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COLUMBUS — Republican Greg Hartmann, who likes to talk on the campaign trail about his business experience, left the private sector owing Pepsi Cola Bottling Group more than $15,000 — a debt that has grown to $29,000 and that he says he has no plans to pay.

Pepsi Bottling, however, would still like to be paid and the $11 billion company may consider actively pursuing the debt, spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew said.

Hartmann, 39, is now Hamilton County clerk of courts and the GOP candidate for Ohio secretary of state. He faces Democrat Jennifer Brunner, a former Franklin County Common Pleas judge.

As vice president of Airline Distribution Services Inc. in San Francisco in 1992, Hartmann signed a contract with Pepsi for goods and services.

When Pepsi didn't get paid, it sued both Hartmann personally and Airline Distribution Services. It won a $15,141 judgment against Hartmann and the company.

By December 2001, the debt with interest stood at $29,768, according to a court order from the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco.

Hartmann considers it a corporate debt, not his.

"I signed those (contracts) in my capacity as an officer of that company," he said. "There's no personal liability. When I left the company, the company was a going concern and it was their responsibility to defend the lawsuit."

"I'm saying I don't owe the money. That's a corporate debt," he said.

Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, said, "Maybe he doesn't believe he owes that money but that's too bad. That's not what the court decided."

After three years in the private sector, Hartmann went to law school and worked one year for a firm in Dallas.

He grew up in Texas, the son of a lawyer who in 2000 represented Dick Cheney in an election-law issue. Hartmann's in-laws founded Hillenbrand Industries, a $2 billion manufacturer of caskets and medical equipment in Indiana.

Hartmann moved to the Cincinnati area in 1999 to be closer to his in-laws and was hired as an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor. In his last year in the prosecutor's office, he worked part-time and served as executive director of the county Republican Party.

In February 2003, four years after moving to Ohio, Hartmann won appointment to be Hamilton County clerk of courts and now is running for statewide office.

"It's still fascinating to me how rapidly he rose in the Republican Party in a community that normally it takes a lot longer," said Tim Burke, the county Democratic chairman.

"I think that my timing was good," Hartmann said. "I think that it was time to get some new leadership in our county party and I had been active. I had been a successful prosecutor and people knew I had a background in business. I was the most qualified candidate for the job."

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@coxohio.com.