Ohio treasurer sells campaign SUV after crash

COLUMBUS (AP) — Records show Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel’s failed Senate campaign sold a vehicle totaled in a March wreck shortly after questions arose over the continued use of the vehicle, averting an insurance review that stood to clarify whether it was properly used and insured.

A campaign spokeswoman for the Republican said a decision to withdraw an insurance claim and sell the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee through an online auction company was made in September. That was days after The Associated Press first reported on the crash and the insurance matter.

“This was a 10-year-old vehicle with approximately 115,000 miles on it,” spokeswoman Rebecca Wasserstein said in an email. “The federal campaign committee decided that it made the most sense for the committee to withdraw its insurance claim and just take the proceeds from the sale of the vehicle.”

The SUV was purchased by Mandel’s campaign for U.S. Senate for $13,800 in March 2012. It was sold at auction by Copart Inc. of Dallas in September for $938 after being totaled.

Mandel was riding in the SUV when it crashed near Toledo on March 5 — months after Mandel had lost his bid for U.S. Senate to Democrat Sherrod Brown.