Phone calls pump the Mallory vote -- in Columbus

A story just moved on the Associated Press wire, from Ohio political correspondent John McCarthy, containing this little nugget in the 29th paragraph:

Campaigns volleyed prerecorded phone messages at voters the past few days, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pumping up the redistricting issue and Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel promoting a Franklin County substance abuse treatment levy. In an apparent glitch, the campaign for Cincinnati mayoral candidate Mark Mallory sent prerecorded messages to Columbus voters.

The Mallory campaign disavowed any knowledge of the get-out-the-vote calls, which apparently started going out last night. Mallory spokesman Jason Barron said the only calls from the Mallory campaign used the voices of state Reps. Steve Driehaus and Bill Seitz (targeted at West Side voters) and former Ohio Senate President Stanley J. Aronoff (targeted to East Siders).

So who's responsible? The Associated Press staffer in Columbus who got the call said the disclaimer came from the Service Employees International Union, which has spent $161,267 on an independent campaign supporting Mallory.

"Apparently we did mistakenly make 15 to 20 of those calls to voters in the Columbus area," said SEIU spokeswoman Jennifer Farmer. She said the union was making phone calls in various parts of the state, and the messages got mixed up.