The Ohio GOP is hitting a local House candidate for using his business money to fund his campaign.

When did the Ohio Republican Party decide it was a bad thing for a retired military member to start his own business and become wealthy by providing a necessary government service?

When that person decided to challenge one of their legislative candidates, apparently.

The Republican Party sent out a pair of scathing mailers in recent days attacking Chad Monnin of New Albany, a Libertarian running in the 19 th Ohio House District against Rep. Anne Gonzales, R-Westerville.

Normally the GOP pays little attention to third-party candidates. But Monnin so far has spent more than $300,000 of his own money in an attempt to win the seat.

Using altered pictures to make it appear Monnin is burning a money cigar or waving money while standing in front of an old Bentley, the mailers accuse him of getting a $3.2 billion contract from the Obama Administration and funneling that money into his campaign.

�When (John) Kasich and John McCain and Pat Tiberi are in my office, they�re saying I�ve done great things for the state of Ohio and the United States,� Monnin said. �Now, I�m a villain. Don�t dare question the establishment.�

Monnin was a member of the U.S. Special Forces in the Army until he was injured during a 2002 parachute jump.

�When I was recovering from my back injury I was trying to decide what I was going to do next and I saw an opportunity to help continue serving the soldiers I couldn�t be with any longer,� he said.

In 2004, Monnin co-founded Mission Essential, which became the U.S. government's leading provider of translators and interpreters and currently employs about 115 people in Ohio. He noted that President George W. Bush was in office when his company got its initial contract in 2007.

�We did it cheaper and brought jobs to Ohio,� Monnin said.

One mailer also calls him a hypocrite for being a small-government Libertarian while taking government contracts. The issue of him using his own money to fund the campaign is a valid one to discuss, Monnin said, and he has repeatedly criticized Gonzales for failing to agree to attend debates with him. She has said the scheduling didn�t work out.

�They�re saying I�m trying to buy this election. You should see who bought the last one,� Monnin said. �All the committees (Gonzales) is on, they match right over to the lobbyists who donate.�

The irony, Monnin said, is that while he is criticized for using his wealth to self-fund his campaign, it�s the income tax cuts passed by Kasich and GOP lawmakers that provided the money he�s spending on the race.

Monnin said it�s a shame that the only ways to run for state office are to be groomed by a political party, or self-fund.

Asked if he really owns a tux with a top hat, Monnin laughed and said he does not. �Next year, you can guarantee that is my Halloween outfit.�

Will the negative feelings linger? Monnin said he was asked about six weeks ago by a Republican House member if he would be willing to run as a Republican in another two or four years.

�I think I�m going fishing. I�m out.