Stivers attacks Kilroy on foreign shirts

Stivers' shirt (l) and Kilroy's shirt (r): Stivers campaignMary Jo Kilroy's t-shirts have become a campaign issue in the race for the 15th Congressional District.

Canadian-based Gildan Activewear makes the shirts and Stivers' campaign points to accusations that the company uses under-paid, maltreated sweatshop workers in Haiti to produce their products, including Kilroy's shirts that say they're made in Haiti.

Stivers (R-Columbus) campaign said Kilroy's (D-Columbus) practicing hypocrisy in a press release by claiming to put American workers first on her website and buying campaign materials from overseas.

"Candidate Kilroy talks about keeping jobs in America, and then ignores American garment workers by sending the Kilroy for Congress business to Haitians laboring in a Caribbean sweatshop," said Stivers press secretary Rob Nichols.

The Kilroy campaign said the company it ordered from shipped t-shirts from the wrong manufacturer, but the campaign is getting new shirts from American shops.

"Of course we readily admit that we shouldn't use this company," said Campaign Manager Randy Borntrager.  

Nichols then linked the t-shirt controversy to her vote to award a construction contract to a higher-bidding Pennsylvania union company, saying she doesn't mind bilking tax payers but pinches pennies when it comes to her campaign.

"She chose the higher bidding Pennsylvanian union firm over the lower bidding Ohio company for a ballpark contract to keep her pipeline open for campaign labor donations," Nichols said. "And now we find that her economic mantra is ‘Buy Haitian' when it comes to spreading her campaign dollars around."

Borntrager said Stivers campaign is distracting voters from more serious problems.

"I have to hand it to the Stivers' campaign. Not only did they catch us in a t-shirt printing and shipping error, but they have revealed just how desperate they are to change the subject away from the failing economy and Stivers' role as a banking lobbyist. Bravo,' he said.