Mayoral Candidate Gary Norton Denies Being Behind Racy Photos

Mayoral Candidate Gary Norton Denies Being Behind Racy Photos

Mayoral Candidate Gary Norton's Statement about Racy Photos Released to Public:

Neither I nor anyone on my campaign team released the obscene photos of the person who appears to be the current mayor of East Cleveland posing seductively while dressed in women's lingerie, high heels, wig and lipstick. 

When confronted with 48 pictures allegedly obtained from his own computer, the current mayor blamed me for distributing them.  Again, I did not do it.

False accusations made by the current mayor are nothing new to our city, the local media or to me personally.  In just the past few months, he has accused me of violating Cuyahoga County employee policies, the federal Hatch Act and several state and federal election laws.  All of his accusations were found to be untrue by the respective authorities.

We have run a positive campaign focused on improving East Cleveland to build a better city today and new hope for tomorrow.  We respect our residents and refuse to embarrass our community.  We will continue to do so. 

The current mayor is desperate.  His own actions have created personal and political problems for him.  His problems are his alone - not mine. 

Instead of blaming others - including the police, the media and me - for his lack of judgment, poor choices and negative consequences, he should be a man and accept responsibility for both his own actions and their impact on our city.

Again, we will continue to run a clean campaign of which the residents of East Cleveland can be proud.