Snollygoster | Ohio's Politics Podcast

It was quite the day in New Albany. The state’s richest man, and some say one of the state’s most powerful men, was questioned under oath about his relationship with convicted pedophile and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

As the proceedings began, Wexner released a long statement in which he said that while he and Epstein were friends and Epstein managed all of his personal finances, he had no idea of Epstein’s illegal activities. Wexner said in his statement, “I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide.”

Committee member Rep. Dave Min from California was not buying it.

The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, said the committee has more questions for Wexner, and he said Ohioans should as well.

Closely watching the news surrounding the deposition is the Ohio State University and its president, Ted Carter. Last week, Carter said that university officials are considering all the facts, and they have a process to consider the more than two dozen requests to remove Wexner’s name from the medical center, the arts center, and the football complex.

For more on this topic, we turn to our panel of experts: reporter Jake Zuckerman of Signal Statewide, Democratic strategist Brian Rothenberg, and Republican strategist Mark Weaver.

Snollygoster of the Week

The House Oversight Committee questioned Les Wexner this week in New Albany. We could give the award to Wexner for making them move the deposition to his home turf, but instead, let’s give it to the committee members who were not there.

There are forty-six members of the committee; five showed up for the Wexner deposition, all of them Democrats, and notably all from outside Ohio. Ohio Republicans Jim Jordan and Mike Turner and Democrat Shontel Brown decided not to make the short drive to Central Ohio from their districts. Congress was not in session. Brown said she had a scheduling conflict. There is no word on what kept Turner and Jordan from attending.

What their absence did mean is that they did not have to confront one of Ohio’s most prominent citizens, and they did not have to answer reporters’ questions after the session.

For that, Representatives Jordan, Turner, and Brown get our Snollygoster of the Week award.

The big issue of the 2026 campaign likely will be affordability: the affordability of groceries, the affordability of health care, and the affordability of housing. Candidates are falling all over themselves trying to tell us how they are going to help us make more money and help us save money.

A big piece of the housing affordability equation is property taxes. Because of rapidly rising property values over the past ten years, and voters’ willingness to pass levies, property taxes have increased sharply.

The median Ohio property tax bill has jumped about 25 percent in recent years to stand at just more than three thousand dollars a year. Obviously, many homeowners pay a lot more than that, while others pay less.

The Tax Foundation says Ohio has the eighth-highest effective property tax rate in the country.

With each revaluation notice and with each new property tax bill, politicians hear from their angry constituents.

Some of those constituents say their lawmakers have not done enough to control property tax rates, so they want to go to the voters.

The group Citizens for Property Tax Reform is collecting signatures to put a proposed state constitutional amendment on the ballot. If it gets on the ballot and if it passes, it would eliminate property taxes in the state of Ohio.

State and local government officials say that would be devastating to local schools and services. Right now, property taxes generate twenty-four billion dollars a year, which is more than is collected through the state’s income and sales taxes combined.

Joining us this week on Snollygoster is one of the leaders of the group, Beth Blackmarr.

Snollygoster of the week

President JD Vance and Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy, in a move that statehouse insiders have noted, are involved in the GOP primary fight for state auditor. JD Vance has endorsed former state Rep. Jay Edwards, and Vivek Ramaswamy has endorsed state Senator Kristina Roegner. The insiders smell the first skirmish in a budding rivalry between two potential candidates for president in 2028.

A federal judge in Washington extended Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants living in the United States. Judge Ana Reyes' decision to allow the Haitians to remain legally came hours before Tuesday's deadline.

The Trump administration says it will appeal the judge's ruling, and the case continues in federal court.

Advocates say they are ready to mobilize again should ICE's attention drift away from Minnesota and toward Ohio.

So while that storm passed us by, we are still left with the remnants of last week's major winter storm. Much to the relief of parents, schools reopened this week. The leftover piles of snow and frigid temperatures caused most schools, at least in central Ohio, to close all of last week.

AEP seemed to survive the storm pretty well, at least in Ohio. No major power outages here. But the utility made news when Governor DeWine mentioned his administration is trying to keep AEP's headquarters in Ohio. The company is looking to possibly move out of its 31-story headquarters in Columbus.

To discuss these stories, we turn to this week's panel: Statehouse Reporter Jo Ingles from Ohio Public Radio, Democratic Strategist Stanley Gates, and Republican Strategist Mike Gonidakis.

Snollygoster of the week

This week, testimony began in the trial of former FirstEnergy executives charged with bribing state officials to bail out two nuclear power plants. Former CEO Chuck Jones and former Senior Vice President Mike Dowling face charges that they bribed former Public Utilities Commission chair Sam Randazzo as part of the scheme.

In his opening statement, the attorney for the former executives argued that the $4.5 million they gave to Randazzo was not a bribe, but a payment Randazzo was supposed to use to settle claims with clients. The defense claims Randazzo instead pocketed the money.

Here's the thing: Randazzo cannot refute the claim. He died by suicide soon after he was indicted for his role in the scandal.

The jury will decide, but it's a pretty shrewd legal maneuver to shift the blame to a dead man.

Timestamps:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (03:12) - Snow Days
• (06:55) - Keeping AEP in Ohio
• (12:37) - Snollygoster of the week