COAST paid for pro-Winburn phone calls

The $40,389 campaign of the Service Employees International Union District 1199 on behalf of Mark Mallory is the largest independent expenditure ever reported in Cincinnati politics. But it's not the first one.

Less than 24 hours before the Sept. 13 primary, the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes disclosed that it had spent $23,925 on telephone calls on behalf of Republican Charlie Winburn.

Christopher P. Finney of COAST said the expenditure went toward phone calls to likely Republican voters featuring the voice of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Contributors to the effort included Reds owner Carl H. Lindner and his wife, Edith ($10,000 each) Fifth Third Bancorp PAC ($2,500), and the campaign committees of Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann ($1,000), Treasurer Robert A. Goering ($500), and Recorder Rebecca Prem Groppe ($250).