Petro wants inquiry into Blackwell campaign tactics

 

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Julie Carr Smyth

Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus

-- For the second time in a week, someone is asking for an inquiry into Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's campaign tactics in the race for governor.

Blackwell rival Jim Petro, the Republican attorney general, asked the Ohio Elections Commission in a Wednesday letter whether it is a violation of state election laws for an issue campaign chaired by one gubernatorial candidate to sponsor negative telephone advertising about another.

Without naming Blackwell or the committee he spearheads, Citizens for Tax Reform, Petro campaign manager Bob Paduchik sought ad vice on the legality of recent phone polling by the anti-tax group that called Petro "part of the problem in Columbus."

Among his concerns was that Citizens for Tax Reform, as an issue-advocacy group, can take large individual and corporate donations that a gubernatorial candidate cannot.

Blackwell's gubernatorial campaign has given money to the anti- tax committee, and paid its treasurer's salary and its rent.

The two committees also share a spokesman, Gene Pierce, and use ccAdvertising to do their telephone work.

When asked by The Plain Dealer in December whether the two committees are collaborating, Pierce said, "I don't believe so, no."

Paduchik said Blackwell owes voters a clearer answer.

"Especially since his spokesman readily admits such coordination would be illegal, I think Ken Blackwell has the responsibility to factually demonstrate that corporate contributions for Citizens for Tax Reform are not benefiting his campaign for governor," Paduchik said.

Pierce said he "should have been more emphatic."

"We have done nothing wrong. We have followed all the rules," he said. "This is perfectly permissible under Ohio law."

Pierce said the tens of thousands of telephone calls, structured like surveys, made no mention of Blackwell or the governor's race, "so we have kept things separate."

Phil Richter, executive director of the elections commission, said he hopes to have a response to the Petro campaign on the matter by February.

Despite persistent criticism of Blackwell's roles in ballot issues in recent years, Richter said the latest issue is "something which the commission has not been asked previously to opine upon."

A group of religious leaders sent a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service on Sunday asking it to investigate whether two megachurches might have played an improper role in promoting conservative officeholders in Ohio, especially Blackwell.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jsmyth@plaind.com, 1-800-228-8272

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