Franklin County Prosecutor candidate Anthony Pierson is facing criticism from the county's Democratic Party and his opponents for what they say is a misleading flyer that was distributed to voters Tuesday morning.
Pierson's campaign distributed a flyer that resembled the Franklin County Democratic Party's sample ballot at polling sites on Election Day. The flyer said Pierson was recommended by the party's screening committee, which is true. But Pierson ultimately failed to gain enough support from the party to receive the full endorsement. The county party opted not to endorse Pierson months ago or his two opponents: Delaware City Attorney Natalia Harris or Columbus City Councilmember Shayla Favor.
The flyer noted at the bottom that it was paid for by Pierson's campaign, whereas the real party sample ballot notes it was paid for by the Franklin County Democratic Party.
Both flyers use similar fonts, color schemes and layouts on the front and back. The real sample ballot features federal candidates and contested primary candidates like Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and State Representative Ismail Mohamed, who the party endorsed.
Pierson's flyer, however, did not include federal candidates and only featured himself and two uncontested county commissioners on the front. Both had similar lists of candidates on the back.
In a statement sent to party members Tuesday, Franklin County Democrats Chair Michael Sexton said he was disappointed in Pierson and called the flyer misleading.
"After reviewing the piece, I have found that although it is factual, it is misleading to voters who may not know the difference between a recommendation and an endorsement," Sexton wrote.
Sexton said he asked that the Pierson campaign cease using the flyer until the end of the primary election.
Pierson's campaign defended the flyer in a statement sent to WOSU and said they have stopped distributing it. This was sent at about 2:30 p.m., about 8 hours into Election Day voting. The campaign did not say whether it distributed the flyer to voters at the Franklin County Board of Elections during early voting.
"The campaign put together a piece to promote our candidate and highlight the other recommended Democrats on the ballot at the same time, which is important in a low-turnout election. It is a factually accurate piece. Also, the fonts and colors are not the same, contrary to assumptions," the statement said.
Favor's campaign spokesperson, Gen Murphy, told WOSU Favor's team was disappointed in Pierson's flyer and said it was "appalling" Pierson used it.
"It appears as if it was created to mislead voters and we just find that behavior really appalling," Murphy said.
Murphy said she doesn't think it will impact the primary election results.
Favor said in a provided statement she was also disappointed in Pierson and called the flyer outrageous.
"Throughout this campaign, my opponent claimed to be a person of integrity and trusted by the community. To see him stoop to this level to mislead voters about having an endorsement that he does not have is disappointing,” Favor said.
Natalia Harris told WOSU she saw the flyer, but deferred to what Sexton said.
