Josh Mandel

Mandel's experience as an elected official began as a Lyndhurst, Ohio city councilman, where he was elected in 2003. He served three years on the council's finance committee.

On January 24, 2005, Mandel sent a letter to Lyndhurst residents, proposing a one time tax rebate of $400, paying the postage for the letters from his campaign fund.[8][9] Faced with opposition from fellow council members, Mandel introduced and advocated for a 2 mill property tax rollback, which would have saved the average homeowner $100 a year on a home valued at $160,000.[10] On April 4, 2005, the Council passed a 1.5 mill rollback that saved the average homeowner $75 per year.[11]

Mandel was first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in November 2006.[12][13] He represented Ohio's 17th House district, consisting of 17 communities of various sizes in southeastern Cuyahoga County. Mandel was re-elected to a second term in 2008.

Mandel's first piece of legislation as a State Representative, H.B. 151, was an initiative to force the multibillion-dollar Ohio pension funds to divest from companies doing business in Iran. He joined State Representative Shannon Jones (R) in an attempt to make Ohio the first state in the nation to divest from Iran, but the legislation was never signed into law due to a compromise between state pension executives and Ohio House leadership, agreed to by Mandel.[14] Then-Speaker of the Ohio House Jon Husted brokered a deal to drop half of the state's investments in Iran and Sudan with the eventual goal of removing all investment from the two countries.[15] In April 2010, Mandel appeared on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" to discuss his leadership on Iran divestment in Ohio.[16]

In the 127th Assembly, Mandel, along with other members of the Ohio House who served in Iraq, were excused from voting on HB649 in December 2008, which provided payments to military veterans of the Middle East wars and compensation to families who had lost loved ones in the conflicts.[17][18]

In the 128th Assembly, Mandel was one of 19 house members to vote against HB108, a bill to make cockfighting a felony.[19] Mandel said that the legislation was not a pressing priority for the state and that the General Assembly should spend its time in other ways.[20]

Also in the 128th Assembly, Mandel voted against the Ohio House Bill 176,[21] the Equal Housing and Employment Act which "[p]rohibits discriminatory practices on the basis of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" under many of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) Law's existing prohibitions against various unlawful discriminatory practices.".[22] The bill passed the Ohio House by a vote of 56 to 39.

In May 2009, Mandel announced his candidacy for Ohio Treasurer of State via web video.[23] Mandel's campaign generated controversy in late September 2010 when it ran a TV commercial falsely suggesting that Mandel's opponent, African-American Kevin Boyce, was a Muslim.[24] The commercial was criticized for playing on anti-Muslim bias,[24] and was ultimately withdrawn by the Mandel campaign.[25][26] However, voters subsequently received a campaign mailing with similar themes. The Mandel campaign said that the Ohio Republican Party was responsible for the mailers, which had already been sent via bulk mail.[27] In October 2010, in response to an Ohio Democratic Party complaint, the Ohio Elections Commission found that Mandel had deceptively depicted Boyce (an African Methodist Episcopal) as a Muslim in the ads.[28][29]

On November 2, 2010, Mandel was elected Ohio State Treasurer, defeating Boyce by 14 percentage points to become chief investment officer of state funds.[30] Mandel was sworn in on January 10, 2011.[31]

During Mandel's time as treasurer, Ohio retained the highest possible rating from Standard & Poor's for the state's $4 billion government investment fund.[32] On March 19, 2012, Mandel severed contracts with two major banks that handled $41 billion in Ohio pension investments, amid government investigations into whether the banks overcharged clients for currency trading accusing them of "systematically exploiting public pension funds and taxpayers."[33]

Mandel was reelected to a second term as state treasurer in 2014,[34] defeating Democratic State Representative Connie Pillich.[35]

On December 2, 2014, Mandel launched OhioCheckbook.com, a website that reports every expenditure in state government,[36] in an effort, according to Mandel, to "create an army of citizen watchdogs who have the power to hold politicians accountable."[37] In September 2018, Mandel was awarded the "Transparency in Government Award" by the State Financial Officers Foundation for his work on OhioCheckbook.com and promoting greater government spending transparency in Ohio and across the country.[38] Because there was no coordination with a similar effort undertaken by then-Governor Kasich, Ohio ran two overlapping disclosure sites for several years. In June of 2020, the state of Ohio merged the two sites, saving nearly a million dollars.[39]

In summer 2015, Ohio passed legislation granting the Ohio Treasurer's Office the authority to open and administer ABLE accounts; such accounts are a federally authorized, state-run savings program for eligible people with disabilities. In June 2016, Mandel began offering the nation's first ABLE accounts, called in Ohio "STABLE Accounts".[40] The Ohio Treasurer's Office, in addition to administering Ohio's STABLE Accounts, also jointly administers the ABLE accounts in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.[41][42][43]

In 2016 and 2017, the Ohio Treasurer's Office under Mandel spent almost $1.7 million in taxpayer-funded television ads, featuring him and Urban Meyer, the head coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team.[44] Mandel's office made each payment for the ads to individual television stations in an amount less than $50,000 per fiscal year, thus circumventing the need for approval by the state Controlling Board, which must sign-off on state payments over this amount.[44][45] Thirteen ad buys were within $1,000 of the $50,000 threshold.[44] Mandel defended the ads, saying they helped increase awareness of an investment program for disabled Ohioans. Critics questioned the airing of self-promotional ads at a time when Mandel was running for U.S. Senate and said that Mandel's office was trying to avoid scrutiny by structuring the ad buys to avoid Controlling Board approval.[44][45]

