Wear Your Team Jersey

Brunner vowed neutrality & nonpartisan oversight of Ohio’s elections system, promising not to “wear a team jersey”

Salon.com: Jennifer Brunner, a Democratic election lawyer and former county judge who is running for secretary of state, sniffed about Blackwell's conduct, "If you're going to umpire the game, you can't wear a jersey of one of the teams." During an interview in her law office, she spoke about how Blackwell's unabashed partisanship fostered conspiracy theories about the accuracy of the state's 2004 presidential returns. "What it did was to undermine people's trust in the process," she said. "So when you had a 70 percent turnout as you did in the 2004 presidential election -- and things went wrong as they were bound to with that turnout -- people started ascribing all kind of underhanded things ... because Blackwell set the tone that he was trying to sway the election." ("The votes don't add up," Walter Shapiro, Salon.com, 7/24/06)

But Brunner frequently shows partisan bias, even going as far as “thanking” liberal Democrat activist groups for their work

Progress Ohio Blog: Progress Ohio celebrated its first anniversary last night at our downtown Columbus office with balloons, cake, and over 70 guests. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy, Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Patsy Thomas, and State Representative Ted Celeste spoke briefly, all thanking the progressive community for their work. Attorney Cliff Arnebeck, Chair of Legal Affairs Committee of Common Cause Ohio, cut the cake. (“Happy Birthday Progress Ohio,” ProgressOhio.org, 10/17/07)

Brunner even attended and spoke at the nominating convention of the Democrat presidential candidate

PolitickerOH.com: Is it going to be better than 2004? "Yes it is," said Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner while addressing the Ohio delegation this morning at the Democratic National Convention. (“Jennifer Brunner touts plans to make voting in ’08 better than ’04,” David DeWitt, PolitickerOH.com, 8/26/08)

The Plain Dealer: Speakers included national party Chairman Howard Dean, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and union leaders. (“Democratic National Convention Notebook,” The Plain Dealer, 8/27/08)

Brunner was sued after conspiring with Democratic Party leaders to choose a Republican elections official

Gongwer News Service: Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner took the advice of a Democratic official - instead of the Republican Party - in picking a GOP member to serve on a county elections board, a deposition she gave showed Monday. (Gongwer News Service, 3/18/08)

Wheeling News-Intelligencer: Brunner, a Democrat, ousted a Republican member of the Summit County Board of Elections last month. Then, she rejected the county GOP organization’s recommendation for a replacement. Finally, she made a nomination herself to fill the Republican vacancy on the board. …After her testimony was taken, she attempted to have it kept from the public. The state Supreme Court ordered that the testimony be released. It reveals that Brunner, in deciding the Summit County Republican issue, asked for advice from a Democrat member of the elections board. No wonder she didn’t want the public to know. Brunner promised Ohioans to handle her post in a nonpartisan manner. Her actions in Summit County may prompt many Ohioans to question whether her definition of nonpartisan agrees with theirs. (“Brunner fairness, openness at issue,” Wheeling News-Intelligencer, editorial, 3/22/08)

The Plain Dealer: Brunner promised a professional elections system, not a partisan one. Her testimony suggests that she's as unclear on that concept as she is on the public's right to know. (Brunner is too fond of battles fought behind the scenes, The Plain Dealer, editorial, 3/19/08)