Ohio Treasurer Mandel acting like a candidate for US Senate

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel is trying to be coy about his interest in running for the U.S. Senate in 2018.

But actions speak louder than words.

Mandel, a Republican from Beachwood who started serving his second term as treasurer a year ago, announced earlier this week that he filed three forms with the Federal Election Commission. But he said it doesn’t mean he’ll challenge U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, in two years. Brown beat Mandel in 2012 by 6 percentage points in an incredibly expensive and often heated election.

The forms filed by Mandel allow him to raise money for his dormant but existing federal campaign account, create the Justice Opportunity Strength Honor Political Action Committee [JOSH PAC], and establish a joint fundraising committee called Team Josh – composed of his campaign account, JOSH PAC and the Cuyahoga County Republican Party’s federal campaign committee.

“Opening these committees gives citizens the opportunity to support my style of leadership,” Mandel said. “It doesn’t force me to make a decision.”

That decision will come at some point after the November presidential election.

“The opportunity to support my style of leadership” is a cautious way of saying, “Let’s see how much money can be raised to determine if I should run.”

After Mandel’s interest in a rematch became public, Brown’s campaign quickly responded by asking supporters to make financial contributions.

“Josh Mandel’s special interest allies spent more than $40 million against Sherrod. If we’re going to repeat our victory, we need to organize early. And by ‘early,’ I mean right now,” wrote Kimberly Padilla in a Brown campaign email.

Jake Strassberger, an Ohio Democratic Party spokesman, said, “Since Day One in the treasurer’s office, Josh Mandel has focused more on his own political career than doing the job taxpayers pay him to do.” He added: “Josh Mandel remains someone we can’t trust.”

One interesting comment in support of Mandel came from state GOP Chairman Matt Borges, who said, “As a candidate, Josh Mandel works as hard as anyone I’ve ever met, and I’m confident that he would beat Sherrod Brown, should he choose to run again in 2018.”

It’s interesting because Borges told the Northeast Ohio Media Group in May 2015 when Mandel endorsed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for president, before Ohio Gov. John Kasich made his official announcement two months later, that the state treasurer was a “bit player.”

Mandel said he and the chairman “have a good relationship,” who talk regularly.

In Mandel’s defense, nearly every elected statewide Republican is also angling for a new job.

As I mentioned, Kasich officially announced a presidential bid in July 2015, seven months after he started serving his second term. That was just the official announcement. Kasich had made plans to run months earlier.

Attorney General Mike De-Wine, Secretary of State Jon Husted and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor all plan to run for governor in 2018, and have been for months. Like Kasich, their terms started a year ago.

Mandel has been eyeing another Senate bid probably since he lost to Brown in 2012.

Mandel declined to comment when I asked what he learned from his failed 2012 campaign that could help him beat Brown in 2018.

Mandel faced criticism during the first Senate bid when he started raising money for that race a few months after being sworn in as treasurer, and during the campaign, PolitiFact Ohio, a political fact-checking arm of NEOMG, determined several of his statements were not true. At one point in that campaign, he pointed to PolitiFact to call Brown a “liar” who made “false statements.” When I responded that the same organization found several of his statements to be “false,” Mandel said, “I disagree with them. They’re wrong.”

Mandel has also become a vocal proponent of open government.

He first put the state’s expenditures online in December 2014 that allows people to search state spending through OhioCheckbook.com. He then announced in April 2015 that he was expanding the program to local government entities.

The program has earned him statewide and national praise from good-government organizations and media outlets, including The Vindicator.

Mandel said people have asked him to run again for the Senate because of his leadership, “outside the box thinking” with OpenCheckbook.com and “cleaning up [the previous] corrupt administration” in the treasurer’s office.

While Mandel will be raising money for a likely Senate bid, he said, “My focus is on advancing the cause of government transparency and not on politics.”