'Chuck. Can u call me?' Mike DeWine texted to FirstEnergy CEO, looking for campaign help

In October 2018, polls showed a tight governor's race between Republican Mike DeWine and Democrat Rich Cordray. DeWine worried he might lose, dashing his lifelong dream to be Ohio governor.

With Election Day looming, DeWine sent a text message to then-FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones: "Chuck. Can u call me?" In another text message, DeWine told Jones that the teachers' union had just dumped $1 million into Cordray's campaign.

The two traded text messages three days after DeWine and his running mate Jon Husted met with FirstEnergy executives at a Republican Governors' Association fundraiser in Columbus. Jones responded within minutes of DeWine's message to set up a time when the two could chat by phone later that day.

DeWine told reporters Monday that he didn't recall that conversation with Jones. "I was making a lot of calls, as you can imagine leading up to an election, we had a close race, making a lot of calls to a lot of people asking for money," DeWine said. "I don't remember it but I was making a ton of calls every single day."

Three days after the call, Jones and FirstEnergy's top lobbyist, Mike Dowling, agreed to send $500,000 to the Republican Governors' Association's dark money group, State Solutions. FirstEnergy Solutions had already chipped in $500,000 to the RGA to help DeWine win the race.

"Chuck - go ahead and call Mike DeWine on the $500k. It's going to RGA's C(4) called State Solutions. All set," Dowling texted to Jones. Cleveland.com first reported on the newly released messages, provided via a public records request to the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau and other media.

DeWine would go on to win the governor's race over Cordray. As governor, DeWine appointed FirstEnergy consultant Sam Randazzo to lead the utility commission and signed a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions. He also asked FirstEnergy to donate to his daughter's county prosecutor bid on the opposite side of the state in Greene County.

DeWine: 'You're not going to see me violate the law.'

DeWine says FirstEnergy's donations played no role in his actions, and he did not engage in illegal pay-to-play.

“You’re not going to see me violate the law," he told reporters Monday. "We were very mindful of no coordination between any independent expenditure and we followed the law. That's what we did."

Candidates can’t ask for donors for money to circumvent campaign contribution limits, said Aaron McKean, the Campaign Legal Center's senior legal counsel on campaign finance.

“If Joe Q. Public is a candidate and they ask someone to donate $500 to their favorite charity, that’s one thing,” McKean said. “If they ask someone to donate money to another group for the purpose of influencing the election, then that’s when our little alarms should go off and we should be asking questions about what’s going on behind that transaction.”

But McKean said it’s “extremely rare” for the Federal Election Commission to penalize candidates and groups for illegal coordination. The federal law is full of holes, and the FEC isn’t taking any real action to enforce rules on the books, he said.

DeWine and Husted have not been accused of any crime. FirstEnergy, Jones, Dowling, Randazzo and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder were all charged in a sweeping corruption scandal. The two former executives and Randazzo pleaded not guilty. Householder was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Randazzo died by suicide in April.

During Householder's trial, federal prosecutors played recorded conversations of well-connected lobbyist Neil Clark, who also described DeWine. "I don't want to say he's a pay-to-play guy, but he's clearly influenced by his friends with money."

'The Bank' helps bankroll DeWine's governor bid

FirstEnergy, called "The Bank" for its reliable and generous political contributions, supported DeWine, his daughter Alice DeWine and Husted to the tune of more than $4 million. Those contributions included:

• $2.5 million in 2018 from FirstEnergy to the RGA's dark money group, State Solutions.

• $1 million in 2017 from FirstEnergy to a dark money group that backed Husted for governor, before he joined the ticket with DeWine.

• $500,000 in October 2018 from FirstEnergy Solutions to the RGA.

• $300,000 in 2019 from FirstEnergy via its dark money group Partners for Progress to Securing Ohio's Future, a group that backed Mike DeWine's governor bid.

• $75,000 from FirstEnergy's dark money group to Protecting Ohio Inc, which paid for mailers supporting Alice DeWine's 2020 campaign for Greene County prosecutor. Mike DeWine asked FirstEnergy officials for donations for his daughter's bid. A DeWine aide described donating to Alice's campaign as "the most important thing you could ever do for the governor."

• $42,000 from FirstEnergy's PAC to Mike DeWine's campaigns between 2014 and 2018. The PAC donated the maximum amount to DeWine's 2018 governor's race. FirstEnergy's PAC donated nearly $50,000 to Husted's campaigns between 2000 and 2016, according to Ohio campaign finance records.

• $47,000 from FirstEnergy PAC to the Ohio Republican Party's state candidate fund between 2018 and 2019. This money can be used to support statewide elected officials and lawmakers.

• $25,000 from Chuck and Kimberly Jones to DeWine's campaign in 2018, according to Ohio campaign finance records.

Jones also hosted a fundraiser for DeWine at his home, attended additional fundraisers for the DeWine-Husted ticket and encouraged others to give. "(G)etting Mike across the finish line is critical," Jones wrote in an August 2018 email to a FirstEnergy investor. "His opponent Richard Cordray would not be good for our State."

On the morning of the 2018 election, Jones texted DeWine and Husted to say he was praying and pulling for them.

"Thanks for all you've done to help," Husted replied. "Chuck, We are very grateful for all your help!" DeWine added.

DeWine was quick to point out Monday that FirstEnergy wasn't the only entity or individual that helped him win in 2018. "A lot of people helped me: people who voted for me, people who knocked on doors," DeWine said. "We had a lot of people who made contributions. Some large, some small."

In comparison, FirstEnergy contributed $2.9 million to Householder's 2018 bid to win control of the Ohio House of Representatives, according to federal investigators. FirstEnergy and other utilities comprised a large percentage of the Householder-aligned dark money group's donations.

Energy and Policy Institute's Dave Anderson assisted with retrieving public records for this article.

Laura A. Bischoff and Jessie Balmert are reporters for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mike DeWine asked FirstEnergy for campaign money. It sent $500K.