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Gains, Macejko continue war of words
YOUNGSTOWN
In a war of words, Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains says his Democratic primary opponent “clearly doesn’t respect the truth” and is running a “smear campaign.”
Youngstown Prosecutor Jay Macejko, Gains’ March 6 primary opponent, said, “It’s become more and more clear that Mr. Gains wants this campaign to be about anything but the poor performance of his office.”
Both camps were busy Thursday sending emails to media members criticizing the other for distorting facts.
In an email with “Gains’ Hypocrises” as the subject line, Macejko wrote his opponent’s demand to unseal evidence in a religious- discrimination settlement against Macejko and the city is “surprising and hypocritical in light of his own conduct.”
He also criticized Gains for “yet another example of ‘dropping the ball’” related to an aggravated-murder case.
Gains responded by calling Macejko’s email “nothing more than a compendium of half-truths, outright lies and misrepresentations of the facts.”
Gains added that Macejko’s “dropping-the-ball” comment is the “most egregious mischaracterization made by my opponent [Thursday].”
Macejko added that he is the better candidate, and “it’s no wonder Mr. Gains refuses to engage in a televised debate as he clearly cannot run on his record.”
Gains responded that is “an outright lie.”
Gains said his campaign plans to talk today to Mona Alexander, news director for 21 WFMJ-TV, about a debate with Macejko.
Because of “constraints and details involved in producing the broadcast,” Alexander wrote in a Wednesday email to Gains’ campaign that they have until the end of business Monday to commit to the debate.