Pro-universal school voucher group Make Liberty Win not done targeting House Republicans

Mysterious mailers stamped "Democrat Asset!" across the faces of Ohio House Republicans running in the March primary were delivered to homes earlier this year.

One flyer accused a lawmaker of being lazy and absent. Another alleged a legislator took advantage of poor single mothers.

The mailers came from Make Liberty Win, a Virginia-based, libertarian hybrid PAC that advocates for universal school vouchers, no income tax and no local enforcement of federal gun laws. The group spent $1.7 million targeting Ohio House Republicans in the primary and plans to spend money in the November election, too, according to the group's executive director.

"The people of Ohio deserve GOP majorities that govern like Republicans, not a cabal of closet Democrats bought and sold by the Columbus Swamp," Make Liberty Win's executive director Barrett Young wrote in an email.

Make Liberty Win is one of several groups, including Ohio's Americans for Prosperity chapter, that campaigned against Republican incumbents who backed Rep. Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, for Ohio House speaker. In early 2023, Stephens won the role with support from House Democrats − a fact that enraged some fellow Republicans.

The March primary turned into a referendum on Stephens' speakership and a fight for the gavel in 2025 as current Senate President Matt Huffman openly campaigned for Stephens' job.

Make Liberty Win's efforts had mixed results in Ohio. Two of its four endorsed GOP candidates won their primaries, and five Republicans who backed Stephens for speaker lost their races. On its website, the group displayed the five primary losers on orange tags with the phrase "bagged and tagged" − evidence of a successful RINO "Republican in Name Only" hunt.

But groups like Make Liberty Win "distort political outcomes and erode trust in the electoral process with their lies and lack of transparency," said Jared Borg, executive director of House Republicans' campaign arm called the Ohio House Republican Alliance.

"We based our campaigns on facts and will always operate with truth and transparency because Ohio voters deserve that," Borg added.

What is Make Liberty Win?

Ohio is the latest state where the no-compromise libertarian group has targeted GOP candidates for being too moderate.

"Ohio became a top target for us because we saw how bad the policy environment was for limited government," wrote Young, citing Stephens' election and the reelection of Gov. Mike DeWine, whom Young called "an anti-Liberty Establishment puke." "We wanted to send a clear message that betraying the will of the people to kill Liberty policy would not go unanswered."

Make Liberty Win is largely funded by Austin-based Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian student activism organization formed after Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign.

Young Americans for Liberty is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors; these are often called "dark money groups." But tax filings indicate the organization has received donations from groups aligned with the conservative Koch brothers, according to Influence Watch.

Five Ohio Republican lawmakers are on Young Americans for Liberty's coalition of "pro-liberty legislators," including Rep. Ron Ferguson who has spoken at the group's annual conventions. In recent years, Young Americans for Liberty, which has groups on university campuses, has opposed mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and fought for public dollars for students to attend private schools.

Make Liberty Win has elected small-government, pro-personal liberty lawmakers in states like New Hampshire, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee. Nashville's WTVF revealed that Make Liberty Win was part of an effort to oust Tennessee lawmakers who backed the state's public schools and opposed the privatization of education.

Make Liberty Win changes its tune on one Republican

Rep. Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, was in Make Liberty Win's good graces − until he wasn't.

Make Liberty Win endorsed Mathews' successful House bid in 2022. As a lawmaker, the Lebanon Republican sponsored a bill to eliminate Ohio's income tax and voted to expand private school vouchers, two top priorities of Make Liberty Win. Mathews even voted for Stephens' opponent in the 2023 speaker race.

So Mathews was surprised when Make Liberty Win targeted him with a slew of negative mailers earlier this year.

Make Liberty Win's Young called Mathews a snake and a turncoat for voting for Ohio's "bloated budget." "Folks like Mathews divide conservative resources and swindle good people into supporting evil," he wrote.

"They seemed to like my pro-school choice, pro-limited government view of things," Mathews said. "And then, this last time, they were very upset with me working to pass a budget that resulted in $2.2 billion of income tax cuts, kept the Western & Southern − now the Cincinnati Open − in Ohio and provided universal school choice for Ohio's students."

Young pushed back against Ohio's expanded school vouchers, saying it wasn't fully funded or thought through. "A REAL universal school choice bill gives every student an equal chance to succeed rather than playing favorites," he wrote.

So Make Liberty Win attacked Mathews with mailers that accused him of being lazy and ineffective; the group also labeled him a closet Democrat. But the attack didn't land, and Mathews easily won his three-way primary.

"If groups like this are coming at me, it may be much more personality rather than policy," Mathews said. "I'll continue working for my district because I don't serve out-of-state dark money groups. I serve the good people of Warren County."

What comes next?

Two campaigns filed complaints against Make Liberty Win with the Ohio Elections Commission. Both argued the group's mailers did not properly disclose their source.

A mailer that did not disclose its origin or donors accused Rep. Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton, of taking a woman's children and leaving her homeless. In 2022, Carruthers settled a lawsuit filed by the surrogate of Carruthers' twin children.

Another mailer from the same address was marked "Paid for by Make Liberty Win." That flyer accused Carruthers of being a "secret agent for the Democrats." Carruthers accuses the group of violating campaign finance law by sending the first mailers without disclosing their source.

"It is assumed that more than $250 was spent on Mailer 1 as it was widely disseminated in my district having heard from several constituents irate over its contents," Carruthers wrote in her Ohio Elections Commission complaint. Carruthers lost the March primary to Hamilton pastor Diane Mullins.

The second complaint came from Wayne County Republican Party Chairman Doug Deeken who received mailers backing House candidate Josh Hlavaty that did not disclose who sent them. Hlavaty, who was endorsed by Make Liberty Win, would later narrowly lose to Meredith Craig in a five-way GOP primary.

The Ohio Elections Commission will review both complaints at a future meeting.

Meanwhile, Make Liberty Win isn't going anywhere.

"We currently plan to engage in November to deliver a GOP majority that is actually Republican and guarantee Stephens and the Democrats lose their control over the Ohio House," Young wrote.

Does that mean Make Liberty Win will back Stephens' main challenger, Senate President Matt Huffman?

"Anyone would be an improvement," Young said. "But we hope that a real conservative like Ron Ferguson will throw their name in the hat."

Jessie Balmert is a reporter 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: What is Make Liberty Win and why are they targeting Ohio House GOP?