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COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio Republican Party has pulled an ad that falsely attacked state Rep. Phil Robinson for being sued over an unpaid debt from 1999 after Robinson pointed out the lawsuit actually involved a different person with the same name.

The ad launched on Facebook on Friday, according to the social media sites political ad tracker. Along with a picture of Robinson, a Democrat from Solon elected in 2018, it read Phil Robinson cant manage his own finances Can we trust him with ours?

It included a link to a website thats since been taken down. But the site showed information about a 1999 case filed in Cleveland Municipal Court against someone named Phil Robinson.

An Ohio Republican Party ad attacking state Rep. Phil Robinson. The attack is false -- it references a lawsuit involving a different person named Phil Robinson.

It was a different Phil Robinson.

Robinson, the state representative, said he was 18, had just graduated high school and didnt even have a credit card when the lawsuit was filed. Even if it was him, he said its bad form to attack someone over financial issues during the current tough economic times. After noticing it on Saturday, he issued a press release calling on the state GOP to apologize and take it down. He said he hasnt heard from anyone, although he noticed the ads were removed.

They didnt even do the research. They were trying to use that to score cheap political points, and its really defamation of character, Robinson said in an interview.

Evan Machan, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party, said research for the ad was performed by an outside firm. He acknowledged the lawsuit was filed against a different person.

Upon finding this out, we directed our digital vendor to immediately take down the ads, he said.

Shay Hawkins, the Republican candidate challenging Robinson in the November election, said he learned about the ad when someone at the Ohio GOP called him to apologize for what had happened.

He said if anything, he would have attacked Robinson over another issue.

I wouldnt attack him on a supposed debt from 20 years ago. That wouldnt be something I would even think to do, or that I would even support doing, Hawkins said.

The race for Ohios 6th House District includes Brecksville, Broadview Heights, Chagrin Falls, Independence, Mayfield and Solon, and is among this years key races in the suburbs, a battleground given President Donald Trumps relative weakness in these normally Republican-leaning districts.

Robinson, executive with the nonprofit City Year Inc., became the first Democrat to be elected to represent the district in decades in 2018.

His opponent, Hawkins, is a lawyer and former congressional aide, most recently working for Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

The recent arrest of Republican former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has become an issue in the race. Robinson was among the Democrats who helped elect Householder speaker, choosing him over a rival candidate and helping break a Republican stalemate. Democratic legislators have defended the deal, saying they chose the best of two bad options that gave them a greater seat at the table in Columbus.

But Robinson also voted against House Bill 6, Householders signature piece of legislation that, federal prosecutors have alleged in charging documents, Householder agreed to pass in exchange for $60 million in bribes, in the form of political spending from FirstEnergy and its affiliates.

Hawkins has attacked Robinson for accepting $1,000 from FirstEnergys PAC, which Robinson donated to charity in July.

And the Ohio Democratic Party, trying to tie the scandal to all Republican candidates, in a recent mailer attacked Hawkins over the Householder scandal, even though Hawkins wasnt in office when Householder was elected.

Excerpt from:
Ohio Republican Party pulls attack ad after realizing it attacked the wrong person - cleveland.com