Brett Buerck

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Brett Buerck began his political career as a legislative assistant, answering phones and making deliveries. He went on to be a legislative aide to Larry Householder, former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, prior to Householder's election to Speaker of the House. Buerck served as Householder's chief of staff while Householder was speaker, from 2001 to 2004.

While chief of staff, Buerck became known to many as the man behind arguably the most powerful man in Ohio politics at the time, Larry Householder. Many felt that Householder's so-called "iron fist" tactics, both fueled and implemented by Buerck, gave him power beyond that which a typical speaker of the house would enjoy.

Buerck was mired in controversy after being caught on tape in March 2002 in conversation with Doug Mink, when he said "because of the changes that we've made in redistricting to help [Jim Raussen], we essentially took 13,000 African Americans out of the Raussen district and put 14,000 Republicans in." The tape was aired by news station WCPO-TV (Channel 9). [1]

Governor Bob Taft, and Speaker Larry Householder (both Republicans who sat on the committee to redraw House and Senate districts) were named in a lawsuit by Ohio Democrats who claim redistricting of Hamilton County House district and other areas violates the Voting Rights Act.

As of April 2005 the FBI and IRS were investigating Brett Buerck, among others, for campaign finance irregularities in various Ohio elections. Buerk now attends the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Buerck is married to Blackwell fundraiser Scottie May.

[edit] External links

• WCPO page on the expose
• Cincinnati Enquirer article
• Audio of the tape
• Cleveland Plain Dealer's coverage of the scandal