CLEVELAND, Ohio — Senate candidate Josh Mandel’s announcement that he had recruited campaign chairs in each of Ohio’s 88 counties caught at least one person by surprise: Janet Esposito, the woman he listed as leading the charge for him in Portage County.
Esposito, who serves as county auditor and is a former chairwoman of the county’s Republican Party, said Tuesday that no one from Mandel’s team had sought her help.
“He’s running against Brown, right? Sherrod Brown?” Esposito, referring to the incumbent Democratic senator, said when cleveland.com asked about Mandel, the sitting state treasurer. “Well, I’d be inclined to support anyone who is running against Sherrod Brown.”
Esposito said she first learned of her supposed commitment to Mandel after a Kent State University journalism student requested an interview. The student, Ben Orner, a public affairs producer for KSU’s independent TV station, reported her puzzled reaction on Twitter.
3. Today I called Esposito to set up an interview, but MANDEL’S CAMPAIGN NEVER TOLD HER SHE WAS COUNTY CHAIR. “Nothing was said about this.”
— Ben Orner (@Ben_Orner) February 14, 2017
“I would have thought someone would have called to tell me,” Esposito told cleveland.com. “It’s kind of funny, right? I guess someone dropped the ball. … I thought it was kind of cute.”
Asked about the error Tuesday, Mandel spokesman Chris Berry said Elayne Cross, vice chairwoman of the Portage County GOP, will serve as a campaign chair there instead. Cross could not immediately be reached for comment.
“We apologize for the miscommunication,” Berry wrote in an email. “We share Janet’s belief that Sherrod Brown must be defeated and we hope to earn her full support.”
Esposito said she appreciates Mandel’s work as treasurer and noted that her office has worked with his office on the OhioCheckbook.com project to improve government transparency.
Would Esposito agree to be a county chair for Mandel if asked?
“That’s what he wants, isn’t it?” she replied, noncommittal.
“I have nothing against him,” she added.
Mandel’s announcement was intended to demonstrate strength at an early stage when a primary opponent — namely U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi of the Columbus area — remains possible. GOP operatives likened the move to one made in early 2009 by John Kasich, who at the time was not yet an official candidate for governor but locked up support early in all 88 counties.
In a Monday interview, Mandel said his list showed he was building a “grassroots army” for the 2018 race — a potential rematch of his 2012 loss to Brown. “Beating Sherrod Brown is a top priority for conservatives around Ohio and around the country,” he said. “And so as we recruited our county chairs, we looked for leaders who are conservatives, and who are doers.”
Cleveland.com reporter Andrew J. Tobias contributed to this story.
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