Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says FirstEnergy donations didn't influence his House Bill 6 support

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says he didn't know how much Akron-based FirstEnergy spent on groups backing his 2018 campaign until recently. But he says the donations did not influence his support of a $1 billion nuclear bailout that the company wanted.

Newly released records revealed FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a Republican Governors Association-affiliated dark money group called State Solutions. The group backed DeWine during his competitive race against Democratic candidate Rich Cordray.

"This Fall Governor race is very important to FirstEnergy from both a legislative and regulatory perspective and getting Mike across the finish line is critical," FirstEnergy's CEO Chuck Jones wrote in an August 2018 email to a FirstEnergy investor. "His opponent Richard Cordray would not be good for our State."

Between FirstEnergy, its subsidiary and its dark money group, the company donated $500,000 to the Republican Governor's Association shortly after an October 2018 meeting with DeWine; $300,000 to Securing Ohio's Future, which supported DeWine's bid for governor; and $75,000 to support the unsuccessful Greene County prosecutor campaign of DeWine's daughter Alice. DeWine said he didn't recall anything about the October 2018 meeting.

DeWine said FirstEnergy's donations did not influence his decision to sign House Bill 6, which included a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear plants owned by a FirstEnergy subsidiary.

"I thought this was in the state's interest," DeWine told reporters Tuesday. "People can argue about the bill. They can argue whether we should have nuclear energy. My position was we needed to have nuclear energy. We needed to have all of the above, and so that was my position. That's what I felt. That's what I publicly said."

DeWine said he knew FirstEnergy was backing his bid for governor but did not know the full extent of its contributions. Much of the money was donated to independent expenditure groups forbidden from directly coordinating with the DeWine campaign.

"We want as much help as we can in a campaign," DeWine said. "(FirstEnergy) knew what my position was. I had a strong position. But again, it was not one of the issues where there was a dispute in the campaign."

Both DeWine and Cordray supported keeping the nuclear plants open. FirstEnergy also donated to the Democratic Governors Association, but the sum was much smaller.

These donations would not have been disclosed if not for a federal investigation into corruption at the Ohio Statehouse and lawsuits filed in response to it. That probe has led to a 20-year prison sentence for ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, the firing of FirstEnergy executives and the partial repeal of House Bill 6.

DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted have not been accused of any wrongdoing. FirstEnergy gave $1 million through a dark money group to help back Husted's 2017 governor campaign before he joined DeWine's ticket.

Between 2017 and 2018, FirstEnergy spent millions backing groups that supported DeWine, Husted, Householder and more. Cleveland.com reported FirstEnergy donated $300,000 to a dark money group backing current Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman between 2019 and 2020.

Does that mean FirstEnergy and utilities have too much influence at the statehouse?

DeWine said everyone can make their own judgment. "We're getting more and more facts out as far as you know, how much money they were spending. They were spending obviously, you know, a lot of money."

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: FirstEnergy donations didn't influence him