Renacci claims that Husted threatened his wife in church
Conversation took place after Sunday candidates event.
The moderator, Republican pollster and pundit Frank Luntz, repeatedly pleaded with the four GOP candidates for governor to keep it clean.
Then, something happened following Sunday evening’s event co-sponsored by Citizens for Community Values at Genoa Baptist Church.
All agree Tina Renacci, trailed by campaign volunteer Linda Caudill, approached Secretary of State Jon Husted to speak to him about what she considered out-of-line attacks on her husband.
The campaign of U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci claims Mrs. Renacci was threatened by Husted, who “told her that she would regret approaching him ... in a threatening manner.”
“In front of witnesses, Husted responded by abruptly threatening Tina Renacci, at which point she walked away. Our campaign is still awaiting a formal apology from Jon Husted for his conduct towards Mrs. Renacci,” said campaign spokesman James Slepian.
The Husted campaign disputed the characterization of the conversation. “When confronted by Ms. Caudill and Mrs. Renacci, Secretary Husted was very kind and polite and we are not going to take the bait of trading insults with the Renacci campaign,” said spokesman Joshua Eck.
Meanwhile, the Renacci campaign distanced itself from Caudill, a Cincinnati volunteer who had posted a meme on Facebook seen as threatening Husted. The Cincinnati Enquirer also reported that Caudill had sabotaged “a personal Facebook post a former Husted staffer made about her dead grandmother.”
“In an effort to ensure that the gubernatorial race remains free from further needless distractions and is focused on the issues that matter most to Ohioans, the Renacci campaign has parted ways with volunteer Linda Caudill,” Slepian said.
Caudill followed Mrs. Renacci when she approached Husted, but Mrs. Renacci did not realize Caudill had followed her, Slepian said.
Caudill was designated one of 155 “county commanders” leading the grassroots effort for Renacci’s campaign in an Aug. 28 press release.
Actually, Husted’s campaign didn’t launch the anti-Renacci missives; they came from a super-PAC supporting his gubernatorial candidacy with which Husted is prohibited from coordinating. Renacci’s campaign aired an ad depicting his GOP opponents as “fat cats.” Sunday, the congressman who is openly attempting to emulate Donald Trump said the TV spot was merely an attempt to get attention.
Last week his campaign distributed a press release blasting Husted for “spending his entire career in politics and betraying conservatives on everything from Common Core and Obamacare to Right to Work and Donald Trump.”
When he launched his ad, Renacci’s campaign took aim at all three opponents who “are all entrenched career politicians who’ve spent years lining their pockets with taxpayer cash while abandoning core conservative principles.” In a Sept. 18 press release, Renacci’s campaign took issue with “the remarkable cowardice and dishonesty that career politicians Jon Husted and Mike DeWine have demonstrated.”