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State Employee Fired For Campaigning on the Clock

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A state employee has been fired after inspectors found that he misused state time to campaign for Republicans. 

An anonymous source alleged that John Matthews, a director with the Industrial Commission of Ohio, was campaigning during work hours.

The state inspector general looked into it and found Matthews placed and answered more than 540 phone calls related to campaigning, totaling about 38 hours of time meant to be for work. That was in a 4-month span.

Matthews is the Marion County Republican Party Chairman and was running for re-election to the State Central Committee.

A spokesperson says Matthews was let go after the commission saw the report.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.