Faber's doctored photo of opponent with Pelosi stirs up Ohio auditor race

Keith Faber, the Republican nominee for Auditor of State, launched a website attacking Democratic nominee for Auditor of State Zack Space. Photo on website was an altered image featuring Zack Space and Nancy Pelosi.

zackemptyspace.com

Republican Ohio auditor candidate Keith Faber is taking heat for a doctored photo of his opponent, Democrat Zack Space, that appears on an attack website.

Mr. Space called out Mr. Faber, a state representative from Celina, for the altered photo, which shows him alongside House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The original photo features Mr. Space’s 88-year-old father, Socrates J. Space, where Ms. Pelosi was inserted.

“Keith Faber is a desperate, shameless partisan who has a long record of looking out for himself. This ill-conceived and poorly-executed website is just the latest proof,” Mr. Space’s campaign spokesman Nathan Cotton said in a news release.

Zack Space files his nominating petitions to seek the office of Auditor of State on February 7, accompanied by his father Socrates J. Space.

The photo shows Mr. Space and his father in Columbus, after Mr. Space filed his paperwork to run for office, Mr. Cotton said. The elder Mr. Space is the former Democratic chairman of Tuscarawas County and frequently travels with his son on the campaign trail.

Calling Mr. Space, a former U.S. representative, the “Pinocchio of Ohio,” the site leads with, “Lies. Taxes. Deceit. When will the lying end?”

Faber campaign spokesman Allison Dumski said in a statement it stands by the site and the fake photo.

“It’s true we used an Ohio Democratic Party mashup tactic to demonstrate the very real connection between Nancy Pelosi and Zack Space, which he clearly doesn’t like. But if Zack wants to send us a photo of him and Nancy from his personal collection we are happy to replace the parody photo,” she said.

The Columbus Dispatch also called out Mr. Faber’s campaign for what it said was a misrepresentation of one of its news articles. The June 13 article is listed as a citation for “Zack Space put out a plan to audit charter schools, revealing that he didn’t know the job he is running for is already responsible for auditing all public schools.”

The claim in the article originated with Mr. Faber’s camp and was refuted by Mr. Space’s in the Dispatch’s reporting.

Ms. Dumski responded: “Our statement is accurate and reflective of the claims in the article cited AND the claims in previous articles related to Space’s policy proposals.”

Contact Liz Skalka at lskalka@theblade.com, 419-724-6199, or on Twitter @lizskalka.