| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - Aug 23rd, 2007 at 5:47 pm EDT |
| Also listed in: Ohio Bloggers |
GOP council candidate jumped the gun on campaign
I was going to wait to post this until Jerid went first, but now that Peter and The Dispatch have it up, all of us at ProgressOhio want to say Congratulations Jerid on winning your first case in "court". It was great to get together for lunch today while you were in Columbus.Republican Bill Brownson began campaigning for Columbus City Council too soon, the Ohio Elections Commission ruled today.
But the state agency that makes sure everyone plays by the rules in Ohio politics chose not to fine the candidate, saying it's his first time running for office and his first time running afoul of election law.
Brownson was the subject of a complaint filed by Jerid Kurtz, a Clevelander who oversees the liberal Buckeye State Blog. Kurtz said Brownson purchased a domain name for his campaign Web site before he filed paperwork this summer with the Franklin County Board of Elections to run for council.
Kurtz also said Brownson didn't put a disclaimer on his site.
The commission ruled against Brownson on both counts.
Kurtz called the ruling a slap on the wrist but said he was glad the elections commission is taking violations seriously.
"That is a good sign," he said.
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The case raises a more important point, which the Dispatch and other papers in Ohio are largely ignoring, for the time being --- are bloggers journalists? Partisan complaintants are participating with attitude, and good for them --- journalists are apart from the process and don't want to credential the blogodomers.