At least two of the three fundraisers who quit Josh Mandel's U.S. Senate campaign in recent months did so because of a toxic work environment created by Rachel Wilson, the campaign finance director, said two sources close to the situation.
Wilson cussed out her subordinates, often demanded 12-hour workdays, berated them in front of others and called them names, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution and career damage.
Wilson did not return a phone call seeking comment, but the campaign responded via email to questions from the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau. Mandel and Wilson have been dating one another since August 2020, campaign manager Scott Guthrie said in an email.
One source said neither Mandel nor Guthrie stopped Wilson’s behavior even though both were aware of it for weeks. Finance staff members cried in the office on a regular basis, the source said.
Texts exchanged among Mandel campaign staff and reviewed by USA TODAY Network Ohio reporters confirm that Guthrie and Mandel knew of Wilson’s behavior but did not intervene.
The source said Mandel and Wilson had blow-out arguments often laced with obscenities over campaign-related issues. "They’d go out in the hallway and scream at each other," the source said.
The Mandel campaign declined to discuss the staff departures and allegations against Wilson.
"This is a process question and we don’t go into internal campaign processes," Guthrie said. "We wish them the very best."
Mandel and Wilson are unmarried but as the candidate, Mandel is one of Wilson's bosses.
Guthrie said the two started dating in August 2020, months before Sen. Rob Portman revealed he would not seek reelection. Mandel launched his Senate bid just weeks after Portman's January announcement and is vying for the GOP nomination against several other Republicans.
"They are both single adults and try their best to keep their private lives private," Guthrie said.
Fundraisers Falicia Mandel, Abby Burke and Rachel Tilson all left the campaign this spring. Tilson and Burke quit on the same day — May 13. The fundraisers did not return messages seeking comment.
Three sources said Wilson has a track record of creating conflict with subordinates and co-workers.
"Working with Rachel, she very much created a traumatic and hostile work environment," one said.
In October 2017, Wilson was caught pushing the camera of an Ohio Democratic Party tracker who was following Mandel on the campaign trail. It is an unwritten rule that trackers and campaign staff do not physically interfere with one another.
Wilson has worked in Ohio political fundraising since early 2017, starting out on Mandel’s U.S. Senate race against Sherrod Brown. Mandel later dropped out of the race in January 2018, citing his then-wife’s undisclosed health issues.
He and his wife divorced in April 2020.
Wilson then joined Jim Renacci's Senate campaign for a few months but left to move back to Texas, Renacci said. Renacci, who jumped into the 2018 Senate race after Mandel bowed out, lost to Brown.
While the Mandel campaign released what it described as the divorce file, the case remains sealed in Ashland County where the couple filed. The Cincinnati Enquirer is seeking to unseal the records.
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