Gibbons, Mandel Continue Attack Ads in Ohio Weeks After Senate Debate Altercation

It was March 18 when Ohio GOP Senate candidates Mike Gibbons and Josh Mandel engaged in a nose-to-nose altercation during a debate in suburban Columbus. The aftermath lingers almost three weeks later. Mandel alleged that Gibbons sent American jobs to China. Gibbons claimed that Mandel, a former state representative and state treasurer who served two tours in Iraq as a U.S. Marine, has never worked in the private sector.

More words were said in the heated on-stage exchange that was broken up by the moderator, but Gibbons’ remark about Mandel’s lack of private sector experience spurred each campaign to release ads criticizing the other. A week after the argument, Mandel’s campaign launched an ad with Sheila Nowacki, a Gold Star mother from Painesville, Ohio whose son Andy was killed in action in Iraq. “Mike Gibbons has the nerve to say military service doesn’t count as real work,” Nowacki said in …