Ohio State alumnus Eddie Pauline had Democrats up in arms when OSU sent out 32,978 fundraising letters that mentioned his bid for a seat on the Columbus City Council.
A total of 6,962 of Pauline’s letters were sent out to the Columbus area.
Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the Columbus Democratic Party, said Pauline was in the wrong by including this information in the fundraising letter.
“When it comes to ethics, people shouldn’t be so light hearted,” Rothenberg said.
Pauline said the letter has been exaggerated by the Democrats.
“If it had said donate $25 to Eddie and vote for him it would have been different,” Pauline said.
Shelly Hoffman, a spokeswoman for OSU, said Pauline’s letter was chosen, along with 21 others, based on its ability to solicit more donations.
Hoffman said the letter brings up political issues, but choosing the letter was nothing but common practice. The letter was not meant to endorse Pauline’s campaign.
Hoffman said in the future the letters will have to be looked over to avoid things like this from happening again.
It is important to note the letters were sent out nationally and were not targeted just to Columbus, Hoffman said.
Pauline said the letter was merely a reflection of what he accomplished at OSU. Pauline got his start in politics at OSU as Undergraduate Student Government president from 2001-03.
He said the letter was tailored to fit his accomplishments with the university and show how far he has come in his political career, which he credits to the education he gained as an undergraduate.
Pauline said he does not believe the letter will have much effect in the elections.
“I don’t think this will get me any more notoriety than the other planning we will be doing,” Pauline said.
Pauline said the 22 letters that were sent out all put a strong focus on the great things students have accomplished since graduating from OSU.
“We should be proud that our (alumni) are going on and trying to accomplish great things,” Pauline said.
Rothenberg said the Columbus Democrats have no plans of looking deeper into this issue, but they are interested to see what will happen at the polls in November.
He said there is no way to tell how the votes will turn out, but Pauline and OSU need to take a closer look at ethical issues.
“Regardless of how it ends up it’s just wrong,” Rothenberg said.
