Dem and longtime Strickland supporters asks GOP's Kasich to cough up income-tax info

YOUNGSTOWN — Harry Meshel, a longtime friend of Gov. Ted Strickland, today called on John Kasich, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, to release his income-tax returns.

Strickland, a Democrat, handed out copies of his tax returns from 2006 to 2009 to the media earlier this week, and asked Kasich to do the same. Kasich allowed selected reporters to see his 2008 tax filing recently and his state-required financial disclosure form.

“The public deserves to know, if you’re running for governor, where did all of your wealth come from,” Meshel said at a press conference in downtown Youngstown.

Strickland appointed Meshel to a nine-year term as a Youngstown State University trustee in May 2007. Meshel is a former Ohio Senate president and minority leader, and the former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.