Opal Covey provided the most entertainment for an otherwise sober evening of political debating Wednesday night, though the Lucas County Board of Elections might disagree.
The candidate who claims to be a minister and to have been promised by God that she will be mayor of Toledo, Ms. Covey evoked laughs when she was asked if she had any other ideas for Toledo than her series of amusement parks.
She said her amusement parks will bring in millions of dollars, if not “a billion.”
“Don’t you think that's quite enough? The city should be thanking me and almost kissing my feet,” Ms. Covey said, in response to the question from Blade reporter Marlene Harris-Taylor.
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Ms. Covey was on stage in a television studio with six other candidates vying for mayor in the Nov. 3 special election. The debate was sponsored by The Blade and 13ABC, WTVG.
Ms. Covey drew some national attention to Toledo this week as the subject of an interview in Esquire magazine online.
One of Ms. Covey’s constant claims is that she actually won her previous elections, but her votes were stolen from her.
Reminded that she tallied a mere 142 votes in the September, 2013, eight-candidate primary, compared with the more than 6,300 received by top vote-getter Mike Bell, Ms. Covey didn’t seem fazed in the least.
She again claimed she was robbed of victory in 2013.
“I had thousands of votes and they were stolen,” Ms. Covey said.
“I know I’m going to win this election. I already know that. It depends on what they try to do to me,” Ms. Covey said.
In closing remarks, she said, “I’m asking the Board of Elections, please don’t tamper with my votes this time.”
Asked what evidence of vote-tampering she had, Ms. Covey claimed that residents who voted for her had the name of Mr. Bell entered into the machine.
Gina Kaczala, director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said she is not aware of Ms. Covey or any law-enforcement officials bringing an allegation about vote fraud against the elections board, even though Ms. Covey makes the allegation often in public statements.
“Since I have been here, there has never been any questioning of the integrity of the office regarding Opal,” Ms. Kaczala said.
She said Ms. Covey has called her several times to ask about her past vote totals and she was “very nice.”
She said Ms. Covey came to the office to examine ballots and spent a couple of days on the project.
Regarding city finances, Ms. Covey said, “Budget has got to be set on priorities. I have handled big money because I have handled businesses — four of them.”
She added: “I can run quite a bit. I can run the city very strongly. I would look at each and every office, each and every facet of the city of Toledo.”
Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.
First Published October 29, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
