Ohio House 46th: Dansack (D) Responds To Misleading Attack Ads on Taxes

Alarmed at the anti-incumbent sentiment and desire for change sweeping the state, the Republicans have unleashed an wave of negative attack advertising in an unprecedented number of races. A press release issued last Friday by the Ohio House Democratic Caucus reported mud-slinging attacks in two dozen House races, with House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus) commenting:

Republicans are desperately slinging mud in House races from Warren to Cincinnati and from Toledo to Athens. It’s easy to see why. After 12 years of one-party rule, Bob Taft’s friends in the Statehouse are desperate to talk about anything but their own record: Thousands of lost jobs, higher taxes and scandals that have given the Buckeye State a national reputation for corruption.

Ohioans are fed up. Republicans know it. That’s why – rather than talk about their own failed record or a gubernatorial candidate many of them are afraid to be seen with in public – Republicans are viciously attacking Democrats who are eager to stand with Ted Strickland and his plan to Turnaround Ohio.

The 46th Ohio House District is a case in point. Political newcomer Mark Dansack (D-Monclova Township) stepped into the race as a write-in candidate because he was disgusted by the Bureau of Workers Compensation/Coingate scandal and didn't think Rep. Mark Wagoner (R-Toledo) should go unopposed. He has no resources for advertising but has worked the district hard in a low-budget, grass-roots campaign. Ordinarily you wouldn't expect an entrenched incumbent to spend much to oppose a challenger like Dansack, but Wagoner has sent three full-color mailings and now even has a TV ad, misrepresenting Dansack's position on taxes. Dansack responds:

Mark Wagoner has voted to raise your taxes, Mark Dansack has never raised a tax. Mark Wagoner supported House Bill 66, signed into law by the ever-popular Ohio Governor Bob Taft in June of 2005 as part of Ohio's 2006-2007 budget cycle. As part of House Bill 66, Mark Wagoner voted to permanently increase the state sales tax from 5% to 5.5 % and also voted to create the new Commercial Activities Tax, which taxes Ohio small businesses. ...

"The net effect of this CAT is that your grocer is being assessed a tax on his gross receipts which is being passed on to the consumer, thereby giving us the first tax on groceries in Ohio since the Great Depression," Mark Dansack stated.

"This permanent increase in the sales tax and new tax on small businesses has increased the burden on middle class families, while Mr. Wagoner has consistently supported tax relief for the very wealthy in Ohio."

[T]he Wagoner campaign, through various groups apparently associated with the Ohio Republican Party, has engaged in a demogogic attack on my campaign, for merely speaking in generalities about the need to look at ways to reduce property taxes while funding public education in Ohio."

"I challenge Mr. Wagoner to stop the distortion on my position with respect to taxes in Ohio and I welcome the chance to debate the issue with him if he has the courage to do so."

... These folks are spending barrels and barrels of dollars to defeat me because I stand for change and an end to the culture of corruption in Ohio. I also invite you to take a look at the Secretary of State's website and see where Mr. Wagoner and I are getting our campaign contributions. You'll see the corporate PACS are bankrolling my opponent because they too fear the change of a citizen candidate such as myself interrupting their way of doing business in Ohio. I've raised my funds from every day citizens without a political agenda who know me as a person and a family man.