Aftab Pureval is an excellent candidate. He is young, energetic, and has even attracted the endorsement of former President Barack Obama. But the Ohio Democrat is also under investigation by the Ohio Election Commission.
Pureval couldn’t keep his hands out of his campaign account, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. While serving as Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, he used campaign cash for that county office to jumpstart his federal congressional race. And that might be illegal.
The Enquirer reports:
And it gets worse. Pureval told the paper that he spent the money on expenses relating to the clerk’s office. But publicly available campaign finance reports contradict that claim.
This has been a gift to beleaguered Republicans because Pureval has pulled uncomfortably close to Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio. Polls show the young Democrat trailing the veteran Republican only narrowly, and the Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss-up.”
Now a super PAC aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is knocking Pureval over the ethical lapse. The Congressional Leadership Fund just dropped this ad in Ohio:
They also released this one:
It is easy to write off ethical concerns at a moment when Donald Trump is president. But at least in Ohio, Republicans are betting that the electorate still cares about character.
