DeWine ad aims dubious allegations at Taylor

Mary Taylor and her family have enriched themselves at the public trough, a new TV commercial claims as Mike DeWine continues his multimillion-dollar media spending spree ahead of the May 8 primary.

The spot, though, questionably implies that Taylor played a large and direct role in the award of state dollars, or tax breaks, that ultimately benefited her husband’s construction company.

The 30-second commercial, which concludes “Mary Taylor — taxing, taking and two-faced” — continues the nasty tone underlying the contest for the Republican nomination for governor.

The new commercial, a nearly $1 million buy, will air statewide on broadcast and cable TV, DeWine’s campaign said.

The ad says Taylor voted for “one of the largest tax increases” in state history as a state legislator, and it adds: “Then she got paid.

“Taylor’s family business benefited from over $100 million in taxpayer-funded sources, and she wants it all hidden. Taylor opposes the state investigating some of the very government programs that made her rich. That’s not conservative.”

The fine print of the commercial cites newspaper reports reflecting the award of state construction dollars to public entities and the granting of state tax breaks to businesses while Taylor was a legislator and lieutenant governor.

Taylor’s husband, Donzell Taylor, and his company received work on the projects. But it did not get all or most of “over $100 million” or receive the money directly. Taylor could not have had anything to do with one of the cited examples, a $30 million tax credit for Goodyear’s new headquarters in Akron in 2007 that was awarded by a state authority when she was an Akron-area legislator.

The reference to Taylor opposing “investigating” government programs refers to her opposition to a public audit of the finances of JobsOhio, Gov. John Kasich’s privatized economic-development nonprofit.