Local store owner says Obama campaign wrongly used her business in ad

CINCINNATI - A Cincinnati store owner is asking the Obama campaign to remove her business from a political campaign ad.

Debra Krause-McDonnell has asked that Krause’s, a Findlay Market cheese shop at 117 W. Elder St., be removed from the Obama campaign ad that focuses on small businesses. Krause-McDonnell said she has not associated with any political party as part of the business for the last 14 years. She and her husband purchased the business in 1996.

The ad shows the storefront and the word “Krause’s” on screen. Krause-McDonnell said the ad has hurt her business and that the Hamilton County Democratic Party has ignored her requests to have the advertisement altered.

She said an Obama campaign representative misled one of her managers about the use of the storefront for political purposes.

“I never gave permission to any political campaign to use our storefront and to associate my name with any political campign,” Krause-McDonnell said. “The Obama campaign is using my storefront in their television advertising and it falsely appears that our business is supporting his campaign.”

She said she would feel the same way if the Romney campaign had used her store in its advertising and said she hopes to settle the matter without taking legal action.