OH-Sen: The Daily Beast, “Josh Mandel (R) Slams Big Tech Companies That Made Him Tens of Thousands”
From The Daily Beast:
Josh Mandel—the far-right, former Ohio state representative now running for Senate—has recently joined the chorus of conservatives railing against Big Tech. But before he turned against Silicon Valley, Mandel was a Facebook stock investor who made tens of thousands of dollars.
And even after he turned against Facebook, Mandel still owned at least some stock in the company.
In 2018, as the Ohio state treasurer at the time, Mandel posted $7,645 in capital gains income from his Facebook holdings, according to his most recent government financial disclosure. His 2017 disclosure also shows $1,335 in earnings from his stake in the social media giant, and his 2016 filing claimed a profit several times higher—$28,206. The disclosures also list joint holdings with his then-wife in Intel and Microsoft.
Like a number of right-wing conservatives, Mandel has waded into the ideological fight over the role tech companies play in political discourse. During a Feb. 26 interview on Fox News, he blamed the “censorship of conservatives” on “the arrogance out of Silicon Valley.”
Mandel isn’t the only GOP hypocrite here. There’s also J.D. Vance (R. OH):
Vance, who drew support from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., when he toyed with a run for Brown’s seat in 2018, has long branded himself as a champion of the forgotten Appalachian working class, although he grew up outside Cincinnati and attended Yale Law School before moving to San Francisco to become a venture capitalist. Vance has sought to define himself as a “nationalist,” at times echoing the rhetoric of Fox News’ resident white nationalist Tucker Carlson and promoting right-wing troll Dinesh D’Souza. Like Mandel, Vance has made attacks on “Big Tech” a core component of his fledgling campaign.
“Establishment Republican apologies for our oligarchy should always come with the following disclaimer: ‘Big Tech pays my salary,'” he tweeted last week before many reminded him that his salary “has literally been paid, at least in part, by two directors at Facebook and the former CEO of Google.”
Vance worked for Mithril Capital, a venture capital firm founded by PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel that came under FBI scrutiny in 2019, before joining Revolution LLC, a tech investment firm founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Vance has criticized Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for donations to the Democratic Party, even after his fund raised money from the billionaire. In 2019, Vance founded Narya Capital, raising $93 million from tech titans like Thiel, Schmidt and Silicon Valley legend Marc Andreesen.
It’s clear though that the GOP isn’t thrilled with another Mandel run:
During this weekend’s highly anticipated donor retreat hosted by the Republican National Committee in Palm Beach, Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel was escorted off the premises while his primary opponent, Jane Timken, was allowed to stay, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell Axios.
What we’re hearing: The invitation-only event is taking place at the Four Seasons Resort, and the RNC reserved the entire hotel. While Timken, former Ohio GOP chair, was invited to the event “because she is a major donor” — Mandel was not, so he was asked to leave, according to one of the sources.
- Despite not having his name on the list, Mandel seized on the opportunity to get some face time with top Republican donors while they all were in one place, one source familiar with his plans told Axios.
- But when the first event formally kicked off at the hotel Friday night, Mandel and others who did not have credentials were asked to leave.
- A spokesperson for the RNC declined to comment. Mandel’s team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After touting an impressive $2.1 million fund-raising haul in the first quarter, federal disclosures reveal Ohio Senate candidate Jane Timken actually loaned her campaign almost half of that amount.
In a news release earlier this month, Ms. Timken highlighted the figure — which trumps what others in the race had reported — as well as contributions from more than 1,000 Ohioans.
Federal disclosures for the first quarter of 2021 reveal Ms. Timken floated her campaign $1 million — $400,000 at her launch in February and $600,000 the day before the reporting deadline in March.
In a statement, Ms. Timken’s campaign spokesman Mandi Merritt said: “As a first time candidate and in just 42 days, Jane put up a strong fund-raising quarter that included donations from 1,200 Ohioans. Jane has said from the beginning that she is committed to having the resources to win. The bottom line is she has the resources needed to compete and win.”
Mr. Timken launched her campaign in February with a self-funded six-figure TV ad buy.
Meanwhile, on Team Blue, Rep. Tim Ryan (D. OH) is out pitching the American Rescue Plan Act to voters:
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) recently passed in conjunction with the American Rescue Plan Act would prove life-changing for working families across Ohio.
Officials indicated the tax credit would benefit more than 2.3 million Ohio children and 137,000 children in the 13th Congressional District – adding the initiative would be transformative for working families while aiding the process of lifting millions out of poverty.
“They will help hard-working families make ends meet and to be able to put more money towards food, childcare, health services, clothing, and other essentials for qualifying families,” Ryan said. “We need to ensure that these changes become permanent as we work to lift generations of children out of poverty and help working and middle-class families with the financial resources they need to take care of each other.”
We have a real opportunity here to flip Ohio Blue and we need to get ready. Click below to donate and get involved with Ryan and his fellow Ohio Democrats campaigns:
