Reynoldsburg School Board Campaign Takes Unique Turns

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio—A local candidate race turned into a debate about what one candidate can say about another candidate, accusations of breaking Ohio’s election laws, claims of assault and a new way to campaign directly to voters.

NBC 4 dug deeper to get information on how campaign fliers started a fire storm.

Reynoldsburg City Schools board member Andrew Swope said he will be filing police charges against the man whom he says assaulted him Monday night.

Swope’s wife had fliers that claimed his opponent, Elaine Tornero, is an extremist.

A YouTube video shows Tim Casey, an apparent Tornero supporter, chasing current school board member Swope down a residential street, accusing him of passing out campaign literature against Tornero.

Casey said it wasn’t evident who paid for the campaign literature that urges voters to not vote for Tornero and claims she is a self-serving, agenda-ridden extremist.   

The Ohio Secretary of State’s office said an address or phone number (contact information) and who paid for campaign literature has to be on any campaign literature that is distributed. Doing so without it is a violation of state law.

A political party or candidate must give a name and contact information but an individual, or a private person, does not.

In this case, it was Swope’s wife, not he, who had the leaflets. He reportedly was on the other side of the street. Her first amendment rights protect her.

NBC 4 received this statement from Tornero: “Throughout this campaign, I have been the focus of a great amount of personal attacks. These attacks are untrue, and they are despicable, especially if they are coming from a sitting school board member. I’ve run an open and honest campaign, and I expect the same from my opponent. I’m hoping and I’m trusting that the truth comes out.”

Tornero also said she believes the fact she’s against a school levy has cast dispersions against her. 

Tornero was featured in the HBO documentary “Right America Feeling Wronged,” which showed McCain supporters predicting doom if Obama were to be elected in 2008.

In the documentary, Elaine Tornero says that campaigning for McCain was more than just a campaign.

“I’m serving God, yeah,” she said on camera.

While walking through a neighborhood, she notices some of her neighbors have Obama/Biden signs in their front yards.

“They have an Obama sign,” she said in the documentary. “Our neighbors, I didn’t know … actually, can I say it? There are two lesbians that live there, and they just put the Obama sign out. Interesting.”

At Stow Baptist Soup Kitchen, she tells the men who have gathered for lunch to “think about voting pro-life when you vote.

“Children are a blessing. The Bible says so.”

Swope said he will file assault charges against the people who “accosted” him last night while in his neighborhood with his wife. 

The Ohio Elections Commission said it has never referred one of these cases on to a prosecutor’s office.

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