COLUMBUS — A state representative from Findlay and a former Ashtabula County auditor square off for the Republican nomination to serve as the state’s top banker and broker, the only contest on Tuesday’s primary ballot for statewide Ohio office other than governor.
Robert Sprague, 45, a former Findlay city treasurer and auditor, was appointed to a vacancy in the Ohio House in 2011 and could have sought another two-year term before running up against term limits.
He has the endorsement of the Ohio Republican Party, and his campaign war chest dwarfs that of his largely self-financed opponent. As of April 18, he had $208,484 banked while her campaign survives chiefly on a $16,500 personal loan from the candidate.
Sandra O’Brien, 66, pulled off an upset of the state GOP’s chosen candidate for treasurer in 2006. With the tea party wind at her back at the time, she defeated Treasurer Jennette Bradley.
But she was unable to translate that primary success into victory in that general election, and she also lost a primary contest for secretary of state four years later.
Current Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Republican, is barred from seeking a third term.
Ms. O’Brien portrays herself as the political outsider in the race.
“I am the most qualified in the race, because of my three-term, 12-year tenure as Ashtabula County auditor,” she said. “I am uniquely qualified. I’ve handled the most money, over $1 billion, and I’ve overseen a large staff. I have years of experience in finance at the public level.”
Mr. Sprague has tea party backing this time around. While he’s used TV ads statewide to improve his own name recognition, recent TV and radio spots have questioned Ms. O’Brien’s record as Ashtabula auditor.
“Sandra O’Brien wants us to trust her as treasurer?” the narrator asks. “… But O’Brien’s incompetence led to a major embezzlement scandal.”
The ad highlights state audit findings suggesting that her lack of oversight allowed an auditor employee to embezzle $40,000, that her office improperly purchased a SUV, and that her office had overpaid her salary.
Ms. O’Brien declined to discuss the content of the ads.
Mr. Sprague worked for Ernst & Young before beginning his own management consultant business. He headed a special Ohio House committee that traveled the state gathering information on the opioid painkiller and heroin addiction epidemic. That resulted in new laws addressing the issue, including one expanding access to the overdose-reversing medication naloxone.
Ms. O’Brien has been critical of the state GOP’s endorsed slate of candidates for statewide non-judicial office, which consists entirely of white men. She has argued that the endorsement process works against women like her who enter politics late in life.
The winner of Tuesday’s contest for the Republican nomination will square off in November against Rob Richardson, a labor attorney from Cincinnati, who is unopposed on the Democratic ballot.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.
First Published May 4, 2018, 12:00 p.m.
