Columbus voters deciding how their City Council should be elected are seeing a six-figure advertising push funded by a single donor, according to reporting by The Columbus Dispatch. King Memory CEO Darryl Tanner has put $330,000 into a new political action committee called Voters Have Choices, the Dispatch reported, citing a campaign finance report filed Oct. 23 with the Franklin County Board of Elections. The PAC is urging voters to approve Issue 8 and reject Issue 9, the two competing charter amendments on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The Dispatch reported that Voters Have Choices has already spent more than $100,000 on mailers and digital ads. The advertisements say Issue 9 was put on the ballot “by politicians trying to hold onto power,” according to the Dispatch, a characterization council members are pushing back against while calling the PAC a “dark money” group. Tanner, who is registered to vote at a Columbus address, is the one donor disclosed in the PAC’s finance records and also serves as its treasurer, the Dispatch reported.
At the center of the fight are two different visions for district representation. Issue 8, introduced by the grassroots coalition Our City, Our Say, would turn the city’s nine residency districts into true voting districts, so residents would elect their own district representatives, the Dispatch reported. Issue 9, the competing proposal from City Council, would also create nine district seats but add four at-large members elected citywide, along with additional reforms.
Council President Pro Tempore Rob Dorans criticized the spending in comments to The Columbus Dispatch. “This is a tech millionaire trying to put their thumb on the scale running ads against Issue 9,” Dorans told The Columbus Dispatch. “I think it’s disingenuous and really misleading. Issue 9 was a good faith attempt at compromise.” Councilmember Nick Bankston also questioned the spending to the Dispatch, saying it gives an outsized voice to one person, and flagged that Voters Have Choices has filed campaign finance records with the county but not with the city.
Our City, Our Say says it is not behind the negative ads. Spokesperson Will Petrik told The Columbus Dispatch that the coalition is not affiliated with Voters Have Choices, though the Dispatch reported the coalition did accept an in-kind contribution from the PAC for polling worth $34,000. “Our City, Our Say and Voters Have Choices are separate organization conducting their own campaigns and ultimately Our City, Our Say is running a positive yes on Issue 8 campaign,” Petrik told The Columbus Dispatch.
One organizer with Voters Have Choices defended the campaign to the Dispatch. Jordan Lau told The Columbus Dispatch in a texted statement that the operation is staffed by local organizers who want reform. “I’m campaigning against Issue 9 because it’s a direct response to Issue 8,” Lau told The Columbus Dispatch. “I support Issue 8 because I want us to have a true district system.” Lau told the Dispatch she could not answer questions about campaign finance compliance or fundraising. Tanner did not respond to The Dispatch’s requests for comment on Oct. 26.
For Columbus voters, the choice arrives Nov. 3, when both charter amendments will be decided at the polls. Whichever approach voters pick — district-only representation under Issue 8 or the hybrid district and at-large model under Issue 9 — will reshape how council members are chosen and how neighborhoods across Franklin County’s largest city are represented for years to come.