COLUMBUS: An investment bank that will make more than $15 million for helping the state collect extra gambling revenue also wants to assist with potentially leasing the Ohio Turnpike.Moelis and Co. was among 14 teams of consultants to submit letters of interest to two state agencies before Wednesday’s deadline. Other big names expressing interest included Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and UBS.The winning consultant will advise Gov. John Kasich’s administration on the Ohio Turnpike for as many as 19 months.The state budget authorizes the sale or lease of the 241-mile toll road for up to 75 years, possibly raising billions of dollars at a time when road funding is drying up. State officials are considering a 40-year lease that would bring an up-front lump sum plus a percentage of toll revenue.Earlier this year, Los Angelis-based Moelis was chosen by the Kasich administration to squeeze more cash from casino operators, which it did to the tune of $220 million, along with bringing potentially hundreds of millions more from future slots at horse-racing tracks. Critics have questioned the incentive-heavy Moelis contract, however, as being too expensive.Kasich’s plan to consider selling or leasing the turnpike has provoked opposition from congressional Democrats.Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles called it a “bad idea,” warning that it could lead to dramatic increases in the tolls that a private company would charge.“To me, it just doesn’t make any sense to do it for a short-term fix,” Ryan said. “It’s safe, it’s well-kept and it’s plowed in the winter.”Rep. Betty Sutton of Barberton said selling or leasing the turnpike would be “a one-two punch that will directly hit our middle-class and will only result in higher tolls and fewer good-paying jobs.”Rob Nichols, a Kasich spokesman, said the Democratic lawmakers “are throwing these jabs after the Obama administration said, ‘Gird your loins in Ohio because you are not getting any transportation money.’ ”Nichols said the Kasich administration is “exploring our options” to determine whether a sale or lease makes sense.Shawn Ryan, a spokesman for Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, said the congressman has not taken a position on the turnpike: “He views this as a state issue, not a federal one, and he is a federal representative.”