Ohio enacted a new voter ID law. A record 7,000 ballots were thrown out for ID problems: Capitol Letter

Rotunda Rumblings

Action, reaction: Election officials rejected more than 7,000 voters’ provisional ballots in 2024 for lack of proper identification, Jake Zuckerman reports. It’s a record number by a landslide and comes after Republicans enacted one of the strictest photo identification requirements to vote in the nation.

Securing Social Security: Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper’s 15,000 members spent decades urging their Congress members to repeal a pair of laws that docked the Social Security benefits they’d earned because they also got pensions from their work as public employees, Sabrina Eaton writes. On Jan. 5, the persistence of her members and others paid off when President Joe Biden signed legislation called the Social Security Fairness Act into law. Cropper attended the White House ceremony, along with union leaders and Congress members from around the country, including former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat who introduced the bill in the Senate and bird-dogged its passage.

Hate mail: Someone has been targeting Ohio Republicans, sending them threatening letters laced with white powder. Anna Staver reports that Attorney General Dave Yost and Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, have both been sent letters like the one mailed to Secretary of State Frank LaRose in December. No word yet on why these GOP officials were targeted.

Upgrade unpaused: Work on upgrades to Ohio’s 21-year-old unemployment benefits computer system is resuming, more than two years after it was halted when federal authorities indicted top officials with the company initially hired to do the work. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, state officials gave a contract worth as much as $83.3 million to a new company, Florida-based Geographic Solutions, Inc., to complete the upgrade by 2026. Officials say the upgrade will make it easier for Ohioans to apply for, maintain, and appeal decisions about their unemployment benefits.

Scheduling conflict: Soon-to-be Vice President JD Vance, an Ohio State University graduate, bemoaned the fact that his inauguration will happen on the same day as the Buckeyes’ January 20 championship game in a Sunday Fox News interview. “I’d really like to watch the Buckeyes,” he told Shannon Bream. “I don’t want to be at the inaugural ball, like, staring at my phone, because we’re watching Ohio State versus Notre Dame, so let’s move that game. But if not, I’ll be rooting for the Buckeyes in spirit.”

Paying respects: On Monday, Vance paid a visit to the cemetery in Breathitt County, Kentucky, where five generations of his family are buried. Afterwards, he released a statement that described it as a “a humbling experience” to travel there before his swearing-in. “It’s both an honor and a privilege that someone with my upbringing can go on to become the Vice President of the United States,” Vance’s statement said. “America is the only country in the world where a journey like mine is possible, and I look forward to working with President Trump to ensure that this nation continues to be a place where people of humble beginnings can go on to achieve great things.”

RIP: The late Ben Espy, a Columbus Democrat in the Ohio Senate, was buried Monday. Attending the funeral, as The Columbus Dispatch’s Jordan Laird reports, was Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a godmother to two of Espy’s daughters, and some local Columbus politicians.

Problematic data: Ohio is paying the tech giants behind most data center developments in central Ohio an estimated $1 million per job in state subsidies. The Ohio Capital Journal’s Marty Schladen, drawing on findings from the progressive think tank Policy Matters Ohio, chocks it up to the steep capital costs and low long-term employment numbers with most the facilities.

What we’re watching this week

1. Who is Mike DeWine going to select as Ohio’s next U.S. Senator?
2. If he chooses Jon Husted, who will replace him as lieutenant governor (and 2026 gubernatorial favorite)?
3. Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman will announce his committee chairman assignments Tuesday morning
4. The General Assembly convenes in earnest next week, though the Senate only meets on an “as needed” basis
5. The Chamber of Commerce is hosting an economic outlook forum Tuesday

On the Move

Cleveland.com’s own social media producer Hayden Grove will compete on Season 27 of “The Voice,” which starts its run in February

Birthdays

State Sen. Andrew Brenner

Jordan Ohler, vice president, Swing State Strategies

Mike Rowe, Ohio Senate Democrats’ former chief of staff, now communications director for the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association

Blake Springhetti, Ohio House Republicans’ former finance director, now a lobbyist with Wyncroft Strategies

Duncan McArthur, Ohio’s 11th governor (1772-1839)

Straight From The Source

“I do take my job serious. I am very present in my district, attending to all my constituents’ needs and take my oath very seriously.”

– Ohio Rep. Sedrick Denson, a Cincinnati Democrat, speaking to the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau in response to its findings that he missed 31% of voting session days during the previous, two-year session, and missed the opening day for the current session.