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Did Josh Mandel Use a Taxpayer-Sponsored PSA as a Political Ad for His Senate Bid?

Posted on
July 13, 2017
by Anna Borsos
In December, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced his second bid for U.S. Senate even though he lost the last time around. Ohio Democrats are calling out the Republican’s shady finances – claiming he used tax dollars for his campaign in a deceitful way.

Ohio Democrats released a video claiming that he released a Public Service Announcement as a ploy to further his political campaign – and that taxpayers footed the $1.7 million bill.

The ad opens with local newscaster, Stacia Naquin, saying that “State Treasurer Josh Mandel is being questioned about how he used taxpayer money to buy TV commercials.”

Another newscaster adds, “Mandel says the advertisements have nothing to do with his run for Senate.” The video then reads “Oh really? How much did this cost taxpayers, again?”

“It turns out this commercial cost taxpayers more than 1.7 million dollars and the ad ran on Ohio TV 36 thousand times,” a news report adds.

In order to fly under the radar, “they divided up their purchases into small enough amounts they wouldn’t be reviewed by the state controlling board.” Cleveland.com reported that he spent “less than $50,000 at each station, so the buys were not subject to external review.”

Reporter Matt Wright adds, “We came to Columbus so Treasurer Mandel could address these concerns, but his office denied our multiple requests for an interview.”

The video closes with an interviewer saying, “I wonder about politicians at every level being able to promote themselves with taxpayer money.” The video adds, “We do too.”

Public Service Announcement or Political Ad?



So what’s the video that has Ohio up in arms? In 2016, Mandel and Ohio State Football coach, Urban Meyer, linked up to discuss the STABLE Account, “a tax-free savings plan for people with disability-related expenses” that was parented by Mandel.

Mandel says in the PSA, which is also alluded to in the Ohio Democrats ad, that people with disabilities, like a young girl named Anne featured in the PSA, are “empowered to save and invest for the future with a stable account.” Meyer continues the thought saying that “managed by Treasurer Mandel’s office, STABLE accounts give Ohioans with disabilities more independence and financial security.”

Anne ends the video saying “to learn more, visit stableaccount.com or call Josh’s office today.”

The PSA seemed to mention Mandel’s involvement in the creation of the program more than the program itself…

It’s All in the Marketing Plan

There’s nothing wrong with the ad itself, but rather, how it was paid for.

The PSA – if we can even call it that – cost 1.84 million dollars to run and was followed by Mandel’s Senate announcement just six months later. The ad stopped airing just three days before Mandel announced his Senate announcement. Coincidence? The marketing report suggests otherwise.

In the thirty-five-page plan provided by the treasurer’s office, “TV ads are only mentioned once.” The plan laid out “a grassroots strategy to target Ohioans who might be interested in the program by working with existing disability agencies and advocacy groups.”

Mandel’s spokeswoman, Mandi Merritt, responded to this saying that they chose TV ads to “maximize the amount of people and families we were educating on STABLE Accounts for individuals with disabilities.” Additionally, the article says that “Merritt said the treasurer’s office staff have held more than 450 presentations and meetings across the state and worked with approximately 190 advocacy groups to spread awareness.”

While the ethics of this campaign are in question, the tactic is completely legal. This campaign is already gearing up to be expensive – with over a year until the election, Democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown said he already has $6.7 million in his campaign account and Mandel has “reached his fundraising goal” but has not released a specific number.
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