Person
Bob Taft
- Work
- Attorney licensed to practice law in Ohio.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
- Education
- B.A. in government, Yale University, 1963; M.A. in government, Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, 1967; J.D., University of Cincinnati College of Law, 1976.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
- Civic
- Peace Corps volunteer and teacher, Tanzania, 1963-1965.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
- Civic
- Research associate for educational excellence at the University of Dayton, since 2007; board member, Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
- $12.0MRaised, as filed · November 2002
- Not yet researchedCash on hand
- 48%Latest poll · Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research and Louis Harris and Associates, October 1998
- 6Positions in their words · 5 issues
- none on fileClaims checked
- 4Offices held · Former Governor of Ohio, 1999–2007
9 of 11 sections researched
Not yet researched: What they have said, checked, Endorsements given.
What has been checked
- Profile 8 entries
- On the ballot 0 entries
- Where they stand 6 entries
- What they have said, checked Not yet researched
- Record in office 6 entries
- Money 2 entries
- Financial interests 2 entries
- Polling and approval 2 entries
- Elections 2 entries
- Endorsements given Not yet researched
- Sources 14 entries
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Section | State |
|---|---|
| profile | researched |
| ballot | researched |
| positions | researched |
| claims | not researched |
| record | researched |
| money | researched |
| interests | researched |
| polling | researched |
| elections | researched |
| endorsements | not researched |
| sources | researched |
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Chamber | District | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide | All of Ohio | Governor of Ohio |
On the ballot
None found in the records checked
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
Where they stand
Economic development
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Campaigned on continuing the Third Frontier Project, a roughly $1.6 billion state technology and biotechnology/advanced-manufacturing investment program aimed at diversifying Ohio's economy beyond traditional manufacturing.
Sources: thelantern.com · nga.org
Education
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Touted Ohio Reads, a K-4 volunteer literacy-tutoring program that by 2002 involved more than 40,000 volunteers, and pledged to continue 'Rebuilding Ohio's Schools,' his 12-year, $10.1 billion school-construction program.
Sources: thelantern.com · citybeat.com
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Framed education as his top priority with a focus on accountability, requiring that a high school diploma signify real, employable skills; once in office created Ohio Reads, a K-4 volunteer reading-tutoring program that grew to more than 40,000 volunteers by 2002.
Source: citybeat.com
Election result
We won a decisive victory. This (year) has been the most diverse ticket in the history of the state
Source: thelantern.com
Jobs
created or saved 100,000 jobs
Source: citybeat.com
Taxes/budget
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Ran on keeping the state budget balanced without new taxes and holding the line on spending, contrasting his own smaller, $150 million tax-relief package with Fisher's proposed $1.1 billion property-tax cut, which Taft's campaign said would produce a deficit.
Source: crabwalk.wordpress.com
What they have said, checked
Not yet researched
Record in office
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Person | Date | Kind | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taft (R) | 1977 | office | Ohio House of Representatives, 65th District |
| Taft (R) | 1981 | office | Hamilton County Commissioner |
| Taft (R) | 1991-01 | office | Secretary of State of Ohio |
| Taft (R) | 1999-01-11 | office | Governor of Ohio |
| Taft (R) | 1998-10 | action | 1998-10 (action): A Taft campaign ad quoted a Cleveland Plain Dealer article as saying 'Taft didn't raise the taxes' regarding his time as Hamilton County com |
| Taft (R) | 1999 | action | 1999 (action): Launched the Third Frontier Project, a long-term state investment in biotechnology, advanced-manufacturing and technology-sector job creatio |
| Taft (R) | 1999 | action | 1999 (action): Took office amid the DeRolph v. Ohio school-funding crisis, in which the Ohio Supreme Court had already ruled the state's school-funding sys |
| Taft (R) | 1999 | statement | 1999 (statement): Ohio's unemployment rate rose from 4.2% in January 1999, when Taft took office, to 5.7% by July 2002 -- a 35.7% increase versus a 19.1% nati |
| Taft (R) | 2000 | action | 2000 (action): Backed the Clean Ohio Fund, a $400 million bond program voters approved in a 2000 ballot issue, for brownfield cleanup, farmland and green-s |
| Taft (R) | 2001-12 | action | 2001-12 (action): Addressed a projected $1.2 billion (growing to a reported $1.9 billion) two-year state budget shortfall, produced by the national recession, |
-
action December 2001
Addressed a projected $1.2 billion (growing to a reported $1.9 billion) two-year state budget shortfall, produced by the national recession, primarily through spending cuts, draws on the state's rainy-day fund, and reallocation of tobacco-settlement money, signing budget-balancing legislation in December 2001; critics said he had failed to adequately build up the rainy-day fund earlier in his term.
Sources: citybeat.com · en.wikipedia.org
-
action 2000
Backed the Clean Ohio Fund, a $400 million bond program voters approved in a 2000 ballot issue, for brownfield cleanup, farmland and green-space preservation, and urban revitalization.
Source: thelantern.com
-
action 1999
Took office amid the DeRolph v. Ohio school-funding crisis, in which the Ohio Supreme Court had already ruled the state's school-funding system unconstitutional (further rulings came in May 2000 and September 2001); per CityBeat's review, his sole initial education initiative was the comparatively modest Ohio Reads program until repeated unconstitutionality rulings forced the larger 'Rebuilding Ohio's Schools' construction plan.
Cincinnati CityBeat investigative review:
vehemently fought any increase in school spending
· the sourceSources: citybeat.com · bricker.com
-
statement 1999
Ohio's unemployment rate rose from 4.2% in January 1999, when Taft took office, to 5.7% by July 2002 -- a 35.7% increase versus a 19.1% national increase over the same span, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by Cincinnati CityBeat, which called his ads' jobs claim misleading because it counted only gross job gains.
