Tag: Mark Bainbridge

After Court Win, Ohio Republican PAC Backs State-Committee Slate in Tuesday’s Elections

Bradley Vasoli

Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Committeeman Dave Johnson dropped his lawsuit against the Ohio Republican PAC (Political Action Committee) on Thursday, giving the latter group a major win as they advocate for conservative Republican State Central Committee candidates across the Buckeye State.

Johnson, who represents the ORP’s 33rd district, is running for reelection to that seat against Rick Barron who has the Ohio Republican PAC’s endorsement. Johnson sued the PAC and its affiliates in Mahoning, Carroll and Columbiana counties for conducting what he called a “sham” operation designed to mislead voters into believing that Barron had the ORP’s support. The ORP itself has not issued endorsements for State Central Committee this year. 

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Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee Member Calls on Chair and Treasurer to Resign over Party Finances

Bradley Vasoli

An Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Central Committeeman sent an email to party associates on Monday calling on ORP Chairman Bob Paduchik and Treasurer David Johnson to resign.

Mark Bainbridge, an accountant who represents ORP’s State Central Committee District 16 and who has led the committee’s reform caucus, wrote that the state party has suffered a decline in net worth that is “shrouded in secrecy.” Specifically, he stated, ORP reported a net gain of $147,259 through 2021 when it allegedly should have reported a loss of $162,088. He concluded that $309,347 in net expenses are absent from the organization’s profit and loss statement and that ORP had equity totaling $2,568,530 at the end of 2021 compared with $2,730,618 at the end of 2020.

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Timken Endorsers Silent on Her Alleged Mismanagement of Ohio Republican Party Funds

Peter D'Abrosca
Jane Timken For U.S. Senate

Three U.S. Senators who this week endorsed Ohio Republican candidate Jane Timken for U.S. Senate are silent after The Ohio Star reached out to ask about Timken’s alleged mismanagement of Ohio Republican Party (ORP) funds. 

Tuesday, Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) endorsed Timken in the hotly contested primary race that includes candidates J.D. Vance, Mike Gibbons and Josh Mandel. 

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Ohio GOP Committee’s Bainbridge Charges Ex-Chair Timken with Mismanagement, Conflict Amid ‘Financial Trainwreck’

Brian Ball

A leader of the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee’s reform caucus has offered more details regarding the poor integrity of the state GOP’s financial records and practices as well as a warning to fellow members in a recent letter sent to the Committee’s 66 members.

The latest salvo from Mark Bainbridge, a District 16 SCC member from suburban Columbus, specifically calls out U.S. Senate candidate and former ORP Chairwoman Jane Timken for failing to put in place internal financial controls and practices necessary during her tenure and what he considers a conflict of interest in the selection of an auditor for the party books earlier this year.

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CPA Firm Hired to Audit Ohio GOP Financial Records Resigns ‘Effective Immediately’ 

Brian Ball

The Canton, Ohio-based firm hired in April to audit the financial statements of the Ohio Republican Party has resigned, highlighting ongoing concerns of accounting practices of an organization that has not had an audit for 16 to 20 years.

Ohio Republican Chairman Bob Paduchik dropped that bombshell during his chairman’s report to the Fall meeting of the Ohio GOP’s State Central Committee more than a week after receiving the letter from the Clifton Larson Allen LLP certified public accounting firm.

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Battle Lines Drawn Ahead of Ohio GOP State Central Committee Meeting

Brian Ball

Sept. 10  meeting of the Ohio Republican Party’s State Central Committee offers the first opportunity for reform-minded members to press their agenda for changes in the governance and policies of the GOP ahead of the 2022 election for five statewide officeholders and the congressional mid-terms.
Whether the voices for reform first heard in a series of stories The Ohio Star published in late July and early August carry the day at the meeting depends upon the willingness of central committee members on the sideline to consider  whether to follow the bylaws of the organization representing nearly 2 million Ohio voters registered as Republicans or falling in line behind GOP Chairman Bob Paduchik.

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Ohio Republican Party Treasurer Johnson Defends GOP Chair in Accounting Tiff, Bashes ‘Malcontents’ Calling for Expansion of Audit Back to 2017

Brian Ball

  COLUMBUS, Ohio – The treasurer of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) has defended top management’s handling of the political organization’s financial statements against concerns the policies and procedures have created risk for improper accounting. David W. Johnson, the 32-year incumbent Columbiana County GOP chairman now in his second term…

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Ohio GOP Central Committee Members Challenge Chairman Paduchik on $638k Write-Off in 2021 and $1.7 Million Deduction to Equity in 2017

Brian Ball

Lingering accounting issues dating back at least four years have pitted three members of the Ohio Republican Party’s Central Committee against Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Chairman Robert Paduchik over the scope of the ongoing audit of the ORP’s financial records – the first complete audit of the party’s finances in at least 16 years.

The Ohio Star has obtained internal emails exchanged between three of the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee 66 members – Audit Committee member Laura Rosenberger and Fiscal Review Committee members Mark Bainbridge and Denise Verdi – and Chairman Paduchik that discuss the need to improve the financial reporting practices of the ORP to accounting industry and government regulatory reporting standards, starting with an expansion of the years covered by a standard audit just now getting underway.

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