At a press conference this morning, mayoral candidate Marshand Crisler denied allegations, made in two new flyers supporting his candidacy, that his opponent Harvey Johnson bought the endorsement of state Sen. John Horhn, a former mayoral candidate. When asked about the flyers at a press conference he called to disavow negative flyers that appeared over the weekend, Crisler first responded, "I denounce any negative politics and that one in particular." When the JFP's Adam Lynch and Donna Ladd asked directly whether Horhn had ever offered to sell his endorsement, Crisler replied, "No." Reached around the same time, however, Horhn told the JFP that the Crisler campaign had tried to buy his endorsement, but he refused.
Horhn, who endorsed former Mayor Johnson on May 13, also denied selling his endorsement. "I haven't received a penny from either campaign, nor would I be interested in such," Horhn said. "Absolutely nothing."
He denounced the allegations, calling them "sour grapes" on the part of Crisler's campaign.
"They are the ones with the dirty hands," Horhn said. "They are the ones that have run a negative campaign against me personally for over a year. They are the ones who continue to do so after I'm no longer a candidate. The only thing I can think of at this point is that they're deathly afraid that my endorsement of Mr. Johnson is going to have an impact in this race."
One of the flyers circulating depicts a sinking ship, labeled the "S.S. Johnson," and a conversation on-board between Horhn and Johnson referring to Johnson keeping "(his) end of the deal." The flyer is sponsored by the "Committee For A Safer Jackson." A second, unattributed flyer specifies a supposed price range for Horhn's endorsement, "from a high of $50,000.00 to a low of $20,000.00." The second flyer explicitly states what Crisler denied this morning--that Horhn approached him with an offer to sell his endorsement:
"(Horhn) and his surrogates began to shop both the Cirsler and Horhn (sic) Campaigns to see if there was any interest in his endorsement to their campaigns in exchange for paying off his debts. ... Councilman Crisler immediately indicated that he was not interested and did not think any candidate should broker a deal that would entail selling out the people that contributed, voted and worked hard in their campaings (sic). Obviously the Johnson Campaign entered into an agreement or understanding for a fundraiser at a later date to ensure the votes of Senator Horhn for Harvey Johnson."
Horhn's response offers a dramatically different account, however, in which Crisler, not he, suggested the sale of his endorsement.
"I was approached by both campaigns and actively approached by the Crisler campaign," Horhn told the Jackson Free Press Monday. "A number of offers were made by the Crisler campaign, some of which were quite lucrative. ... The fact of the matter is that the Crisler campaign fell all over itself trying to recruit me to their campaign with promises of elimination of my campaign debt and a few other things. And for them to suggest otherwise is absolutely ludicrous. They put the money on the table. The Johnson campaign has no money."
Horhn would not specify how much Crisler's campaign had offered, saying, "I'm not going to get into all that." He did say that representatives from Crisler's campaign first approached him the day after the election.
"I made the choice based on who I thought was the best candidate and who would make the best mayor for the city of Jackson," Horhn said. "And based on this recent activity, it confirms for me that I made the right choice."
The pro-Crisler flyers appeared on cars outside churches Sunday morning, sources say. The S.S. Johnson flyer also showed up on Crisler's Facebook page Sunday night.
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