Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican hoping to unseat incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown from the U.S. Senate in November, mixes attacks on Brown with promotion of his own candidacy in his 30-second TV ad “Change.”

Brown “gave huge bonuses to executives,” the announcer and onscreen graphic say.

PolitiFact Ohio checked out the ad’s claim.

The ad cites Brown’s Feb. 13, 2009, vote on H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus. It also cites a March 17, 2009, article in The New York Times about the outcry over disclosures that the American International Group paid $165 million in bonuses. The story does not mention Brown.

When PolitiFact Ohio contacted Mandel’s campaign, also cited a Fox Business story that the stimulus legislation allowed firms like AIG, which had received funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, to give out executive bonuses that had been agreed on prior to the bill becoming law.