GOP to revisit 2010 sting in anti-Strickland web push

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio Republicans say they’re pulling the gloves off as they seek to retain U.S. Sen. Rob Portman this fall, and that means revisiting more of the record of Democratic former Gov. Ted Strickland.

At the center of Republicans’ new web ad campaign announced Monday is a largely forgotten scandal on prison workers at the Governor’s Residence that all but evaporated when Strickland lost re-election in 2010.

The party is also revisiting a controversy over Strickland’s use of state-issued airplanes to shuttle him short distances in Columbus.

Republicans have already been hammering Strickland on job losses while the Democrat was governor, and the reduction of the state’s rainy day fund to 89 cents while he was in office.

“Strickland is the definition of incompetence and cronyism in government, and we plan to ensure that every Ohioan with a TV, mailbox, tablet, iPhone or laptop knows it,” Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges said in a statement.

The online ads follow months of Democratic ads tweaking Portman for failing to distance himself from GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and accusing Portman of favoring trade deals with China that cost U.S. jobs.

Strickland spokesman David Bergstein said Republicans are misrepresenting Strickland’s record in order to distract from Portman’s agenda of policies favoring the rich and powerful over working people.

“Senator Portman can’t defend his career spent championing job killing trade deals that have cost Ohio over 300,000 jobs to places like China, his efforts to raise the retirement age for seniors and cut education funding for students, or the fact that he’s bragging about a drug abuse prevention bill he voted against funding — so Republicans are throwing out wildly false claims as a pathetic attempt at a distraction,” he said.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Aug. 11 showed Portman leading Strickland 49 percent to 40 percent.