The mystery candidate from Ohio's second congressional district has provided some background information but no photo. William R. Smith is 61 years old and lives with his mother. He is a former postal worker and a long haul truck driver who says he made less than $15,000 last year. He ran for Congress in 2008, getting 12 percent of the vote so that makes him a veteran politician. Now if someone could figure out just who the hell runs the Victory Ohio Super PAC things might be a bit more clear. There is no such organization registered with the Federal Election Commission. Suspicion has focused on Congresswoman Jean Schmidt's organization. Ironically Schmidt lost her own race to podiatrist and Iraq war veteran Brad Wenstrup who enjoyed Tea Party support. In the closing days of the campaign thousands of robocall flooded the district with this message.
Smith's opponent, David Krikorian who enjoyed the local Democratic Party's support is something of a fluke himself. He ran for the seat in 2008 as an independent and has a personal dislike of Schmidt. An Armenian American, Krikorian accused Schmidt of accepting “blood money” from the Turkish government to deny the Armenian genocide. Schmidt hired two lawyers with the aid of the the Turkish Coalition of America which paid the legal bills - more than $400,000. The Ohio Elections Commission sided with Schmidt in October 2009, issuing a written reprimand to Krikorian, apparently the incident referred to in the robocall. Schmidt then brought a suit for $6.8 million in damages. That suit is still pending.
If Smith can get by the recount then he and Wenstrup can debate current issues while Schmidt and Krikorian re-fight World War I.
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