Marine Vet Josh Mandel attacked for service and religion in relection bid

When Josh Mandel got a call from the Marines last year asking him to return voluntarily to Iraq, he had much more to contemplate than when he first enlisted in 2000. He had just been elected to the Ohio state legislature. Family considerations were also important to him. He ultimately decided to serve a second tour in Iraq “because I didn’t join the Marine Corps to say no when my country called,” Mr. Mandel explains.

Of all the factors he weighed, Mr. Mandel says political concerns were not among them. Now he has been forced to deal with the politics of that decision. The opponent in his tough re-election fight, trial attorney Bob Belovich, is attacking Mr. Mandel’s service, arguing that he abandoned voters. Mr. Belovich’s wife, Barbara, acknowledged in an interview for this column that she has told voters that Mr. Mandel “went AWOL” (a military term for desertion) by fighting in Iraq.

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7 comments

  • joe bernstein

    Wow-anti-Semites like to say Jews don’t serve and now here’s a Jew being attacked BECAUSE he is serving in a combat zone.I would sincerely like to see if Mr&Mrs;.Belovich can walk the walk like Mr.Mandel.I doubt it.

  • Lyndhurst: Mandel re-elected in House District 17

    Posted by Ed Wittenberg November 05, 2008 05:51AM

    Categories: Breaking News

    http://blog.cleveland.com/sunmessenger/2008/11/lyndhurst_mandel_reelected_in.html

    Improving the economy for northeast Ohio families and senior citizens will be Josh Mandel’s top priority as he begins his second two-year term as District 17 state representative. Mandel, a Republican from Lyndhurst, earned a decisive victory Tuesday over challenger Bob Belovich, a Democrat from Brecksville. According to unofficial final results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, Mandel collected 46,397 votes (71.8 percent) to Belovich’s 18,222 votes (28.2 percent). Mandel, 31, is a former Lyndhurst councilman who has served two tours of duty in Iraq in the U.S. Marine Corps. He is a 1996 graduate of Beachwood High School. Belovich, 57, is an attorney making his first run for elected office. District 17 cradles eastern and southern Cuyahoga County.

  • Lyndhurst: Mandel re-elected in House District 17

    Posted by Ed Wittenberg November 05, 2008 05:51AM

    Categories: Breaking News

    http://blog.cleveland.com:80/sunmessenger/2008/11/lyndhurst_mandel_reelected_in.html

  • http://blog.cleveland.com/sunmessenger/2008/11/lyndhurst_mandel_reelected_in.html

    Lyndhurst: Mandel re-elected in House District 17

    Posted by Ed Wittenberg November 05, 2008 05:51AM

    Categories: Breaking News

    JOSH MANDELImproving the economy for northeast Ohio families and senior citizens will be Josh Mandel’s top priority as he begins his second two-year term as District 17 state representative. Mandel, a Republican from Lyndhurst, earned a decisive victory Tuesday over challenger Bob Belovich, a Democrat from Brecksville. According to unofficial final results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, Mandel collected 46,397 votes (71.8 percent) to Belovich’s 18,222 votes (28.2 percent). Mandel, 31, is a former Lyndhurst councilman who has served two tours of duty in Iraq in the U.S. Marine Corps. He is a 1996 graduate of Beachwood High School. Belovich, 57, is an attorney making his first run for elected office. District 17 cradles eastern and southern Cuyahoga County.

    Great to hear

  • Awesome!! Great to hear he won!! Bob Belovich and his wife are loss-class and obviously have no respect for those who serve. “Josh Mandel is not serving our country, he’s serving George Bush” That’s offensive!! And then they want to bring religion into it. No class. They deserved to lose as much as Mr. Mandel deserved to win.

  • Jason Weiser

    “Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.”

    I wonder if Mr. Belovich has ever heard the saying…Mr. Mandel certainly has.

  • Yacht Maintenance

    Great to hear, “Josh Mandel is not serving our country, he’s serving George Bush” That’s offensive!! And then they want to bring religion into it. No class. They deserved to lose as much as Mr. Mandel deserved to win.