Zawistowski Responds to Smear Campaign by State Central Committee Member
Kent, OH – Tom Zawistowski, Candidate for Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party responded today to false charges by a State Central Committee member that he is working with the Democratic Party to smear his opponent Matt Borges. Zawistowski responded by saying “Today I received an email from Tom Troy from the Toledo Blade asking if I would comment on an email by Sarah Brown, a member of the ORP State Central Committee, accusing me of working with the Democrats to smear Matt Borges. I told Mr. Troy that, as I said in my press release last Friday, I have no interest in the information being provided to me by various parties concerning Mr. Borges. I also said in my email to the State Central Committee members last Friday that I was aware of additional information about Mr. Borges, but that instead of using it to my benefit, I in fact forwarded it to Mr. Borges, via mutual friends. I then provided Mr. Troy with an email that I sent to Lauren LaRose, who is a State Central Committee member, and Frank LaRose, an Ohio State Senator, both of whom are friends of mine, showing that I did exactly what I said that I had done.”
Zawistowski continued by saying “I have acted with integrity and I have proved it. I have never met or talked to Ms. Brown, but she has chosen to attack my integrity and her charges are untrue. To use her own words, what she has done to me is “unbelievable, unforgivable and plain wrong.” While she closes her email by saying that “I could not be more proud of the direction of this state party and its operations.” Unfortunately, it is actions like what she has taken that embarrass us all and bring shame to our party. In her attempts to smear me, by releasing the information that I would not release, she has in fact smeared Mr. Borges.”
Republican Central Committeewoman, Sarah-Brown (District 33)
Zawistowski concluded by saying “Ms. Brown owes me an apology and she needs to send that apology to everyone on the State Central Committee and to all of the County Chairmen. I would further suggest that she be removed from the State Central Committee for her unethical behavior. If Ms. Brown held the values that I hold, she would have confronted me directly with this information before sending it out. However, we all know that the party operatives are not interested in ethical behavior, which is why they fear my becoming Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. The culture of corruption in the Ohio Republican Party needs to be reformed and as Chairman that is exactly what I will do.”
Republican Central Committeewoman,
Sarah-Brown (District 33)