Browns owners are among the biggest donors to stop anti-gerrymandering

COLUMBUS – Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are among the biggest individual supporters of the campaign to defeat State Issue 1 in November.

The issue, a proposed constitutional amendment, would abolish the state's current redistricting system, which is controlled by state government elected politicians who draw maps for Ohio's state House and congressional districts, and replace it with a new Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, which excludes political figures from participation.

In its pre-campaign finance report filed Thursday with the Ohio Secretary of State, the Ohio Works campaign to address the issue listed $100,000 – $50,000 each – in donations from the Haslams made in late August.

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Only one couple, retired Cincinnati developer David Warner, a longtime Republican supporter, and his wife Geraldine, have made major individual donations. They donated a total of $151,000 to the Anti-Issue 1 campaign.

The Haslams, who also own the Columbus Crew soccer franchise, have made numerous contributions to political campaigns in Ohio. Her most recent contributions come from seeking public funding for a soccer stadium in Northeast Ohio.

Last week, the team said it was focused on abandoning the current lakefront stadium and instead building a new $2.4 billion domed stadium at Brook Park. The Haslams are demanding about $1.2 billion in public support, half of which they want from the state.

While the Haslams supported candidates from both parties, they were big supporters of Republicans. Jimmy Haslam's brother Bill was the Republican governor of Tennessee.

They supported state Sen. Matt Dolan as a challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who hosted a fundraiser for Dolan during the primary season last year.

After Bernie Moreno won the primary, the Haslams donated to his campaign. Records show they each gave Moreno $50,000 in mid-August. Other members of her family donated a total of $45,000 more, records show.

The couple was also among the biggest donors to State Senator Matt Huffman's campaign, giving more than $15,000 each. Huffman, the current president of the Ohio Senate.

Huffman, who is term-limited in the Senate, is a candidate for House speaker next year. He was a key figure on the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which repeatedly drew redistricting maps that the Ohio Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.