Staff Reports
A new batch of IRS records tied to the Columbus Foundation has blown a hole in Amy Acton’s carefully polished “moderate” image. The files show large grants during her stint as a grants manager going to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, CAIR, and other left-leaning groups. For a candidate trying to sell herself as a pragmatic centrist, the numbers and recipients tell a different story.
What the grant records actually reveal
The documents are plain enough and not hard to read. During 2017 and 2018 the Columbus Foundation administered six-figure grants to Planned Parenthood, with amounts listed at roughly $272,666 one year and $243,951 the next. The ACLU of Ohio shows up with about $77,915 in 2017 and a striking $1,000,000 in 2018. Food & Water Watch appears as an $8,050,000 recipient in 2018. CAIR Ohio is listed for $50,000 in 2017 and $75,000 in 2018. Other groups on the list include refugee services, diversity centers, and the parent foundation of a left-of-center magazine. These are not small, one-off donations. They are a pattern.
Why Ohio voters should pay attention
Acton was on the payroll as a grants manager at the time these grants were processed. That matters. Voters deserve to know how much discretion she had, what criteria guided the giving, and whether the grants reflected her judgment or institutional policy. For conservatives, the CAIR grants are especially alarming given that two Republican governors have since labeled CAIR as a designated entity under their state orders. CAIR disputes those designations, but the optics are ugly: a candidate who calls herself moderate was connected to grants that supported groups many Ohioans view as squarely in the progressive camp.
“Moderate” vs. the record — a mismatch
Acton’s campaign ads sell compromise and science. Her ledger sells activism and advocacy. She accepted an endorsement from a national pro-abortion group and publicly attacked a school policy seen as anti-abortion. Whether she meant to or not, her record on paper maps neatly onto a progressive playbook: abortion access, climate equity, immigration services, and civil-rights litigation. Campaign slogans don’t erase grant ledgers. Voters who want a centrist governor have every right to be skeptical when the numbers point the other way.
The test ahead
This is a live issue for the campaign. Amy Acton needs to answer clearly: did she sign off on these grants, did she merely process them, and how does she reconcile this history with her promise of moderation? Republican rivals should press for documents and straight answers. Ohio voters should demand them. At the end of the day, a campaign’s slogans are cheap; government and governance cost real money and have real consequences—something every Ohio voter should keep in mind before they cast their ballot.
