Marc Dann was the weakest link in the Democrats’ 2006 sweep of
five out of six Ohio statewide offices, winning the attorney
general’s race with just 52 percent of the vote. He’s looking even
weaker now, barely holding onto his job after revelations that the
state’s top law enforcement office has been run like a frat house
under his watch.
On Friday, four staffers from the Ohio attorney general’s office
quit or were fired in connection with a sexual
harassment investigation while the attorney general himself
admitted to an extramarital affair with his 28-year-old former
scheduler. “I did not create an atmosphere in my public and
personal life that is consistent with the important mission of the
office of attorney general,” Dann acknowledged.
That’s one way of putting it. After taking office as attorney
general, Dann hired his Youngstown pal Anthony Gutierrez as general
services manager. Gutierrez decided it was time to loosen up the
place. He told investigators, “When I had first came to that
department, everything was like, more or less, church… I said you
can’t be productive by being quiet and always having your nose
right to everything. You can liven up and be more relaxed.”
Gutierrez now stands accused of sexually harassing multiple
women in the office. One charged that Gutierrez invited her to an
apartment he shared with Dann for drinks and that she woke up with
her pants unbuttoned. Dann’s communications director Leo Jennings,
the third roommate in the apartment, allegedly encouraged a staff
attorney to lie to obstruct the sexual harassment investigation. “I
will not lie like Leo wants me to,” the attorney wrote in a text
message to Dann. “I will not risk my bar admission. I love you and
Tony and Leo, but not enough to get disbarred.” Dann himself may
not have been completely cooperative with the investigation,
reportedly telling investigators that he did not know the woman
drinking in his apartment was one of Gutierrez’s employees.
So now Gutierrez, Jennings, the scheduler, and Dann’s director
of policy and administration are gone, but the attorney general is
fighting to stay in his job. The Columbus Dispatch, the
Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cincinatti Enquirer,
the Akron Beacon-Journal, and the Dayton Daily
News have all called on Dann to resign. (His local paper, the
Youngstown Vindictator, wants to see him vindicated.) Several Republican members of the
state legislature also want Dann to go and some of them are even
talking about impeachment. “I haven’t done anything impeachable,”
he insisted at a press conference.
Dann’s fellow Democrats aren’t exactly rushing to his aid. “It
is what it is,” said Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. “We’ll
see what happens from here.” State Treasurer Richard Cordrary’s
office released a statement on Dann’s problems that said simply,
“It doesn’t involve us, it doesn’t concern us.” Gov. Ted Strickland
expressed disappointment and also said it might suggest a double
standard if Dann is allowed to remain in his job (Dann, meanwhile,
told the press that having to tell his wife about the affair was
punishment enough).
THERE ARE two reasons the tawdry scandal has sent Ohio politicians
scurrying. If Dann survives as attorney general until Sept. 24,
Governor Strickland can appoint a successor to fill out the rest of
his term and keep the office in Democratic hands. If Dann resigns
or is ousted before then, there will be a special election that
Republicans could potentially win. One of Dann’s justifications for
how poorly he handled personnel matters was that he surprised even
himself by winning the attorney general’s race.
“I was not as well prepared for the office as I should have
been,” Dann told reporters, asking Ohioans to give him a “second
transition” period. Such a confession might have made a difference
in his close race with GOP Auditor Betty Montgomery, who had served
two terms as attorney general from 1995 to 2003. It might even be
enough to hurt the Democrats’ replacement candidate in a special
election.
But there’s a second reason the attorney general’s troubles have
roiled the Buckeye State: Dann’s conduct isn’t as lurid as Eliot
Spitzer’s but they both share a penchant for crusading against
others’ corruption. This makes such politicians tempting targets
when their own wrongdoings are exposed. Dann helped shine light on
“Coingate,” a scandal in which a state bureau invested $50 million
in a rare coin business run by a major Republican donor, and
criticized his Republican predecessor’s handling of the matter. He
has also been creative in using the powers of his office to go
after businesses. When Dann was sworn in, he pledged to “continue
to take on powerful politicians, corrupt corporations, entrenched
special interests or anyone else who threatens the well-being of
Ohioans.”
Now there are questions about whether his promise extends to the
well-being of Ohioans who happen to be young, female, and employed
in the state attorney general’s office. If Marc Dann can survive
this, Ohio is a blue state indeed.
