A new ad campaign for Republican Ohio Senate candidate Mike Gibbons hits claims from rival Josh Mandel that the businessman doesn’t respect military service as dishonest.
Attacks between Mandel, a former state treasurer and an early front-runner in the race, and Gibbons have increased in recent weeks in the contentious and competitive Republican primary as Gibbons has steadily climbed the polls. At a candidate forum earlier this month, Mandel and Gibbons nearly came to blows after Mandel claimed Gibbons shipped jobs overseas, and Gibbons said Mandel is “a career politician” who has never worked in the private sector.
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Mandel argued the comment disrespected his military service, a claim hotly contested by the Gibbons campaign. Gibbons recently told the Washington Examiner he is the father of a Navy pilot, and he credits his son with influencing his decision to run for office.
The ad featuring Sgt. Jeremy Gons, a Marine Corps combat veteran, said Mandel is “lying” about Gibbons.
“Josh Mandel launched attack ads claiming Mike Gibbons doesn’t respect military service the very week Mike’s son was deployed overseas,” Gons said.
Gons said Mandel lied about Gibbons because he told the truth about Mandel’s record as a “career politician with no business experience.”
“Mandel exploits military service to score dishonest political points,” Gons said.
The ad directly responds to other ads backing Mandel’s allegations that Gibbons doesn’t respect veterans.
The group USA Freedom Fund, supporting Mandel, recently launched a television ad calling Gibbons “unfit to serve,” featuring former Marine Sgt. Brian Sizer.
“Mike Gibbons should be ashamed of himself,” Sizer said in the ad. “He owes Josh Mandel and everyone else that served the United States military a direct apology.”
A spokesperson for the Gibbons campaign told the Washington Examiner the campaign would also launch a veterans coalition, pointing to a statement of support for Gibbons from a group of Ohio veterans.
At the contentious candidate forum hosted by FreedomWorks earlier this month, Mandel stood inches from Gibbons, yelling that he served two tours in Iraq after Gibbons said he never worked in the private sector.
“Don’t tell me I haven’t worked,” Mandel said.
“You don’t know squat,” Gibbons said.
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The two men each told the other to back off as the moderator got up and encouraged them both to sit back down. The tense moment came as the crowded primary became more competitive with Gibbons’s gains in recent polling.
