Flyer portrays a common pleas court judge candidate as a criminal

A political newcomer is the target of a flyer circulated on social media that her supporters have called racist. 

L. Mialon Morris, a Democratic candidate for Summit County Court of Common Pleas judge, is shown on a flyer which includes an undated black and white mug shot of her and a list of charges the flyer said she incurred from 2005 to 2008 in Georgia. 

It also alleges she has 26 unpaid parking tickets in Akron that were sent to collections in April. It states Morris “isn’t even a Democrat,” and that her election would “risk a safe seat to the GOP.”  

Morris, who is not registered with a party but is endorsed by the Summit County Democrats, is challenging incumbent Kelly McLaughlin, a Democrat. She told Signal Akron the leaflet is untrue and “racist propaganda.”

Andy Padrutt, who said he was involved in the flyer’s creation, said it has only circulated on social media and was never sent to voters. 

He said the group that paid for and created the flyer, Truth Coalition PAC, “stopped dotting i’s and crossing t’s when we decided to shift directions” and didn’t check the information thoroughly. Ultimately, he said the group decided to focus on McLaughlin’s endorsement from Akron City Council President Margo Sommerville. 

“I don’t think most [Democrat] voters have any idea who she is, so I wasn’t going to be the one to tell them,” Padrutt told a Signal reporter in a text message when asked to validate the charges listed against Morris. 

Truth Coalition PAC – Padrutt is the treasurer — is not authorized by any candidate or their committee, according to a note on the flyer. 

When asked about the flyer, Padrutt said the design was part of a number of “early working concepts that we [kicked] around.” 

“I don’t know how they got ahold of it or what exact version they were looking at but what I do know for 100 percent is that it was never sent to any voters and was never finalized or approved,” Padrutt said. “I wish [Morris’ campaign] had never gotten ahold of it but they’re kind of doing themselves a disservice by making a big issue of it.” 

He said voters had a right to all information in a campaign, “not just one side’s sugar-coated version,” but that Morris’ campaign had not done enough to warrant attack ads. 

McLaughlin says her campaign is not involved

In a social media post, McLaughlin distanced herself from the flyer, stating recent social media posts falsely linked her campaign to an outside group’s negative piece. 

“Kelly has always believed this race should be decided on experience, integrity and justice, not attacks,” McLaughlin’s campaign stated. “Campaigns get heated, but civility matters. Cooler heads and a focus on what actually affects people’s lives will always win out over negativity.” 

Padrutt is a supporter of McLaughlin, the incumbent Morris is challenging in the primary — but said he is not her consultant or campaign manager.

“She had nothing to do with it whatsoever,” Padrutt said of McLaughlin. That sentiment was echoed by McLaughlin’s social media post that said the negative piece was created by an outside group without her knowledge or involvement.  

McLaughlin could not be reached for further comment. 

Truth Coalition PAC is listed as inactive with the Ohio Secretary of State and its website is defunct. Its last secretary of state filing was a 2022 notice of termination.  

Padrutt is listed as the agent for Truth Coalition LLC, created in 2022, and First Class Campaigns LLC, created in 2012, according to the secretary of state’s business search. He is a former Green City Council member, prior executive director of the Summit County Democratic Party and former Barberton Clerk of Courts.  

The ad against Morris is not the first negative mailer tied to Truth Coalition PAC. In a May 2023 primary, the PAC was behind attack ads against Akron City Council Member Russ Neal that appeared to tie him to blighted properties in his ward, alleged harassment of women and taxpayer-funded trips, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. 

The harassment allegations against Neal were investigated by the city’s human resources department and not adjudicated in court; the alleged taxpayer-funded trips were to Ohio Municipal League and National League of Cities conferences.

Some of the alleged charges against Morris are inaccurate

J. Cherie Strachan, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said political campaign ads like the flyer in question are done in a way that make people pay attention. 

“If it doesn’t feel sensational and feel like an emergency, people will throw it away without reading it,” Strachan said. “We do know that people process negative information — something about human psychology — we process negative information and remember it longer than we do positive information. So if someone is trying to bring this to your attention and rely on negative information about someone, this would be a way to do it.” 

