COLUMBUS - Ohio's Democratic chairman is questioning the propriety of a public online lottery for State of the State tickets organized by Gov. John Kasich.
Through the contest at http://governor.ohio.gov/tickets, the Republican governor offered a limited number of tickets to next Tuesday's policy address in Lima. The deadline to enter is today, and winners are to be notified Friday.
In a Wednesday letter to House Speaker William Batchelder, Democratic chairman and state Rep. Chris Redfern said the speech is a legislative event, not an administrative one.
He also complained Kasich is collecting information on lottery participants to be used for soliciting campaign donations.
A Kasich spokesman says the lottery is administered through the governor's office, not his campaign.
This is the second year Kasich has taken the speech outside Columbus and offered tickets to the public.
