Fact-checking allegations in Blackshear, McGuire race for Ohio state Senate seat

Oct. 25 — Political ads and emails include attacks and claims against both candidates in the Dayton-area Senate District 6 campaign, one of the region’s most competitive Statehouse races.

Ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5, this news outlet set out to fact-check and provide context to some of the talking points facing both Dayton Democrat Willis Blackshear, Jr. and Centerville Republican Charlotte McGuire. who hopes to represent most of the city of Dayton. and its eastern and southern suburbs over the next four years.

Go here for an in-depth comparison of the two candidates and where they stand on key issues.

Claims against Blackshear

An email obtained by this news organization attacked Blackshear, who is completing his second term in the Ohio House of Representatives, on three separate fronts.

First, the message claimed that Blackshear “will not appear for us” and that he “missed more than FIFTY critical votes in his current elected position.”

The fine print explains that these missed votes occurred in both terms that Blackshear served in the Ohio House. According to Ohio House attendance records obtained by this news organization, Blackshear has missed two of the 48 House sessions in his first term and three of the 24 House sessions so far in his second term. Altogether, he was present for 67 out of 72 House sessions, or about 93% of the time. Each session of the Chamber generally involves a plurality of votes.

The email’s second claim claims that Blackshear “will not get tough on crime,” which is supported by alleged evidence from Ohio campaign finance records that show Blackshear made a personal donation to a candidate who campaigned to end cash bail.

In an interview, Blackshear told this news agent that he wasn’t sure which donation the mailer was talking about. He did not go so far as to support ending cash bail, although he has supported it in the past.

“I can’t necessarily say it’s something I support 100 percent, but we understand that there are people who are in jail right now for misdemeanors and they can’t afford to get out,” Blackshear said. “These are non-violent people who are just sitting in prisons. We have to figure out, what can we do to make this fair and just?”

The email’s third claim claims that Blackshear “won’t protect young women,” highlighted by his vote against House Bill 68, a controversial bill pushed by Ohio Republicans both to ban affirmative action health care underage sex, as well as banning transgender girls from playing at an all-girls school. sports.

Blackshear voted against HB 68, as did the rest of the state’s Democrats. The issue was controversial even among Republicans, leading to a veto by Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. However, support from GOP supermajorities in the Ohio House and Senate ultimately overrode the governor’s veto.

A fourth claim against Blackshear, this one presented in a television commercial, attacks him for the personal debts that brought him to court.

Blackshear was sued for personal debts in 2023, according to Dayton Municipal Court records. A civil case has been opened by the debt collection agency Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC over an amount of $6,533.53. The case was opened and dismissed without prejudice within three months.

For this news item, Blackshear said it was the result of medical bills being sent to the wrong address. “I was never notified or notified, but once I became aware of the bill, it was paid,” he said.

Claims against McGuire

This news organization also obtained an email from the Ohio Democratic Party attacking McGuire, who has represented the district on the Ohio Board of Education since 2016, following a 2022 board vote in which she allegedly “refused to punish a teacher who had relationships with students.”

The statement is misleading. Here are the facts:

The vote in question is from March 2022. The full board was voting on a resolution to revoke the teaching license of Khalilah Forte, a fired Trotwood-Madison High School teacher, who allegedly allowed a student to spend the night at her home, among other things. conduct considered “unsuitable for the teaching profession”.

McGuire abstained. At the time, she was an “advisory member” of the board, which meant she was selected by the board to work with state administrative staff and attorneys to evaluate cases and develop potential settlement agreements for the defendant.

Jason Wagner, chief legal counsel for the Ohio Board of Education, told this news station that if the defendants in these cases decide not to settle, the case will then be decided by a board vote.

However, board policy states that board members can only consider the “official record” of the case. Which means that the advisory board member who got a lot of “extraneous” details in the settlement phase has to recuse himself from the vote.

“When we vote on those cases, you’ll see me abstain from more,” McGuire said, “and that’s because I was part of the hearing and conclusion process to get it to the full board.”

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, at X, by email, or you can send her a comment/tip with the survey below.

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