Rival PACs raise more than $20K for a 'downright ugly' school board race in Madeira

Now that local school board politics have grown to encompass divisive culture wars over matters of diversity and parents' rights, activists are starting to put their money where their mouths are.

That's true in Madeira, an eastern Cincinnati suburb of less than 10,000 people, where two rival political action committees seek to influence the local election. Their names are Onward Madeira and Madeira United, and they've raised nearly $22,000 total in the leadup to Tuesday's election.

Bradley Smith, a law professor at Capital University Law School who specializes in elections, campaigns and campaign finance, said state regulations and paperwork for PACs typically lead to less political spending. But not anymore − not when it comes to schools and kids. And he thinks that can be a good thing.

"People are getting more information about the candidates," he said of the rise in school-related PACs. "And the candidates are forced to take more stands."

Follow the money: Which Cincinnati-area school board candidates raised the most money this election season?

Onward Madeira backs local candidates on the right

Onward Madeira, the PAC backing right-leaning candidates for city council and school board, started in late June, according to campaign finance reports. Madeira resident Rachel Wolf is listed as treasurer, and she made the first donation of $100 to the PAC.

Wolf could not be reached for comment.

Onward Madeira endorses school board candidates Anita Grolmes and Kim Heath, and city council candidates Joe Grolmes, Gibson Arling and Chad Shaffer. Anita and Joe Grolmes are married. None of the candidates responded to The Enquirer's request for interviews except Arling, who provided a written statement in response to a list of questions.

"From the beginning, we have run a positive, ideas-focused campaign," Arling wrote. "We are committed to tackling the real local issues impacting our community."

Onward Madeira raised $18,000 this election season and spent almost $12,000 by mid-October, according to campaign finance reports. Both of the Grolmes' campaigns, Heath's campaign and Arling's campaign were among the top contributors to Onward Madeira.

The PAC gave $5,000 to the Ohio Republican Party and spent $4,000 on monthly campaign consulting fees, paid to Hometown Strategies. The rest went to printed campaign materials such as slate cards and donor letters, envelopes, stamps, banners and food and drinks for candidate meet-and-greets.

Hometown Strategies founder Cody Rizzuto also did not respond to an interview request.

Madeira United forms in response to organizing on the right

Fil Anastasio said he came home from a July vacation and saw yard signs for Republican candidates. He looked up the candidates' names and saw a political action committee, Onward Madeira, endorsed them all.

The next month, Anastasio joined about a dozen other Madeira community members to form Madeira United. He said their goal is to keep the school board election nonpartisan and educate the masses about who they consider to be far-right extremists running for school board and city council seats.

Madeira United raised nearly $4,000 by the end of October, according to campaign donation reports, and spent about $1,600 on Facebook advertising, donation processing fees and printing and mailing flyers.

Madeira United posts in support of school board candidates Ann Ramos and Brad Cunningham and city council candidates Tom Henning, Logan Junger and Shaffer. None of those candidates gave money to Madeira United or received money from the PAC. Shaffer is the only candidate both PACs favor, though he only gave money to Onward Madeira. Shaffer did not respond to several requests for comment.

Anastasio said people from nearby school districts where culture wars are on the rise reached out to Madeira United for advice about how to organize. But there's not much to it: He said Madeira United took Onward Madeira's playbook and used it against them.

PAC messages aren't 'representative of Madeira'

Doug Oppenheimer, a former Madeira councilman who's lived in the city for nearly 54 years, said Madeira United operates as a "hate group." The city of Madeira settled a $100,000 defamation lawsuit with Oppenheimer earlier this year, just one of a string of cases Oppenheimer filed in the last decade.

Oppenheimer, who runs several websites, including a Facebook page, said he usually likes to stay out of school board politics. He's only endorsed one candidate this year, Joe Grolmes for city council, but this year Oppenheimer said the school board race is getting "downright ugly."

There's a lot of anger coming from the Madeira United group, Oppenheimer said. Admittedly, Madeira United members said they are more focused on denouncing the candidates they oppose than endorsing the candidates they support. The PAC's Facebook page is full of screenshots from the right-leaning candidates' social media pages. They post warnings when those candidates post or "like" content against the LGBTQ+ community and about other divisive topics. The PAC also writes in posts that the Onward Madeira candidates are not trustworthy or transparent.

"We’ve seen how misinformation and extremist ideas can divide communities," Madeira United posted to Facebook following an analysis of city council candidate Arling's social media on Oct. 19. "So let’s think carefully about who we elect to represent Madeira."

Oppenheimer called Madeira United's tactics "really disappointing."

Arling, one of the Onward Madeira candidates, said she, too, is disappointed "to see the hatred and nastiness from some people who have opposing views." That behavior "isn’t representative of Madeira," she said.

Liberals have been losing at community organizing

Madeira United is symbolic of the kind of community organizing liberals have long failed at in other communities. Right-leaning groups like Moms for Liberty and Ohio Value Voters − both of which endorse Anita Grolmes and Heath for Madeira school board − continue to grow.

Moms for Liberty, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designated as "anti-government extremist," focuses on parents rights. It's headquartered in Florida and has a local Hamilton County chapter. Ohio Value Voters is opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage. Both are 501(c)4 dark money groups, a designation that means they do not have to disclose their donors like PACs do.

Judith Ketteler, a Madeira parent who is part of Madeira United, said candidates endorsed by groups on the right represent the erasure of diversity and the rise of book bans. Her friends and family members with children in Forest Hills School District and Lakota Local Schools – two nearby districts where the culture wars have been raging – are now dealing with the headaches those candidates bring, she said.

"It's just this complete circus where nothing gets done because everyone is arguing," Ketteler said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: PACs on left and right raise $22,000 for Ohio school board election