A report by a non-profit investigative journalism organization is attempting to draw a line between political contributions made by members and companies in the ARM industry with contracts awarded by the state of Ohio’s Attorney General to place collection accounts with those companies.
The report cites both Richard Cordray, the Democratic candidate, and Mike DeWine, the Republican nominee. Cordray was Attorney General of Ohio from 2009 to 2011, before leaving to become director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. DeWine has been the state’s Attorney General since Cordray’s departure. One of them will be the next governor of Ohio, come November.
According to an analysis done by the organization, companies among the top 25% of those who contributed to DeWine’s campaigns have earned 425% more revenue than companies that are in the bottom 25% of campaign contributors. For Cordray, those in the top 25% of campaign contributors earned 156% more than those in the bottom 25%.
The state places accounts with 70 attorneys and 13 collection agencies, according to the report. Those organizations collected $210 million during the 2016-17 fiscal year. The state collected about $207 million on its own. The organizations with state contracts keep up to 33% of whatever they collect, which was $53 million during the most recent fiscal year.
Those numbers are being used as a possible explanation for why companies are so quick to make campaign contributions to be on the shortlist for those accounts from the state.
Individuals affiliates with the 70 attorneys and 13 collection agencies have made more than $4 million in campaign contributions during the past seven years, to DeWine, the Ohio Republican Party, the Summit County Republican Party and to Pat DeWine, the son of Mike DeWine and a current Ohio Supreme Court justice, according to the report. Those contrbutors received $301 million in account placements, or $75 for every $1 donated, the report said. Under Cordray, the ratio was $54 of revenue for every $1 donated.
DeWine’s office denied any connection between contributions and account placements.
“I would have absolutely no idea if somebody contributed to anybody in the state of Ohio,” said Lisa Iannotta, DeWine’s collections chief since 2013. “That’s not something I ask or talk to someone about.”
