Illegal attack ads appear in Wheeling mayoral campaign | News, sports, jobs

Shown is a stack of negative campaign mailers related to the City of Wheeling mayoral race. The illegal attack ads contain no information about the source of the material or the source of funding to send out the mailings that landed in the mailboxes of Wheeling residents this week, just days before the local election. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

WHEELING – Candidates in Wheeling’s mayoral race said they were surprised and appalled by illegal campaign mailers sent to the public this week – ending an otherwise relatively clean race just a week before the election pulled the dirt day.

Over the past few days, several different negative campaign emails have been sent to Wheeling residents in various neighborhoods. Some residents have received multiple mailings, while others have yet to receive any.

None of the questionable mailers contained the legally required “paid” disclaimer.

The attack ads appear to target nearly every candidate in the Wheeling mayoral race, either in the content of the mailers themselves or in online videos linked to by QR codes on the mailers. The scattered nature of the attacks makes it unclear which candidate, if any, is actually being supported.

The six candidates running to become Wheeling’s next mayor — Carl Carpenter, Beth Hinebaugh, Rosemary Ketchum, Denny Magruder, Chad Thalman and JT Thomas — all spoke out Tuesday against the attack ads and strongly denied having direct knowledge of who was behind the mailings.

“I do not condone such behavior in any way,” Carpenter said, noting that he received one of the fraudulent mailers. “I think it is bizarre to carry out such an attack without naming the author or the person who financed it.”

Carpenter is one of the few candidates who was not attacked in the printed material on the mailers or in any of the videos to which some of them can be linked. On Tuesday, Carpenter theorized that the person or organization behind the attack ads apparently didn’t see him as a “threat” to winning the mayoral race and they clearly didn’t feel the need to drag his name through the mud.

One of the ads – which lists the same post office box address as the others – attacks Thomas, Ketchum, Magruder and Thalman as “political opportunists” while lauding Hinebaugh as “authentic conservative leadership for Wheeling.”

“It’s terrible,” Hinebaugh said. “I’m overwhelmed by all of this. I’m just as shocked as everyone else, and it has nothing to do with my campaign.”

Hinebaugh said it was disheartening to see an 11th-hour surge in negative tactics after weeks of generally positive campaigns, mayoral forums and grassroots efforts by candidates.

“There’s no reason who got them either,” Hinebaugh said of the recipients of the mailers. “I’m just amazed that this is suddenly happening seven days before the election. Resorting to smear campaigns and personal attacks not only undermines voter trust, but also distracts from the critical issues affecting our community.”

Many of the candidates have been in touch with each other as part of the mysterious last-minute wave of muddy campaign ads. A number of candidates who saw the ads said they believed Hinebaugh had been portrayed as a scapegoat.

“I feel particularly sorry for Beth,” said Magruder, who noted that he received three of the negative emails. “I hate it when someone spoils the race like that. Why? It’s been a really clean race so far. I guarantee this is not from me or anyone supporting my campaign.”

Magruder said he has felt a sense of camaraderie among the mayoral candidates in recent weeks and reiterated his stance that he plans to shake hands with all candidates after the election.

“These are some good people who work hard to make their community a better place and it’s a shame that something like this has to tarnish things.”

The QR codes on some flyers point to a Common Sense Wheeling YouTube page.

In one of the few videos on the site, Thalman is criticized for supporting construction of the new Market Street parking garage and then purchasing two nearby buildings that would benefit from the city’s taxpayers’ multimillion-dollar investment. A video and mailer criticize Magruder for his answers during an April 18 forum hosted by The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register on the CROWN Act, which the council voted for before subsequently changing its stance “only after he made more significant.” was subjected to criticism”.

Another mailer and accompanying video claim that Ketchum’s campaign embodies “socialist” values, and another mailer and linked video characterize Thomas as part of a “good ol’ boys network.”

“I would be surprised if these came from any candidate,” Thalman said. “After eight years as deputy mayor, I have developed a thick skin, but these attacks can still hurt and the negativity gets boring.”

Thalman said he did not receive any of the negative emails, but was made aware of some of them, along with the negative video against him.

“I’m not involved in it and frankly I don’t like things like that,” he said. “I hate it. I try not to focus on it. I try to focus on the problems and block those things out.”

Many agreed that the source of the illegal ads should be prosecuted.

“It’s very, very unfortunate and inappropriate,” Thomas said. “I ran a clean campaign and given the timing it is probably too late to prove where it came from before the election.”

Ketchum also spoke out against the negative advertising campaign and even brought it up during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

“I would hope that voters see through it,” Ketchum said. “It’s disappointing. We have so many ideas and challenges that we could discuss instead of talking about.”

Whoever is behind the illegal attack ads is spending a lot of money on them and is apparently motivated to go down this route because they believe their candidate “won’t win,” Ketchum concluded.

“I’m very used to bullying, attacking ads and receiving information that is less true than it should be,” she said. “In this race we are just seven days away from an election and I think it is unethical and frankly illegal to attack people without saying who is paying for some of this information. Where does it come from? Who puts it together?”

Ketchum said it is very important to focus on the issues and urged citizens to consider the source and do their due diligence when negative attack ads land in their inboxes.

“We are entering a new chapter, a new era, and whoever is elected, we need your good, thoughtful and respectful work.”

On Tuesday, W.Va. Delegate Diana Winzenreid, R-Ohio, said she had filed a formal complaint about the mailers with the Secretary of State’s office.

Federal Election Commission laws provide very specific guidelines for what must be included in mailings. According to the FEC, communications paid for by an individual, group, political committee, corporation or labor organization but not approved by a candidate or a candidate’s campaign must contain a disclaimer stating who is paying for the communication and whether a candidate or a candidate committee has approved the communication.

A disclaimer must include the full name of the person, group, political committee, business or labor organization that paid for the communication and an abbreviated name by which they identify themselves.

The disclaimer notice must also include the payor’s permanent address, telephone number or website address and must also indicate that the communication has not been approved by a candidate or candidate committee.

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, the state’s top elections official, said these disclaimers are actually illegal because they are nowhere to be found on these mailers.

Warner said his investigators should be able to figure out who sent the mailers, even if the necessary identifying information is not on them.

“We have five times as many investigators as we had when I came into the office,” he said. “We take election security very seriously. There are many ways investigators can go about this. You can go back into the email system and see where the email came from and who it was delivered to. Through a process of elimination you should be able to figure out where it came from.”

The consequences for such an election violation can vary, Warner said. It could be a reprimand to clear up the issue and not do it again, or it could be as far as referral to a prosecutor.

“Sometimes it’s just a simple mistake,” Warner said. “They stand by it, they clear it up and make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future.”

(Editor-in-Chief Derek Redd contributed to this story)

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