Dem questions voter-education ad buy

ELECTIONS

A Democratic legislator raised concern Monday about a $260,000 no-bid advertising contract that Secretary of State Jon Husted is awarding to a GOP-connected communications firm.

The state Controlling Board approved the expenditure, which will enable Pierce Communications to produce and place voter-education ads intended to boost participation in the fall election.

Rep. Nick Celebreeze, D-Parma, said he doesn’t question the legality of the expenditure. But he said he’s concerned that Husted, who is vying to be the Republican nominee for governor, is using a politically connected firm and taxpayer money to get his face, name and voice in front of the public.

“It’s a slippery slope,” Celebreeze, who was part of a unanimous Controlling Board vote for the contract, said. “This could become politicaltype advertising.”

Controlling Board documents say the contract didn’t have to be bid because Pierce will get only about $19,000 from it, with the rest going for production and to media outlets.

Sam Rossi, Husted’s spokesman, said Pierce has special qualifications. “Pierce has experience doing this work in this space statewide,” Rossi said.

Celebreeze is speaking up after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel was widely panned for spending $2 million in state funds on television ads that were ostensibly to promote investment accounts for Ohioans with disabilities. Critics noted that the ads prominently featured Mandel, who is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, standing alongside Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, possibly the most popular man in the state.

The Republican-controlled Ohio legislature passed a budget amendment this year that would require Mandel to get Controlling Board approval before undertaking another such campaign.

Last year, the secretary of state’s office awarded Pierce more than $500,000 in contracts to produce and place voter-education ads. In a statement, Celebreeze said the ads featured Husted’s name throughout.

“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to worry about Columbus politicians using their money to advance personal political ambitions,” Celebreeze said.

Rossi said this year’s ads haven’t been scripted yet, but Pierce CEO Gene Pierce said that Husted’s name might be included in the ads.

“It is his job,” Pierce said of the secretary of state, whose duties include overseeing elections.

Pierce said, however, that the ads will reach out to all voting groups equally.