CLEVELAND -- Ohio politics has never seen a bottom feeder quite like Josh Mandel. For the two-term state treasurer, no gutter is too deep, no shot too cheap.

He doesn't steal. He served his country as a Marine in Iraq.

But as the Beachwood Republican pursues his second bid to oust two-term U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in next year's election, voters should know this: Mandel may be the most singularly unfit contender for high office from Ohio during the lifetime of anyone reading this column.

For years, well-intentioned, good-hearted people who care about Mandel have pleaded with him to be less of a crass opportunist. For years, he has ignored that advice, to the point where he has cemented his reputation for almost unsurpassed intellectual dishonesty. What a wonderful legacy to leave to one's children!

Mandel's stature has been shrinking for years.

It arrived at its final resting place July 20.

In a defining moment, Mandel faced this choice: Side with the Anti-Defamation League, a 104-year-old group dedicated to stamping out anti-Semitism and other forms of hate.

Or side with white nationalists, Nazi sympathizers, avowed racists and other hate groups empowered by Donald Trump's election as president.

For anyone with a shred of decency, this was an easy call.

For Mandel, a practicing Jew, there was really no choice at all.

Mandel sided with hate. On July 20, Mandel ripped the ADL's decision to publish a report identifying key members of extremist hate groups.

The ADL, he tweeted, has "become a partisan witchhunt group targeting people for political beliefs."

Sad to see @ADL_National become a partisan witchhunt group targeting people for political beliefs. I stand with @Cernovich & @JackPosobiec https://t.co/N3nC78t4CS — Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) July 20, 2017

Worse, he specifically defended two scumbags singled out by the ADL.

One, Mike Cernovich, has called date rape a "harmful concept" that creates false rape accusations, said people should "slut-shame" black women to prevent them from getting AIDS, and referred to diversity as "code for white genocide."

The other, Jack Posobiec, is a promoter of the lie that Hillary Clinton ran a child sex ring out of a Washington, D.C., pizza shop.

"I stand with @Cernovich & @JackPosobiec," tweeted Mandel.

Ohio's other U.S. senator, Republican Rob Portman, gently chided Mandel. Then, true to form, he reaffirmed his support for Mandel's candidacy.

No one, incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown included, deserves a free pass for a politically precious Senate seat. But Mandel, the Republican front-runner in the campaign to oppose Brown next November, lacks the moral standing to be his Republican opponent.

Mike Gibbons, the wealthy Cleveland businessman opposing Mandel for the GOP nomination for the Senate seat, has little or no chance of winning his party's primary.

But if GOP leaders truly cared about the state and the country - and the past year has taught us they do not - they would embrace Gibbons' candidacy.

Don't take my word for it. Consider that Republican leaders in Columbus dislike Mandel as much or more than Democrats.

So concerned were Ohio's Republican legislators about Mandel's wasting of more than $1.8 million in taxpayer funds on television ads to promote to himself, that they passed a law preventing future officeholders from slithering through the same loophole.

Gov. John Kasich signed off on the legislature's act because he - and his entire circle of Republican allies - despise Mandel for constantly attempting to undercut some of the governor's better initiatives.

Mandel's phony ad campaign -- ostensibly designed to promote a state program -- drew the wrath of media outlets throughout the state.

Then there's the case of Ben Suarez, the felon and Canton-area businessman whose interaction with Mandel drew close scrutiny from federal criminal prosecutors. In the spring of 2011, minions from Suarez's marketing company emailed Mandel's office a letter they wanted him to send to the California state treasurer threatening a lawsuit from Ohio if officials there didn't back off their investigations of Suarez's business tactics.

The words sent by Suarez's flunkies were attached, almost word-for-word, to state of Ohio stationery, signed by Mandel, and sent to California Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who ignored Mandel's thuggish threat. With days, money from Suarez employees began pouring into Mandel's 2012 senate campaign.

In 2014, a federal court jury convicted Suarez of jury tampering in the fundraising scandal. It acquitted him on changes related to campaign finance law violations.

Suarez served nearly a year in federal prison. Mandel returned the contributions - only after learning the FBI was investigating.

Back in 2003, it was hard not to be impressed with the polite young man who launched his political career with a tireless, door-to-door campaign for a seat on Lyndhurst City Council. Eddie Haskell had nothing on the fresh-faced kid who sat in the kitchen of then-Mayor Joe Cicero and broke bread with his family.

Looking back, Cicero now knows: "Josh was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"He fooled everyone in the city. He was opportunistic from the start, one of the worst things that ever happened to Lyndhurst. Josh Mandel is inadequate as a human being."

Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer's editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.

To reach Brent Larkin: blarkin@cleveland.com

Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue) just below.