Auditor: Taylor (R) Agrees to Stop Push Polling; Sykes (D) Drops Suit; Taylor (R) Lies About It

Lawyers for Auditor candidate Rep. Mary Taylor (R-Green) agreed to stop conducting issue polling for the remainder of the campaign, prompting Rep. Barbara Sykes (D-Akron) to agree to a voluntary dismissal of her federal civil rights lawsuit over Taylor's race baiting push poll last month. The federal judge retained jurisdiction over the case to enforce the settlement agreement.

“We are pleased with the Taylor campaign’s agreement to stop issue polling, which will keep them from using racial bias as a campaign tactic and conducting another push poll during this campaign,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern today.

According to a spokesperson for the Sykes campaign, the Taylor camp sent out a statement at 5:30 p.m. tonight saying that “there was no legal substance to back up [Sykes'] press releases and political name-calling," an assertion that finds no support in today's proceedings. What actually happened today sounds more like a victory for Sykes than for Taylor.

UPDATE: Okay, this was worse than I thought. I have now seen the actual statement from Taylor, and it is an outright fabrication. Here's the relevant part, with the key word highlighted:

I am pleased that my opponent agreed to dismiss her complaint in Cleveland Federal Court. She previously filed and then dismissed a claim before the Ohio Elections Commission. Sykes' has done the same now in Federal Court because there was no legal substance to back up their press releases and political name-calling.

Now, that is just a lie. Sykes did not dismiss the lawsuit because of any lack of legal substance, she did so because Taylor capitulated. Taylor is being flagrantly dishonest and should be ashamed of herself.