In response to the controversy, the Ohio House introduced an amendment to the state's 2017 budget. The amendment would require approval by the Controlling Board for ad buys that in aggregate exceed $50,000. This rule would have prevented Mandel from avoiding oversight by distributing the advertising campaign among individual ad buys.[46] Mandel did not attend an Ohio Senate hearing on the matter. He sent a deputy instead.[47]

On November 25, 2018, Mandel made Ohio the first state in America to enable taxpayers to pay taxes with cryptocurrency.[48] This initiative, OhioCrypto.com, was described by Mandel as an effort to provide more options to Ohio taxpayers and to project Ohio as a state that is embracing blockchain technology.[49]  Mandel described himself as a cryptocurrency enthusiast and said that he hoped the launch of OhioCrypto.com would bring more legitimacy to cryptocurrency.[50] Ohio Attorney General Yost subsequently found that “The Treasurer’s use of a payment processor to convert cryptocurrency into dollars for the payment of taxes is not authorized, expressly or impliedly, by statutes allowing the receipt of electronic payments.” Mandel's successor suspended the program, noting that it had processed fewer than ten transactions.[51]

Mandel was the Republican nominee to challenge Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in the 2012 election for U.S. Senate from Ohio.[52] Mandel officially announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate on March 1, 2012.[53] He won the March 6, 2012 Republican primary with 63% of the vote in a five-candidate race.[54]

Mandel earned the endorsement of several prominent conservative politicians, including: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Sen. John McCain.[55] Mandel also received the endorsements of U.S. Sen. Rob Portman and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan.[56]

Mandel's campaign was singled out by the independent fact-checking group Politifact for its "casual relationship with the truth" and its tendency to "double down" after inaccuracies were pointed out. The fact-checking group wrote: "For all the gifts Mandel has, from his compelling personal narrative as an Iraq war veteran to a well-oiled fundraising machine, whoppers are fast becoming a calling card of his candidacy."[57]

Mandel had raised $7.2 million through the first quarter of 2012; his $5.3 million cash on hand trailed Brown's $6.3 million.[58] Mandel benefited from support from conservative out-of-state superPACs. As of July 2012, these outside groups--including Crossroads GPS--aired $10 million in TV advertising supporting Mandel and attacking Brown, outspending Democratic Party-aligned outside groups by a margin of more than five-to-one.[59] Mandel's campaign was aided by over $1 million spent primarily on attack ads by a 501(c)(4) organization called the "Government Integrity Fund".[60]

Brown defeated Mandel 51%-45% in the November 6, 2012 general election.[61]

In August 2013, the Ohio Democratic Party and EMILY's List accused Mandel of violating federal and state campaign laws by using a vehicle owned by his U.S. Senate campaign for personal purposes. The vehicle was involved in a traffic accident on March 5, 2013, nearly four months after Mandel's Senate campaign had ended; he was a passenger in the vehicle when the accident occurred. Mandel contended that he had done nothing improper.[62]

In December 2016, Mandel announced that he would seek election to the United States Senate in 2018.[63]

In late 2016, a Super PAC called Ohio Freedom Fund was created to support Mandel's Senate bid. As of April 2017, the Ohio Freedom Fund's primary contributor is Citizens for a Working America, a nonprofit organization not subject to campaign finance disclosures. At the time that the Ohio Freedom Fund Super PAC was created, Mandel, in his capacity as state treasurer, was appearing in a series of advertisements promoting a new investment program for families with special needs children. Mandel's office said the ads were taped and aired before Mandel was a candidate for U.S. Senate.[64][65]

In July 2017, Mandel stated his support for alt-right activists and conspiracy theorists Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec after Cernovich and Posobiec were criticized in an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report. Mandel accused the ADL of being a "partisan witchhunt group" and tweeted "I stand with @Cernovich & @JackPosobiec."[66]

Mandel dropped out of the race on January 5, 2018, citing the need to spend more time with his family relating to his wife's health issues.[67]

Mandel has called for the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[68] In a campaign advertisement during his 2012 Senatorial run, Mandel claimed opponent Sherrod Brown "cast the deciding vote on the government takeover of health care". Politifact has labeled as false the claim that Brown cast the deciding vote for the act. The description of the act as a government takeover of health care, by Mandel, has been labeled by Politifact as "nonsensical" and a "myth".[69]

Mandel rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He has referred to climate change research as "riddled with fraud" and has vowed to fight attempts to advance clean-air standards.[70]

Mandel has called for what he terms as "aggressive and responsible" energy exploration that protects "the air we breathe and water we drink" while reducing environmental regulation.[71] He supports the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.[72] Mandel is a supporter of expanded coal plants and has criticized what he has termed as "radical" environmental groups.[70]

In 2012, Mandel said that he disagreed with plans to set a "date certain" for withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, also stating that "at some point in time, we have to take the training wheels off and we have to allow those countries to stand on their own two feet."[73]

Mandel was a member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at The Ohio State University.[74] He spoke at the 2008 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C, where he said, "Israel is our best friend and ally in the Middle East and it's important that we maintain a strong and lasting relationship with them."[74] In the same speech, Mandel stated Iran was a threat and discussed his divestment initiatives as a legislator in Ohio.[75]

In 2012, Mandel broke with Mitt Romney on foreign policy concerning the status of U.S. military forces in Europe, advocating for their withdrawal.[76]