COLUMBUS, OH — Major corporate corruption scandals have cost Ohioans billions of dollars over the past two decades. Sen. Jon Husted was at the center of three of the biggest. A new report from Innovation Ohio details Husted’s entanglements with some of Ohio’s worst corporate actors – dating back to his days as a state legislator.

FirstEnergy: The Akron-based utility spent $60 million in bribes to pass House Bill 6, a $1.3 billion bailout for its aging power plants. The scandal resulted in Speaker of the Ohio House, Larry Householder going to prison, and the suicides of lobbyist Neil Clark and former chair of the Public Utilities Commission, Sam Randazzo. Court documents mention Husted 400 times and reveal that FirstEnergy called him their “golden boy.” The utility spent $1 million in dark money to support Husted’s 2018 run for governor and later hundreds of thousands on the DeWine-Husted ticket. Husted’s relationship goes much deeper than the HB 6 scandal. He vacationed with FirstEnergy lobbyist Dan McCarthy (who later joined the DeWine-Husted administration); and even dated another lobbyist without properly disclosing the relationship.

ECOT: The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) still owes the people of Ohio $117 million for receiving public dollars to educate students who never attended the online charter school. ECOT was forced to close in 2018, leaving 12,000 students displaced in the middle of the school year. As a lawmaker, Husted loosened regulations and passed laws diverting taxpayer dollars to charter schools and away from public schools. ECOT donated generously to Husted’s campaigns and awarded him with an honorary diploma. Husted also delivered ECOT’s 2007 commencement address. After the scandal became public, many politicians gave ECOT’s donations to charity. Husted kept his.

Centene: In 2019, the public learned that Cetene bilked Ohioans of $224 millions by doubling billing for prescription drugs through Medicaid. Centene spent thousands on Husted’s own gubernatorial run and later the DeWine-Husted ticket. Yet even after learning about the fraud, the DeWine-Husted administration awarded the company's affiliate a $20 billion Medicaid managed care contract. Centene continues to donate to Husted as a U.S. Senator.

“The one thing every major corruption scandal in Ohio has in common is Jon Husted,” said Innovation Ohio CEO Michael McGovern. “Husted’s agenda is about what’s best for him and whatever corporation happens to be bankrolling his political ambitions.”