The Dayton Daily news published a story today that was sloppy, lazy reporting. They listed a guy from Cincinnati as an opponent- who’s petitions have fatal flaws.
They didn’t actually list all the people who turned in. They didn’t give you any information about the candidates. And they wonder why so few people subscribe.
A list is easy to pull off the BOE website- what’s a little harder is making the calls to see what’s going on, or actually knowing anything about your subject matter.
Kirk Benjamin who ran last time in the four way primary was short a few signatures in Montgomery County but got some Greene County signatures to make it onto the ballot. He didn’t have a website last time- and didn’t campaign. (He did come into my office frequently to try to test his odd ideas on what campaign issues he thought were important- this was after our non-profit did a video interview with him [1]). Apparently, Benjamin dropped out- updated 19 January 2024.
Amy Cox has a website up [2]. She doesn’t live in the district (Yes- that’s legal, it’s what Niraj Antani is trying to do in OH-2). When I asked her why she wasn’t running against her Congressman, Warren Davidson [3], she said, “oh, that’s Vanessa Enochs [4] race.” Actually, it happens to be a 3 way Democratic race between Enoch, Nathaniel Hawkins [5] and David E. Gelb [6] if Enoch and Hawkins signatures are certified on the second. Gelb is certified. You can see the Butler County report here [7].
It was interesting looking at the Hamilton County Candidate report- where they actually attempt to inform the public- showing who was filed, who is pending, who failed. A very nice change from Montgomery County’s den of inequity.
Here are 3 examples of reports:
Which BOE report is more informative? Should be obvious.
I’ve filed- and my petitions are recommended for approval. My site is www.electesrati.com [8] I won the 4 way primary last time, and got zero support from the Democratic party which apparently, doesn’t believe in election results.
Manual Foggie of Cincinnati filed as a carpetbagger, and his petitions are flawed.
Joseph S. Kuzniar filed and his petitions have been approved. He’s a retired AF Lt. Colonel, and is very focused on why the WPAFB library is closed. He’s in his 80’s – and I had to help him get his petitions to fill out. I doubt he’ll have a website.
Tony Pombo lives in Beavercreek, and turned in enough signatures. According to searches he runs a company called “Circuits Alive [9]” out of his house. Attempts to contact him via his google voice assistant were denied. Emails were not responded to. Based on the technical execution of his business website (which is unsecure) he won’t have an online presence.
Mike Turner has no Republican opposition in the primary- and will probably continue his long track record of never meeting with voters in person.
While his deadline to turn in his 2890+ signatures isn’t until the day before the primary, Michael Harbaugh, who owns the Wild Banana food truck and has a website up: https://www.harbaugh4congress.com/ [10] is planning on running as an independent in November.
All boards of elections will meet on January 2nd to officially certify the petitions.
It is my plan to organize candidate forums in Clark, Greene and Montgomery counties over the next three months so voters can ask questions of the candidates- they will be filmed and livestreamed. More details to come.
If you liked this article, please consider subscribing [11]– it’s free- and you’ll get an automatic notification of every post. Sure beats the Dayton Daily news.
There’s so many stories of corruption and open conflicts of interest when it comes to the Dayton Corruption “investigation.” Pro Tip: A government employee generally shouldn’t be investigating people they are friends with.
It’s really fucking annoying when people complain that Esrati is “mean” or an “asshole” when he’s the only one doing any investigative journalism. People in Dayton don’t understand that 90% of their problems come from media not holding anyone accountable. They don’t have the same problems in places like NYC or or other places because they have real media. This dude is doing the reporting that the “investigative” journalist at the DDN should be doing. Sadly, the DDN is more concerned with protecting the rich and powerful than actually reporting the news. Have they done anything to look into the conflict of interest in the “Culture of Corruption” investigation? Pro tip: You shouldn’t be drinking beer with your friend who is being interviewed by the FBI if you’re a MAJOR part of the investigation.
Thanks, David, for your excellent report.
Hi Bob-
Thank you. I’m working on a few other stories- one may be pretty big. We’ll see.
This wasn’t that hard to do- you just had to pick up the phone. Apparently for the DDn that’s too much.
Dave Thank you for the comprehensive report. I support you in running against turner and am interested in any information you have about turner that can be used to expose his corruption, complaisance, inaction and incompetence. It seems to me that there is much for which he needs to be held accountable. Do you have sources that can provide evidence? Sources that I know are aligned against him are Derek Harvey, DC Draino and Steve Bannon.
Again, a more beneficial use of folks’ hard earned money could be donating to the YWCA, Daybreak, Artemis Center, food banks, etc. There are good people doing good things in Dayton who need donations. Keep this preening, narcissistic, grieving boomer limited to his rants here. Do not feed this unelectable troll.
Esrati, another word for masochist. I guess he thinks it helps his pathetic little business to run against his betters.
Esrati runs for Congress because it’s the only grift he’s got left. He raises a few 10s of thousands of dollars from suckers and plows it back into his “ad agency” which ends up in his own pockets. Just as corrupt as those he points fingers at.
Let’s see, is “Scooter” on the ballot? Or “Hoodie Patrol”? Or “Jerry”?
Would you vote for them? Who do you want to vote for? Mike Turner?
No one in this city run by an inbred political monarchy wants to do anything except keep their “Friends and families” in power.
Look at the Gehres Family….