Dan McCarthy, who served as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s legislative affairs director, resigned from the governor’s office. 

What You Need To Know

  • Dan McCarthy has resigned from the governor’s office

  • McCarthy is a former FirstEnergy lobbyist

  • Democrats accused McCarthy of creating a dark money group which later funneled millions of dollars to help pass House Bill 6

  • McCarthy did not acknowledge the accusations in his resignation letter

McCarthy submitted his letter of resignation to DeWine on Friday. McCarthy was appointed to his role in the governor’s office shortly after DeWine was sworn into office in January 2019. 

McCarthy is a former lobbyist for FirstEnergy. Democrats accused McCarthy of creating a dark money group which later funneled millions of dollars to help pass House Bill 6, the $1 billion taxpayer-funded bailout of two nuclear power plants in Ohio once operated by FirstEnergy Solutions now called Energy Harbor.

In July, House Democrats called on DeWine to fire McCarthy and Laurel Dawson, his former chief of staff and current counselor.

FirstEnergy was involved in a bribery scandal that involved now dismissed Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and an energy bailout bill. Householder was arrested in 2020, but was re-elected months after his arrest. 

He was later expelled from the Ohio House of Representatives. 

In July, the Department of Justice announced criminal charges and heavy fines against Akron-based electric utility company FirstEnergy.

“This is a humbling moment for our company,” FirstEnergy President and CEO Steve Strah said in a taped statement. "And we should take this moment to recognize that this type of conduct, at the highest levels in the company, was wrong and unacceptable. We have to ensure that something like this never happens again.”

In his resignation letter, McCarthy did not acknowledge the scandal or accusations of wrongdoing. 

“As with any intense experience, there is a time to take a break,” McCarthy wrote. “Before taking this job, I talked to five of my predecessors in this role and they all told me to make a one year commitment and definitely not more than two because of the pace and grind.  They were right. I know I’ve run quite a bit over my two year commitment but I think now is the right time to resign as your Legislative Director.”

Spectrum News 1 reporter Josh Rultenberg contributed to this report.