Among the alleged charges the flyer highlights are:

• A 2008 “DUI conviction” and “drug charge” in Henry County, Georgia. Morris addressed this in her own campaign and entered into an intervention program. 
• A 2007 foreclosure in Fulton County, Georgia. This appears to be an eviction — Morris said she’s never owned property
• A 2005 foreclosure in Clayton County, Georgia. This also appears to be an eviction — Morris said she’s never owned property.
• “Driving with an invalid tag while speeding 20-25 MPH over” in 2006 in Clayton County, Georgia.
• Failure to obey an officer in 2005 in Clayton County, Georgia. The final outcome is not apparent from online court records. 

It also alleges Morris had 26 unpaid Akron parking tickets sent to collections in April by Sandra Kurt, the clerk of courts for the Akron Municipal Court. 

Kurt said Morris had 16 parking tickets, not 26 and that, “Nothing was sent to collections regarding Lakisha Morris because they were paid off,” she said. “So they were not sent to collections.” 

A poor-quality, undated black and white mug shot is printed alongside the alleged charges. Padrutt said the photograph is “fair game” when someone is running for a judicial office. 

“You should probably get out in front of an issue like that, is what I would advise a candidate,” he said. . 

Morris describes herself as a prior defendant, addict, victim and debtor

Morris’ 2008 conviction is something she has “gotten out in front of,” as referenced in her campaign materials, where she says she is a prior defendant, addict, victim and debtor. 

Morris said she had a DUI and possession of marijuana charge in her 20s while living in Georgia and completed an intervention program to have the charges erased, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.  

“It’s just one of those situations where it was just crazy, because even most of the piece was a lie and the one thing that was true, that wasn’t even mentioned correctly,” she told Signal Akron. “You’re not telling anything that I don’t share every day as a defense attorney to inspire my clients to be better and that they’re not defined by their last mistake.”

Morris said she has not done any attack ads or made any complaints because she believes in running her own race and letting the voters decide rather than “playing dirty.” 

“I know who I am, I know what I’ve done, I know what I’m currently doing,” she said. “I know that I help people every single day and I know that most of the public is able to see through things — at the end of the day, I have 48 elected officials who have endorsed me in this race … Essentially, I don’t care [about the flyer].”

‘Enough is enough’

Fellow politicians took to social media in response to the flyer, with Morris’ supporters calling it a smear campaign. 

Judge Joy Malek Oldfield, who is running for reelection as a Democrat in an uncontested primary for Summit County Court of Common Pleas judge, wrote in a post that whoever is  responsible for the flyer should be ashamed. 

“Aside from containing false information — this is the kind of thing that someone who doesn’t truly believe in rehabilitation puts out,” Malek Oldfield wrote. In the same post, she lauded Morris for putting herself through trade school, college and law school and moving from a “life of poor choices” to “stability and empowerment.” 

Similarly, Akron City Council Member Eric Garrett, a Democrat, posted a letter on social media decrying the flyer’s divisive tactics. He called for transparency into the PAC responsible for the flyer, and for McLaughlin herself to denounce it.  

“Enough is enough,” Garrett wrote. “If we truly care about this city, then we must start calling out this kind of behavior for what it is and choose to do better.” 

Summit County Democrats fracture over administrative vote

Summit County Democratic Party Chair Mark Derrig called the flyer disgusting, racist and said the party has endorsed Morris for the Common Pleas seat.

“It attacks an individual that has proudly spoken about her past and how that put her on track to go to trade school, get an associate’s degree, then a [bachelor’s degree], then a law degree and return to a community and help others go through that same process,” Derrig said.

Morris is the endorsed candidate of the Summit County Democratic Party in the only contested judicial race, in part due to the party’s schism from McLaughlin, who Derrig said is ineligible for the party’s endorsement because she broke its bylaws. 

“She supports Republican control of our Common Pleas Court,” Derrig said. “And votes for Republican control of our Common Pleas Court and the administrative function and roles of that court — which is in clear violation of our bylaws.” 

McLaughlin crossed party lines to vote for Republican Alison McCarty as an administrative judge — a nonpartisan position that makes case assignments for the judges. In response, Derrig denied McLaughlin the party’s endorsement for reelection because she supported a non-Democratic candidate over a Democrat for administrative judge. 

McLaughlin requested that Summit County Prosecutor Elliott Kolkovich investigate the letter Derrig sent to her denying an endorsement, alleging the message constituted a bribe since it offered her something of value (an endorsement) in exchange for her party-line vote. 

In January, the Akron Police Department took a report based on McLaughlin’s communication to Kolkovich. As of April 30, no charges had been filed against Derrig, according to online court records. 

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican John Greven in the general election.