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Turner and Democratic Challenger Fight Over FEC Complaint

Theresa Gasper says incumbent’s allegation is ‘over the top’

Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Democratic challenger Theresa Gasper saying she intentionally misled voters.(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Democratic challenger Theresa Gasper saying she intentionally misled voters.(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Ohio Rep. Michael R. Turner is accusing his  Democratic challenger Theresa Gasper of misleading voters, which she says is overblown.

Turner’s complaint to the Federal Election Commission says Gasper “knowingly and intentionally misled the public for fundraising purposes,” the Dayton Daily News reported. 

The complaint said that Gasper used the names of five colleges and universities above lists of people at the colleges who supported her.

The schools demanded Gasper remove their names from her campaign fundraising material. Officials from Central State University warned Gasper about implying the school supported her.

Turner’s campaign took up the fight.

“By ignoring those warnings, Gasper knowingly and intentionally misled the public for fundraising purposes,” deputy campaign manager Kevin Doering said. “These universities fully understand what’s at stake, including direct funding for their students. This is an extremely serious issue and the universities have issued cease and desist orders against Gasper’s campaign.”

Turner’s complaint says that a school’s endorsement would be considered an in-kind contribution and Gasper’s campaign “constructively received this in-kind contribution by bestowing it upon themselves, despite warnings from at least one of the institutions of higher education that it did not give — and would be prohibited from giving — such an in-kind contribution.”

Shu-Yen Wei, Gasper’s campaign manager, said that the candidate did not sign off on the invitations featuring the names of the schools and that it had been corrected.

Gasper called the incumbent’s allegations “over the top.”

“This was a simple error that we corrected, and Congressman Turner launching an over-the-top attack is exactly the type of Washington politics our community is tired of,” Gasper said in a statement. 

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race for Ohio’s 10th District Solid Republican.

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