Pureval losing campaign staff as election nears
Multiple campaign staffers for 1st Congressional District Democratic nominee Aftab Pureval have stepped down just days before the Nov. 6 election, including his longtime campaign manager Sarah Topy, his campaign announced Wednesday.
Their unexpected depar- ture is another sign that Pureval’s campaign is in trouble as he tries to unseat Re p ub l ican i ncumb e nt Steve Chabot from the district which covers Warren County and most of Hamilton County.
Pureval’s campaign didn’t say exactly why the staffers resigned, though it released a statement saying he learned of unspecified “new information” about “inappropriate” actions” that “may not have lived up to” his campaign’s standards of professionalism and accountability.
On Tuesday, Republicans accused a Pureval staffer, Jack Dohrenwend, of access- ing a GOP voter database and attending Chabot canvassing events while posing as a Chabot campaign volun- teer — a potential violation of Ohio law.
Besides Topy, two other staffers have also departed, according to a source familiar with the campaign, though the source declined to identify who they are. Southwest Ohio political consultant Jens Sutmoller will head Pureval’s campaign during its final days, the source said.
Neither Topy, Pureval, nor his campaign immediately returned requests for comment on Wednesday.
Pureval, the Hamilton County clerk of courts and a Beavercreek native, has drawn national attention for launching a competitive race against Chabot. Through September, national political forecasters rated the race a tossup or gave Pureval a slight edge.
But Pureval’s chances of victory have dimmed in the past few weeks. A New York Times poll done last week showed Chabot up by 9 percentage points.