A quick bit of background: For some time, Republican Attorney General candidate Mike DeWine has been complaining that his opponent, incumbent Attorney General Richard Cordray, has been hiding his campaign expenses behind the facade of the state Democratic party to give the appearance of a virtually costless run.
Today, those accusations may have gotten some weight. The Columbus Dispatch reports:
In a complaint to the Ohio Elections Commission, Republicans accused Cordray of trying to hide campaign expenses behind the facade of the Ohio Democratic Party, which Cordray denied.
In his latest fundraising report, however, Cordray reports thousands of dollars in assistance from the Ohio Democratic Party in July, including $28,452 in payroll expenses.
The campaign of Cordray’s opponent, Republican Mike DeWine, called the disclosures “a huge shift from past practice” and speculated that it likely was the result of the allegations in the elections complaint.
Cordray’s campaign asserted otherwise.
“The campaign has carefully and consistently recorded in-kind donations from the Ohio Democratic Party on all campaign-finance reports in accordance with Ohio law,” spokesman Adam Herman said. “This report is no exception.”