FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Republican mayoral candidate John Crawford along side Fort Wayne City Councilman, Tom Didier, responded to his opponent’s negative campaign ads this morning in a press conference held at the Allen County GOP headquarters.
“It was very painful to read Tim Smith’s mailer saying that ’20 years of John Crawford has hurt Fort Wayne,'” stated Crawford. “I have dedicated 20 years of my life and likely 10,000 hours of public service to make our community better. To summarize my whole career of public service as harmful to the city and citizens I’ve served is insulting, over the line, and unacceptable. In over 20 years of political campaigns, I have never attacked another Republican I was running against. It is extremely disappointing that my opponent is taking the low road of negative campaigning.”
Crawford claims that the ads do not just attack him, but that they attack the other Republican Council members that have served in the last 24 years. He added that, “I don’t do anything on City Council by myself. All City Council actions are by majority vote.”
He also adds that after seeing the mailer, he saw a commercial that he said “looked like it was designed by a 12-year-old.”
Crawford stated that Americans For Prosperity, a libertarian/conservative political advocacy group founded by the Koch brothers, has been making calls to citizens creating the impression that a new tax is being proposed for downtown development. He says the calls advise citizens to call Crawford and complain about the tax.
“Let me be clear – there are no new taxes planned for downtown or anywhere. Zero. Zip. Nada. This is all a political dirty trick, and citizens need to know the truth,” Crawford said. “Fort Wayne Republican voters should expect more. They should expect honesty in their candidates and not to be misled by dirty trick political phone calls.”
Republican mayoral candidate Tim Smith issued a statement, saying, “I am fully committed to running a clean, issues-based campaign. Councilman Crawford doesn’t welcome the full, public exposure of his tax and regulatory rate hikes. My campaign is committed to offering voters a clear, informed choice, and the choice could not be clearer.”
Smith then adds, “Further, in spite of Councilman Crawford’s now publicly stated reluctance to support my candidacy in November (should I win the primary), I remain fully committed to supporting his. I will say again that if I lose the primary election I will write John his first check towards his campaign in November.”
