Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is facing scrutiny from state and federal officials over his re-election campaign accepting donations from an Ohio woman nearly six months after she died. Federal campaign finance records indicate Carol Ann Baker of Toledo, Ohio, contributed $350 to the Friends of Sherrod Brown campaign committee in May 2024. However, Baker died in December of last year.
Baker’s contributions to Brown—who is in a tight race against Republican challenger Bernie Moreno—came months after the woman’s funeral. A neighbor initially noticed the donations and notified the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R). Following a preliminary investigation by LaRose’s staff—which included a signed affidavit from Baker’s widower confirming her death—the Ohio Secretary of State handed the case over to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for further action.
“Ohioans deserve absolute confidence in their elections,” stated Huan Yi, head of investigations at the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, in a letter to the FEC. He continued: “The purpose of this letter is to refer to your office potential violations of federal law for your investigation, as appropriate.”
While the contributions could be the result of a clerical error, there is concern that they may also be part of a larger straw donor scheme. Several Democratic candidates, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, have recently been embroiled in straw donor scandals. The scheme uses unwitting individuals—including the deceased—to illegally circumvent campaign contribution limits by submitting donations under someone else’s name rather than the actual donor.
Meanwhile, Moreno’s campaign seized on the issue, with press director Reagan McCarthy stating, “Brown’s scheme to fund his campaign with contributions from dead people isn’t just creepy, it’s illegal. This conspiracy deserves more scrutiny. How far does it go?”
