6 Years Ago, Ohio Treasurer Spent $1,700,000 In Taxpayers Money For a TV Ad Featuring Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer has been a controversial figure in football for a long time. Be it his aggressive coaching style or his off-field tales, he certainly has captivated NFL fans in one way or another. One of the incidents when he grabbed a lot of eyeballs was when 6 years ago, reports suggested that Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel spent $1,700,000 in taxpayer money on an ad featuring himself and Urban Meyer.

As per a report by Dayton Daily News, Republican Josh Mandel, who was then running for the U.S. Senate against Sherrod Brown in 2018, had used state money on TV ads featuring him and Ohio State Football Coach Urban Meyer. The advertisement was said to raise awareness and attract more investments to help families with children with special needs.

Josh Mandel Spent $1,700,000 On TV Ad Featuring Him and Urban Meyer

The Ohio Controlling Board is a mechanism for handling, reviewing, and approving adjustments to the state budget. It stated that the funding never went before the board. However, Mandel did make multiple ad purchases, each of under $50,000 to avoid external review.

Treasurer Josh Mandel spent $1.7 M tax dollars on TV ads featuring himself, Urban Meyer https://t.co/BpuZ7Y2dnq

— Carrie Cochran (@carriecochran) February 22, 2017

Mandel’s office later advocated that the expenditure was meant for a better cause and was a necessary step taken to raise awareness of the STABLE investment program. STABLE is a savings account for families with special needs children to take federal benefits and use funds for their housing, education, and disability-related expenses.

Mandel made sure to have his voice heard after featuring in the commercial with Ohio’s renowned coach Urban Meyer. However, little did he know that his mammoth $1,700,000 expense from taxpayer’s money on an ad would later bite him in the back with loads of scrutiny.

Scrutiny On the Expenditure by Mandel

Mandel’s expensive ad campaign drew a lot of attention after the associate counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, Brendan Fischer, went public after he saw a hidden motive behind it. “The fact that Mandel has decided to promote the program through expensive TV ads that star himself may suggest that these ads are less about supporting the program and more about supporting Mandel, who happens to be a candidate for the U.S. Senate,” he said.

Following this Mandel’s representative Chris Berry took to the public to nullify the claims. “To be 100 percent transparent we released all the details at the beginning of this outreach effort to members of the media back in June,” Berry had said. However, later Mandel announced that he was dropping out of the race for the US Senate stating he was required to stay in Ohio owing to his wife’s health issue.

All in all, it just turned out to be yet another controversy which involved renowned coach Meyer.