SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Springfield, Ohio — The Democratic candidate in Ohio's 7th Congressional District race, Sharen Neuhardt, is accusing her Republican opponent of plagiarism.

The accusation involves a Labor Day column state Sen. Steve Austria submitted to the Xenia Gazette. Blogger Jeff Coryell was the first to point out the similarities between the column and sections from a Labor Department Web page.

After the Gazette published the column Monday, Sept. 1, Coryell posted multiple word-for-word comparisons on his blog at Ohiodailyblog.com.

Neuhardt's campaign picked up the news the following day and began circulating a release publicizing the blog and saying that online plagiarism tools had determined that more than 20 percent of the column was plagiarized.

"A lot of the language is based on facts that could have easily been rewritten," said Jessica Kershaw, communications director for Neuhardt's campaign.

Austria's campaign manager Brad Mascho called the accusation a cheap political shot. Mascho said a citation was inadvertently omitted when a member of Austria's legislative staff produced the first draft of the column.

"They paraphrased from a document intended for public use," Mascho said. "There was no intention to deceive anyone."

Though he praised Neuhardt in his blog, Coryell has said he has no connection with Neuhardt's campaign. He said he monitors congressional races statewide, and that he was acting on an anonymous tip.

"I just Googled parts of it," he said. "And a substantial part was clearly taken from the original."

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0367 or ecavallaro@coxohio.com.