Source: citybeat.com
-
action 1999
Launched the Third Frontier Project, a long-term state investment in biotechnology, advanced-manufacturing and technology-sector job creation, which ultimately dispersed $681 million and was credited with generating $6.6 billion in economic impact and roughly 41,300 jobs by 2009.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
-
action October 1998
A Taft campaign ad quoted a Cleveland Plain Dealer article as saying 'Taft didn't raise the taxes' regarding his time as Hamilton County commissioner, omitting the word 'himself' from the original text; the Fisher campaign sought and briefly won a Franklin County Common Pleas restraining order, which the Ohio Supreme Court vacated on jurisdictional grounds without ruling on the ad's accuracy.
Ohio Supreme Court, State ex rel. Taft-O'Connor '98 v. Franklin Cty. Court of Common Pleas:
the Ohio Elections Commission, not a common pleas court, has exclusive jurisdiction over false-statement election claims
· the sourceSources: caselaw.findlaw.com · clipfile.org
Money
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| From | To | Dollars | Share of total | Note |
|---|
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
Totals as filed
| Race | Filer | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor of Ohio | OhioSOS | $12,000,000 | November 2002 |
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · wnd.com
Top donors, as filed
-
Thomas Noe · $22,190 · campaign committee · Governor of Ohio
Toledo-area rare-coin dealer and GOP fundraiser, later central figure in the 2005 'Coingate' scandal
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · washingtonpost.com
Outside spending
Financial interests
Disclosed holdings
None found in the records checked.
Disclosed income
None found in the records checked.
Reported conflicts
-
Later admitted that over a seven-year span (1998 through 2004, per the Ohio Disciplinary Counsel filing; including the 2002 re-election cycle) he failed to report 45 golf outings and other gifts -- including from coin dealer and GOP donor Thomas Noe, one outing specifically dated to 2001 -- worth an estimated $5,800 in total across all years combined; none of this was public or an issue during the 2002 campaign itself. This led to his August 18, 2005 no-contest plea to four ethics-law misdemeanors and a $4,000 fine, the first sitting Ohio governor charged with a crime.
1998 · Reported by The Washington Post, NBC News/AP
Sources: washingtonpost.com · nbcnews.com · supremecourt.ohio.gov
-
After the election, Hagan's campaign filed and then voluntarily dropped (December 23) litigation alleging Taft's fundraising advantage came 'because of his access to and use of recycled taxpayer dollars from unbid contracts'; the suit also named Attorney General Jim Petro and Auditor Betty Montgomery as defendants. The case was never adjudicated on its merits and should be read as a documented allegation, not a proven conflict.
December 2002 · Reported by Tim Hagan's campaign, per WorldNetDaily citing court filings
Source: wnd.com
Net worth, as estimated
None found in the records checked.
Polling and approval
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
-
Contemporaneous polling cited in retrospective Cleveland19 coverage · September 2002 · Governor of Ohio
approve 66
Source: cleveland19.com
-
Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research and Louis Harris and Associates · October 1998 · Governor of Ohio
Fisher 40 · Taft 48
Source: cnn.com
Elections
| Race | Party | Result | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor of Ohio (2002) | Republican | Won | 1,865,007 | 57.8% |
| Governor of Ohio (1998) | Republican | Won | 1,678,721 | 50.0% |
Offices held
Ohio House of Representatives, 65th District · 1977 to 1981 · elected
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Hamilton County Commissioner · 1981 to 1990 · elected
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Secretary of State of Ohio · 1991-01 to 1999-01 · elected
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Governor of Ohio · 1999-01-11 to 2007-01 · elected
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Endorsements
Not yet researched
Sources
Data from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0: Bob Taft · 2002 Ohio gubernatorial election · Thomas Noe · 1998 Ohio gubernatorial election
Every URL on this page, once each.
- Bob Taft · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-21
- 2002 Ohio gubernatorial election · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-21
- It's four more years for Governor Taft · The Lantern, Ohio State University · accessed 2026-09-21
- Taft's Ads Give Misleading Picture of His Record · Cincinnati CityBeat · accessed 2026-09-21
- Poll: Taft approval rating reaches historic low · Cleveland19 · accessed 2026-09-21
- Taft Admits Ethics Violations · The Washington Post · 2005-08-18 · accessed 2026-09-21
- Ohio governor fined for ethics law violation · NBC News/AP · accessed 2026-09-21
- Bob Taft · National Governors Association · accessed 2026-09-21
- Scandal rocks Ohio governor's race · WorldNetDaily · accessed 2026-09-21
- Thomas Noe · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-21
- 1998 Ohio gubernatorial election · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-21
- State ex rel. Taft-O'Connor '98 v. Franklin Cty. Court of Common Pleas · Ohio Supreme Court, via FindLaw · accessed 2026-09-21
- Judge says Taft's ad can stay on the air; Fisher requests lifting of order · Clipfile.org · accessed 2026-09-21
- CNN AllPolitics Election '98 -- Ohio 1998 Polls · CNN · accessed 2026-09-21
- https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2006/2006-Ohio-6525.pdf
- https://crabwalk.wordpress.com/1998/10/03/fisher-taft-attack-each-others-records-in-new-ads/
- https://www.bricker.com/insights/resources/key/Chronology-of-the-DeRolph-v-Ohio-School-Funding-Litigation
Cite and data
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Bob Taft", https://crackedbuckeye.com/people/bob-taft/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
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