Just a placeholder? ‘Hell no,’ Butler County candidate says

In the final throes of any election, rumors and scuttlebutt often blur the line between fact and fiction.

Such shenanigans are nothing new in local campaigns, and the 2018 general election is proving to be no exception.

Multiple sources from both parties have questioned if Ohio Statehouse Republican candidate Sara Carruthers, who is running for the 51st House District against Democrat Susan Vaughn, is only a partisan placeholder in this race.

Carruthers spoke clearly and forcefully about those rumors.

“Hell no,” she told the Journal-News. “I have worked too hard and too long — not to mention putting my own money in — to let someone else take a position.”

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Carruthers has invested $300,000 of her own money in the general and primary races, according to campaign finance reports.

“Who puts their heart, children and family and their own money in something to be a placeholder?” she said. “Doesn’t even make sense. It’s so stupid it hurts.”

Butler County Democratic Party Chairman Brian Hester said he isn’t certain where or how the rumor started, but is leery of Carruthers’ affirmation.

He said Carruthers has “done little campaigning” and “has refused to debate or provide voters with any information in media voter guides.”

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“It appears that she is nothing more than a placeholder the GOP used to push (Ohio Rep. Wes) Retherford out as they’ve been wanting to do since he was elected,” Hester said.

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