17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Ad criticizes Ryan's use of fake ID in college

The spokesman for the Democratic candidate said the Republican is 'desperate.'
SIDEBAR TO WOMER BENJAMIN DEBATE
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
RAVENNA -- Republican Ann Womer Benjamin's campaign is attempting to capitalize on the fact that she's the only candidate among those running for the 17th Congressional District without a criminal record.
"It's absolutely important we get someone in there who's ethical and listens and follows laws and doesn't believe they are above the law," said David All, Womer Benjamin's campaign manager. "It's an issue. It's a huge issue."
All is referring to Democrat Timothy J. Ryan's 1993 disorderly conduct conviction for having a fake ID when he was a 19-year-old student at Bowling Green University.
The conviction, a subsequent charge of disorderly conduct, which was dismissed, and a June 1999 denial of Ryan's request to have that record sealed by a judge, who wasn't convinced of Ryan's rehabilitation, are the focus of a television ad campaign by the National Republican Congressional Committee in the Mahoning Valley.
Ryan is airing a commercial in response to the ad criticizing Womer Benjamin for negative campaigning.
Womer Benjamin, of Aurora, had nothing to do with the Republican commercial, but believes Ryan's criminal past is a valid campaign issue, All said.
In a Thursday press release regarding her endorsement by the Portage County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70, which represents members from 16 police agencies in that county, Bill Sutliff, the FOP president, criticized Ryan.
"When you couple Ryan's criminal record with the judge's opinion in 1999 that Ryan 'had not yet been rehabilitated,' our choice was clear," he said. "We need a congresswoman who will stand with law enforcement, not in law enforcement's way."
Response
Pat Lowry, Ryan's campaign spokesman, said Womer Benjamin is focusing on Ryan's disorderly conduct conviction because she is losing the race.
"If they want to portray Tim Ryan as a criminal because he had a fake ID, they must be desperate," Lowry said.
"The Mahoning Valley voters are smarter than that. While she's spending her energy focusing on what Tim Ryan did in college, Tim Ryan is focusing on the issues of the Mahoning Valley. She's desperate for attention."
Womer Benjamin, a state representative who chairs the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee, also has been endorsed by the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association and the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.
Ryan has not received any police agency endorsements.
The third candidate in the race -- former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland, an independent -- is serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. Honesty and integrity are important attributes for a candidate in this congressional race particularly in light of Traficant's conviction, All said.
All said there is a continued pattern by Ryan that shows that he is soft on crime, including voting against a version of the state's sexual predator law, and that he has no interest in doing the right thing by continuously ignoring Federal Election Commission rules regarding placing the proper disclaimers on his campaign materials and TV ads.
skolnick@vindy.com