Sherrod Brown Faces Larger Special-Interest Onslaught Than Any Other Senator Or Candidate For Senate
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Today, as Karl Rove’s American Crossroads GPS unveiled its latest $1.1 million ad campaign against Sen. Sherrod Brown, raising the total amount of outside money spent against Sherrod to $10.5 million, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern held a press conference denouncing the torrent of outside money, which has kept Josh Mandel’s campaign afloat for more than a year.
Please see below for Chairman Redfern’s prepared remarks:
“For more than a year, Josh Mandel’s been kept afloat in his campaign against Sen. Sherrod Brown by a torrent of outside money, unrivaled by any other senate candidate in the country.
“Today, with Karl Rove’s group Crossroads GPS beginning another million-dollar ad buy, special interest attacks by outside groups against Sherrod Brown have surpassed a new milestone – $10 million dollars – widening the gap between Josh Mandel’s special interest friends and groups supporting Sherrod to an incredible 4-to-1 margin.
“Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s misguided Citizens United decision, these groups are largely funded in-secret. They aren’t obligated to disclose their millionaire or billionaire donors, they’re accountable to no one – least of all Ohio voters – and their ads have been routinely ripped by nonpartisan fact-check organizations as highly misleading, false and ‘Pants on Fire.’
“It’s not surprising that these groups have made Sherrod their top target. They know that Josh Mandel will do their bidding in Washington and toe the party line, if elected.
“As The Dayton Daily News reported in a piece just yesterday, Josh Mandel would more closely resemble a rubber stamp in Washington, rather than a thoughtful U.S. Senator. Despite repeatedly claiming he has the backbone to stand up to ‘party bosses’ in the Republican Party, Josh Mandel voted with his own party more than 95 percent of the time during his short stint in the state legislature.
“And on the off chance that Josh Mandel does decide to share his position on issues important to Ohio voters, Mandel has put his party first. He opposed the debt ceiling compromise, but embraced the Heartbeat Bill and Senate Bill 5. He opposed the Paycheck Fairness Act, but supports a Republican budget.
“When it comes to the critical issues facing our state, Josh Mandel is not on the side of Ohio’s middle class, and the only reason he remains competitive is that he has emerged as the darling of secretly-funded special interest groups.
“How else could a candidate like Josh Mandel, who has been mired in controversy over his decisions to accept campaign cash under FBI investigation, hire unqualified political cronies in the Treasurer’s office and blow off more than a year of billion-dollar investment meetings, remain competitive?
“As we well expect, Josh Mandel will continue earning awful, negative headlines as he’s done throughout this campaign, and his secretly-funded special interest friends will continue to bail him out.
“But make no mistake. Sherrod Brown will win this November because Ohioans know he fights for them. Whether through his work to rescue our auto industry, his bill to stop China from manipulating its currency, or his efforts to protect Medicare and Social Security, Sherrod will never stop fighting to lift and grow Ohio’s middle class.”
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Paid for by the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, Chairman