Ohio lawmakers’ key focus.
“Instead of obsessing over people in other countries, we should be focused on lowering costs and helping families right here in Ohio keep more of their own money in their pockets to afford groceries, rent and the basics,” he said in a statement.
The law was in limbo for several months after DeWine signed it. A federal lawsuit accused Ohio of violating the First Amendment rights of foreign nationals and green card holders. That case wasn’t resolved until September 2025, when an appeals court ruled Ohio could ban foreign contributions to ballot campaigns.
State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@usatodayco.com or @jbalmert on X.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio AG has received no complaints of foreign election interference
Reporting by Jessie Balmert, Columbus Dispatch / Cincinnati Enquirer
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