BY SANDY THEIS
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- Lee Fisher, the Democratic candidate for governor, may have violated Ohio's election laws during the primary campaign, the Ohio Elections Commission ruled Thursday.
The action came one week after the panel ruled there is probable cause to believe that his Republican opponent, Secretary of State Bob Taft, violated the same law when he began airing TV commercials this month for the general election campaign.
The commission would have ruled differently in both cases had the campaigns added one word to the commercials -- the word "for." The disputed portion of Mr. Fisher's spot, which ran for two days in April, is a bumper sticker that reads: "Lee Fisher," with the word "Governor" under it. Mr. Taft's commercial ended a statement reading "Bob Taft," with the word "Governor" under it.
Had they added the word "for" before the word "governor," the commercials would have made it clear that neither man now holds the office. He is simply running for it.
The Ohio Democratic Party filed the complaint against Mr. Taft, prompting the Ohio Republican Party to file one against Mr. Fisher. The full commission is expected to hear testimony in both cases Sept. 3. If the commission determines that a violation did occur, it can refer the case for prosecution, issue a reprimand or do nothing. In order to find the candidates guilty of a violation, the panel would have to determine that they "knowingly" misled voters. Both men are contending that they believe they acted within the law when the spots were aired.
The Taft campaign contends that it relied on a past court ruling that determined a candidate for state representative did not violate the law with a billboard that did not use the word for before the phrase state representative.
Despite the similarities between the two commercials, Fisher campaign chairman Alan Melamed argued that the two spots are "substantially different."
He noted that Mr. Taft's original commercial contained no spoken words, just piano music and footage of Mr. Taft conversing with young children.
"The silent ad had no message to voters other than "Bob Taft Governor,' " Mr. Melamed said. "That's an entirely different context than showing a bumper sticker at the end of ad."
Taft supporters, however, noted that Mr. Fisher's commercial did not directly state that he is candidate for governor. Instead, it also showed him with children -- his own -- leaving voters with no specific information about the job he now holds, other than that of a father.
And if the Taft ads violates the law, "then Fisher's does, too," said Brett Buerck, a Taft spokesman.
Both sides attempted to focus on politics -- not the law.
Mr. Melamed made a point of noting that if the panel does find a violation, Mr. Fisher will take responsibility for the mistake. "This is an issue of leadership," he said, recalling the Taft campaign's attempts to distance Mr. Taft from the commercial running on behalf of his candidacy.
In a signed affidavit filed with the elections commission, Taft campaign manager Brian Hicks said that the campaign committee, not Mr. Taft, prepared the commercials.
"The campaign committee did not ask either of the candidates to approve the graphic or the words "Bob Taft' followed by the word "Governor,' " the affidavit states.
