By: Danny Jacobs

Mike Ertel decided last month not to take legal action against Bill Paulshock, one of his Democratic primary opponents in the Baltimore County Council’s Fifth District, over the allegedly incorrect address Paulshock lists on his voter registration form. Ertel’s campaign manager told me in July that they would “bring the matter to the public’s attention” and allow voters to decide what to do with their allegations rather than file suit.

The Ertel campaign’s new YouTube video on the subject begins with Ertel in front of what he claims to be Paulshock’s true residence in the Third District community of Kingsville. The video then cuts to Ertel standing outside of Bill’s Seafood and Catering Co. on Belair Road in Perry Hall, which is attached to a home that Paulshock has said is his “domicile.”

For the record, Paulshock’s voting registration address with the Baltimore County Board of Elections is in Perry Hall. County voting records indicate Paulshock was registered to vote in Kingsville between 2001 and 2004 before reverting back to the Perry Hall address.

Ertel’s three-minute clip includes man-on-the-street interviews he did with people about the importance of a politician living in the district he represents. (Paulshock’s name is not mentioned in the interviews.)

Ertel ends the video by saying he is “not only running in the Fifth District but lives there.”

Do you think this ad was a better strategy than a lawsuit? What kind of impact will it have on voters?