Richard Cordray, the Democratic candidate for Ohio attorney general, has been hammering incumbent Betty Montgomery's job performance for months. Now he's taking the attacks to the airwaves.
In a 30-second TV spot airing in Columbus and Cleveland, Mr. Cordray attacks Ms. Montgomery for approving a $4.1 million settlement with Lucasville prison inmates without a court fight.
A similar spot accuses the Republican incumbent of weakening the Brady gun-control law, a policy change the ad says "let felons, fugitives and mental patients buy handguns without background checks."
The spot ends with Mr. Cordray and his wife, Peggy, facing the camera as he tells viewers she is expecting twins. "I'll take on the tough fights for our children, and for all of Ohio's children," he says.
Ms. Montgomery has said she did not want to endorse the settlement with prisoners following the 1993 Lucasville riot. But she agreed after prison officials noted that the state of New York recently settled its first case from the Attica prison riot 25 years ago.
As for the Brady law, Ms. Montgomery said there was nothing she could do after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a portion of the law that required states to conduct background checks on gun buyers.
Mark Weaver, Ms. Montgomery's campaign spokesman, said felons and others ineligible to own guns could have gotten past the checks for several months last year. But that isn't Ms. Montgomery's fault, he said.
Following the court ruling, the attorney general started asking people to voluntarily undergo the checks. Those who refused had their information sent to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which said it was not able to perform the checks.
Under pressure from U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Ms. Montgomery announced in December that Franklin County Sheriff James Karnes' office would take over the background checks.
The Campaign Notebook is compiled by staff of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
