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Leitzell slams campaign literature from Ohio Democratic Party

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 9:26 PM Wednesday, October 28, 2009

DAYTON — Candidate for Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell is calling campaign literature mailed to households citywide by the Ohio Democratic Party part of an ongoing smear campaign.

One slick ad sent to 30,000 Dayton homes this week features a Leitzell-look alike, asleep, with his head resting on a laptop. It does not mention his opponent, Democratic Mayor Rhine McLin. The ad claims Leitzell has “No experience. Bad judgment” and that he is “All wrong for Dayton.”

“They had to get dirty. They have no other strategy,” Leitzell said.

But, that’s not what is really raising Leitzell’s ire.

During his campaign, Leitzell said he has repeatedly stated he is running as an independent candidate endorsed by the Montgomery County Republican Party, not as a Republican.

The ad states, “Say no to Republicans’ candidate Gary Elite.”

“They’re misleading people,” Leitzell said.

Leitzell said he has filed a complaint with the Ohio Ethics Commission, who forwarded it to the Ohio Elections Commission. The Ohio Elections Commission returned the document, because it was not notarized. Leitzell said he recently mailed a notarized copy.

Other campaign mailers supporting McLin featured photos of Leitzell along with his campaign’s Internet address. Leitzell believes those ads helped his campaign against the two-time incumbent with name recognition.

“From a marketing standpoint, this is brilliant. I can’t afford to do mailings like this. I don’t have the money. They spelled my name right and these ads led people right to my Web site,” he said.

Montgomery County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Owens, who approved the ads, said the ads cost about $10,000 per mailing.

He doesn’t consider them negative.

“A negative ad is when you get personal. All we did was quote from local newspapers or his own blog,” Owens said.

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