Ohio Gov. Taft Enters No Contest Plea

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 18, 2005; 12:36 PM



Ohio Gov. Bob Taft (R), who carries one of the most distinguished names in American politics, today entered a plea of no contest to charges that he had failed to report a series of golf outings, dinners and other gifts and was ordered to apologize to the people of Ohio.

Taft sought a quick conclusion to his role in a much larger scandal that now threatens the long-dominant Republican Party in the state. Less than 24 hours after being charged with four misdemeanor counts of violating state ethics laws, the two-term governor appeared in Franklin County court to enter his plea.

Franklin County Municipal Judge Mark Froehlich fined Taft $4,000, but the governor will face no jail time. Each count carried a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Taft's spokesman had said earlier that, despite the charges, the governor would not leave office before his final term ends in early 2007. In court, Taft was contrite for what he had earlier maintained was an inadvertent mistake in failing to report 52 outings, dinners or other gifts.

Taft pleaded no contest rather than guilty but said he took responsibility for what he had done. Noting that he expected all state workers to maintain high ethical standards, Taft was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "In this instance I have failed to live up to the those high expectations."

At a press conference after the court appearance, Taft apologized. "There are no words to express the deep remorse that I feel over the embarrassment that I have caused for my administration and the people of the state of Ohio," he said, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors said Taft had accepted $5,800 in unreported gifts between 2001 and 2004. Among them were two golf outings with Tom Noe, a prominent Republican fundraiser who is at the center of a scandal involving $50 million in the state worker compensation fund that Noe invested in rare coins. About $13 million is missing from the fund.

The Taft name has been one of the most storied in the history of the Republican Party. The governor's father and grandfather both served in the Senate and his great grandfather, William Howard Taft, served as President and as Chief Justice of the United States.

Republicans have dominated Ohio politics for much of the past decade. President Bush carried the state in 2000 and 2004. Both U.S. senators are Republicans as are all major statewide elected officials. Republicans also control both houses of the state legislature.

Taft struggled in office even before the coingate scandal broke open earlier this year, but his failure to report the gifts he had received drove his approval ratings down below 20 percent, according to one survey -- the lowest of any governor in the nation.

Republican strategists said Taft's ethical problems and the scandal over the worker compensation fund contributed to the surprisingly close outcome in a special House election in southwest Ohio two weeks ago. In that race, Democrat Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and harsh critic of the president, came within fewer than 5,000 votes of upsetting Republican Jean Schmidt in a district that Bush won with 64 percent of the vote last fall.

Democrats now see 2006 as an opportunity to begin a comeback after years in retreat and disarray. National and state Democrats have made corruption their main theme and have set their sights on winning back the governor's office and rebuilding their strength in the state legislature.

Congressional Democrats have targeted Rep. Bob Ney (R) because of his ties to indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Earlier this week, Joe Sulzer, the Democratic mayor of Chillocothe, Ohio, announced his intention to run for Ney's seat. Senate Democrats hope to mount a challenge against Sen. Mike DeWine (R), although they have not yet found a strong candidate to challenge him.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company