Complaints against the candidates for Ohio's 6th Congressional District seat were dropped prior to a hearing before the state's elections commission.
The Ohio Elections Commission had been set to consider complaints about statements made by the campaigns of incumbent Republican Congressman Bill Johnson and his opponent and predecessor, Democrat Charlie Wilson, Thursday. But according to a document provided by the commission, the parties reached a settlement by "agreeing to mutually dismiss the complaints with prejudice," meaning they could not be considered again.
The first complaint was filed Sept. 17 by Cambridge resident Richie Oster against Wilson, a Democrat, and the group Friends of Charlie Wilson, claiming an online video paid for by the Friends group states Johnson, a Republican, "voted to kill Medicare." The complaint denies that happened, and subsequent releases from Wilson's campaign claimed Johnson voted to kill the system "that we know."
Johnson's campaign issued a release on Sept. 20 announcing an elections commission committee found probable cause to refer the matter to the full commission.
That release became the subject of another complaint filed by Friends of Charlie Wilson campaign manager J.R. Starrett, alleging it included four false statements. A commission committee found probable cause on one of those items, which said the release referred to "false statements" but that only a single false statement was in question.
