President Obama endorsed Ted Strickland, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, this week despite the former Ohio governor’s pro-gun voting record in Congress and history of support from the National Rifle Association.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden praised Strickland Wednesday, less than two weeks before Ohio voters will head to the polls to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary. Cincinnati city councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, Strickland’s young opponent for the nomination, has repeatedly attacked him for his recent reversal that now has him supporting some gun control measures.
"Ohioans have no greater friend than Ted Strickland. Ted is a passionate and proven champion for the middle class, and when Ohio sends him to the United States Senate, he will continue to be a tireless fighter for hardworking families," Obama said in a statement Wednesday.
The endorsement came even though Strickland touted his pro-gun voting record in Congress as recently as last March. Strickland was also endorsed by the National Rifle Association in his 2010 gubernatorial reelection bid. However, Strickland now supports an expansion of background checks and a ban on firearm purchases for people on the terror watchlist, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported in December.
The Obama administration said Wednesday that Obama’s endorsement of Strickland does not conflict with his commitment to not back candidates who do not support gun reform, according to the Washington Post.
"Obviously, an individual’s record matters," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. "But when it came to that particular promise, it ... gave candidates the capacity to change their mind. After all, that’s what we need to see. We need to see more people in the United States Senate and the United States Congress change their mind and embrace common sense gun control."
Obama wrote in a New York Times op-ed in January upon announcing his new executive action on guns that he "will not campaign for, vote for or support any candidate, even in my own party, who does not support common-sense gun reform."
Strickland’s campaign has indicated repeatedly that he changed his mind on guns following the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. However, Sittenfeld has accused Strickland’s representatives of "peddling a false claim and a misleading fiction" about his position on guns because Strickland bragged about his pro-gun voting record and A+ rating from the NRA during a radio interview more than two years after the Sandy Hook shooting.
"I have not lobbied for additional gun laws, and brother, let me put my record in front of you. As a congressman, I had an A and most of the time an A+ rating with the National Rifle Association. That has been my position and it is my position," Strickland said during the March 10, 2015, interview when questioned about his support for Obama, a proponent of gun control measures.
"I know I have some political enemies that would like to reinterpret my beliefs, but they don’t have a right to do that."
Strickland served as a co-chair of Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and is also an ally of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Sittenfeld, who strongly supports gun control measures, has received a slew of high-profile endorsements in recent days, including those from former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste, "Better Call Saul" actor Jonathan Banks, and the editorial boards of two major Ohio publications. All of the endorsements have cited Sittenfeld’s position on guns.
A spokesman for Sittenfeld’s campaign said Wednesday that the White House endorsement was "clearly designed to counter" the endorsements that Sittenfeld has recently received.
"It’s no surprise that the Democratic establishment--which has long been in Gov. Strickland’s corner--would be getting mighty nervous about the momentum that’s been building around PG’s campaign," Dale Butland, Sittenfeld’s communications director, said in a statement.
Polling has showed that Strickland stands the best chance of beating incumbent Sen. Rob Portman (R) in the November general election, though about one-third of Ohio voters view the former governor negatively.
The endorsement from Obama will not necessarily help Strickland unseat Portman. A majority of voters in Ohio disapprove of the way in which Obama is handling his job as president, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released last week.