toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS - Nearly a year after scandal erupted at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Tom Noe is everywhere.

Flip through the most recent copy of the Ohio Turnpike's annual report, he is there.

Walk through the office of the Ohio Board of Regents, and Mr. Noe's portrait hangs in the board room. There are three other pictures of him in a hallway, smiling and surrounded by his fellow regents.

The former Toledo-area coin dealer and GOP fund-raiser pops up in court regularly to defend himself. Mr. Noe, who resigned last year from the regents and the Turnpike Commission, is accused of stealing from the $50 million rare-coin investment he managed for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. He also faces federal charges of illegally funneling $45,400 to President Bush's re-election campaign.

On the campaign trail in Toledo, Hancock County, across the state, and even the nation, Mr. Noe is an omnipresent yet unseen force confronting candidates.

In races large and small, the questions swirling around him - influence-peddling, integrity, and honesty - are forcing candidates to address whether they are connected to the scandal or how they would govern differently if elected Nov. 7.

"This is one of those things that strikes to the core of real people; it is something that they understand,'' said Jennifer Duffy, who analyzes U.S. Senate races for the Washington-based Cook Political Report. "There are some scandals that people do not understand. I don't know if people understood Iran-Contra. But this, involving losses in a fund for injured workers, goes to their pocketbooks."

National Democrats are even using Mr. Noe, along with the super-lobbyist and admitted felon Jack Abramoff, in a parody of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Mr. Noe and Mr. Abramoff are in the bracket reserved for President Bush's biggest fund-raisers - Pioneers and Rangers, who raised at least $100,000 and $200,000, respectively, for the President's re-election.

In Ohio, Mr. Noe has become an issue in nearly every statewide race, from the governor's race to the Supreme Court, as Democrats use him as a hammer to try to nail their GOP opponents.

John McClelland, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party, predicted that if Democrats "continue to make this election about Tom Noe and the culture of corruption they say is floating around Columbus, they will lose and lose miserably."

'We have moved on'

He said if the courts find Mr. Noe guilty, he should be "punished to the full extent of the law."

"We have moved on,'' said Mr. McClelland, who said the election will be defined by candidates' positions on issues from jobs to education. "We are focused on the May primary and the November election. We're not going to worry about Tom Noe. We will let the courts worry about him."

But what's different about this scandal, compared to recent ones in Ohio, is that Democrats aren't the only ones using corruption in their attacks.

Republican candidates are using Mr. Noe against their GOP opponents in the May 2 primary.

Last week, Republican Sandra O'Brien said GOP state Treasurer Jennette Bradley failed to take steps to avoid the rare-coin scandal - a charge that Ms. Bradley's spokesman called "outright erroneous." Ms. O'Brien's gambit echoed attacks using Mr. Noe launched by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell against his opponent in the GOP gubernatorial primary, Attorney General Jim Petro.

At the same time, Democrats continue to seize on the scandal to try to end the GOP's grip over state government.

Republicans have swept all statewide executive posts in the past three elections. The GOP controls both chambers of the General Assembly, six of the seven state Supreme Court seats, both U.S. Senate seats, and a majority of congressional districts.

Attempts to use Mr. Noe are neither surprising nor unexpected. Parties around the country are attempting to use the misdeeds of a few people to tar candidates. U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, a Republican from Montana, is constantly answering questions about the money he received from native American tribes associated with Abramoff.

In Florida, Democrats are raising questions about U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who's running for the U.S. Senate, and defense contractor Mitchell Wade, who recently pleaded guilty to bribing former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Ms. Harris received $32,000 in illegal contributions from Wade.

Prosecutors say Wade did not tell her the contributions were illegal, and she says she was unaware they were. Officials say Ms. Harris unsuccessfully sought a contract for Wade's company. She donated $50,000 to charity after she found out about the allegations.

Ms. Duffy, of the Cook Political Report, said national polling shows the public believes both major political parties have a problem.

"They are not laying this at the feet of Republicans. Now, this could change,'' she said.

One-party rule

Ohio Democrats are trying to convince voters that the scandal gripping state government was caused by one-party rule in Columbus, where Republicans have dominated state politics since 1994.

It's a point not lost on Larry Kaczala, the Lucas County auditor running for re-election. His opponent is expected to be Democrat Anita Lopez, the county recorder.

Mr. Kaczala, whose failed congressional campaign was aided by Mr. Noe, said voters should retain him because, if not, the county would be controlled almost exclusively by one party: the Democrats.

If the argument is one-party rule, he says, "It has to work both ways."

And he says he would be the "independent watchdog" over the county.

"Unless you want something like Tom Noe to happen in Lucas County, you have to have someone from the other party."

Mr. Kaczala attended a Bush fund-raiser in Columbus with his wife and contributed $2,000 to the campaign. Mr. Noe is facing federal money-laundering charges against him that say he funneled more than $45,000 to other people to give to the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Prosecutors never identified Mr. Kaczala as one of the conduits, and no one has alleged he was. Still, he expects his relationship with Mr. Noe to be an issue.

"The point is I'm clean. I'm the one who didn't do anything wrong," he said.

In the race for the Ohio Senate in District 1, state Reps. Jim Hoops and Steve Buehrer are battling in the Republican primary. Because of term limits, neither can run for their current spots.

Regardless of who wins, though, each will face questions about his connections to Mr. Noe, who had given nearly $8,000 to Mr. Hoops over the years, and roughly $7,200 to Mr. Buehrer.

Donations criticized

Both men have donated their Noe money to the Northwest Ohio Safety Council.

Democrat Ben Nienberg of Findlay, an investment and insurance adviser, will face the winner in the general election. He is telling voters that the men received Mr. Noe's money and should have given it to the state instead.

"It seems that the workers' comp fund ought to get that money back," he said.

Both Mr. Hoops and Mr. Buehrer, a former human resources director at the workers' compensation bureau, say voters are more interested in the economy, taxes, and education.

Mr. Buehrer said he talked with Mr. Noe about issues regarding the Ohio Turnpike when he was a member of the board. Both Mr. Hoops and Mr. Buehrer also supported a state law prohibiting elections workers from unionizing. Mr. Noe's wife, Bernadette, then a member of the Lucas County elections board, had sought their support.

Like most, Mr. Buehrer is distancing himself from the scandal.

"Obviously all of us are disgusted by the actions of Mr. Noe," he said. "There was no way when I received these dollars that I could know these activities."

All of the questions surrounding Mr. Noe are symptomatic of a larger issue, said Sam Gresham, acting executive director of Common Cause-Ohio.

Whether it's the allegations of pay-to-play systems run out of the attorney general's or governor's offices, the root is money. It costs a lot to get elected in Ohio, and candidates must raise hundreds of thousands of dollars - if not millions - to get in power and then stay there.

The result is a "system hijacked by money," Mr. Gresham said. "Right now it's all about money."

Contact James Drew at: jdrew@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.

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