The Ohio State Law Journal Online is publishing a short piece by Professor Mark Brown.  The abstract is below:

“During the gubernatorial election in 2018, Ohio’s Democratic (Cordray) and Republican (DeWine) candidates squared off in a series of televised debates in Dayton, Marietta and Cleveland. Staged by three non-profit corporations (including two colleges) the debates were a culmination of behind-the-scenes discussions between the DeWine and Cordray campaigns. No other candidates were invited or allowed to participate. No criteria other than their party affiliations were employed to select the participants. The Libertarian (Irvine) and Green (Gadell-Newton) candidates were ignored. 

Were Cordray and DeWine squaring off in a federal election, the three debates they arranged would have plainly violated federal election law. The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and accompanying Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations are clear. Debates between candidates for federal office cannot be constructed as exclusive Democrat-versus-Republican showdowns. Minor and independent candidates must be provided an opportunity to compete.

As explained below, corporate debate staging in Ohio can also, like under the federal model on which Ohio law is based, constitute an illegal campaign contribution, complete with criminal penalties. At bare minimum, corporate debate staging under Ohio law, like under the federal model, must (according to Ohio’s statutes) forego simply favoring the two major parties. Staging debates between only Democrats and Republicans, to the exclusion of all others, is just as illegal under Ohio law as it is under the FECA.”