State panel says Gains' political TV ad was OK

The commission said the Gains ad did not break the law.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A political ad that mentioned an unsuccessful Democratic Party candidate for Mahoning County prosecutor and case-fixing and a scheme to kill the incumbent is apparently OK, a state panel has ruled.
An Ohio Elections Commission panel voted Wednesday to dismiss the complaint brought by Brad Gessner, a Mahoning County prosecutor candidate who lost to incumbent Paul J. Gains in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
Commission members Warren Tyler and Catherine Cunningham voted to dismiss Gessner's complaint in which he alleged that Gains' campaign had made a false statement in a television ad that aired Feb. 27.
Commissioner William Booth voted against dismissal.
Cunningham said he understood the ad's impact, and Tyler added he also understood how Gessner must have felt offended.
But the panel ultimately decided the ad didn't break the law.
In the spot, which was played for the panel, a voice says that though Gessner says he was never probed by the U.S. attorney's office, his name "is all over the Antwan Harris case where the ultimate fix was to kill Paul Gains."
In the ad, the camera zeroes in on Harris' court documents to show Gessner's name.
Background
Gains survived an attempt on his life in December 1996, an attempt linked to associates of reputed mob boss Lenny Strollo.
Gains has been county prosecutor since January 1997. He had defeated ex-Prosecutor James A. Philomena, who later was imprisoned for case-fixing.
Gessner, who had been an assistant to Philomena but left to go into private practice in 1996, says he was told by a federal prosecutor that federal authorities knew if a case was handled by Gessner or another attorney that they would not find any instances of case-fixing.
Gessner is now an assistant Summit County prosecutor.
Gessner said the ad implied that he fixed cases and that he was involved in a plot to kill Gains.
Under questioning from the panel, however, Gessner acknowledged the ad didn't explicitly say that.
"The specific words do not say that, but the impact was clear," Gessner told the panel.
"What this ad does is exactly what the elections commission should guard the public from," he added.
Harris had stood outside Gains' house seven years ago when a hired gunman tried to kill the prosecutor-elect in Gains' kitchen. Harris was never charged for his role in the crime.
Gains didn't appear at the hearing. But in a statement to various Mahoning Valley news outlets, he disputed Gessner's claims.
"The commercial states clearly that I am taking issue with his claim that the U.S. attorney refused to investigate cases he was assigned while an assistant prosecutor under James Philomena," Gains' statement said.
"There is no allegation in the commercial ... that Mr. Gessner was involved in the fix or had any knowledge of it," Gains' statement said.
Gains has no Republican or independent opponent in November, so his primary victory means he remains prosecutor for four more years.