Pitch exaggerates Balderson’s resume

The ad: Producer: Where to see it: On cable in Zanesville and Columbus Video: Black-and-white footage of Democratic candidate Danny O’Connor followed by full-color shots of Congressman Troy Balderson talking to people at a conference table and in what appears to be a garage. Script: O’Connor: “I’ve spent my entire adult life fighting for progressive values.” Male announcer: “Danny O’Connor is pushing his radical agenda on us, including pushing a plan to make Columbus a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. Danny O’Connor: Too extreme for us. A small business owner, Troy Balderson knows our values and is committed to working with both parties to find solutions. A common-sense leader driven by service. Troy Balderson for Congress. Defending Main Street is responsible for the content of this advertising.” Analysis: Defending Main Street, a group that bills itself as representing the “governing” wing of the Republican Party, uses some of the same footage that Balderson’s first ad of the 2018 general election used — of O’Connor, the Franklin County recorder, proclaiming during a primary debate that he has spent his entire adult life fighting for progressive values. We’ve already debunked the idea that a retweet — in this case a retweet O’Connor made of a tweet by Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther announcing an executive order effectively barring local police officers from enforcing federal immigration law — is the equivalent of a policy endorsement. Let’s look instead at the basic claim that Balderson is a small business owner. He isn’t, and wasn’t. First, by describing Balderson as “a small business owner,” the ad implies that Balderson currently owns a small business. He does not. In fact, Balderson — whose current full-time job is congressman — has not drawn a regular income from his family’s realty business and used-car dealership since 2007 and 2008, respectively. In financial-disclosure statements filed as a state lawmaker, Balderson reported he no longer was part of the two family companies as of November 2014. Was he ever a small business owner? Nope. Instead, his father, William Balderson, owned the realty company and used-car dealership. When the elder Balderson retired, Troy and his brother Tommy operated it, while their father continued to own the business. Troy Balderson told The Dispatch he ceded operational control and control of the day-to-day dealings of the business to Tommy when he was elected to the Ohio House in 2008. That he largely left the business when he did may have been to his benefit — the family owned used-car dealership is under investigation by the Ohio attorney general for fraud and closed earlier this year. According to the Zanesville TimesRecorder, the dealership closed earlier this year after consumer complaints that Tommy Balderson sold vehicles that consumers could not register because the titles didn’t match the vehicles. In some cases, people paid cash for vehicles later repossessed because Balderson didn’t pay the lien. The complaints are under investigation by the attorney general. Balderson may have experience working in a small business. But the ad exaggerates when it claims he owns one.

“Solutions,” a 30-second TV commercial Defending Main Street