Dispatch – Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel declined to say why he was in Washington today even though his schedule showed that he planned a series of fund-raisers for his campaign to defeat Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Mandel, a first-term state treasurer, was entering a downtown restaurant for a fund-raiser when a reporter introduced himself and asked “what else” Mandel was doing in Washington beside the fund-raiser.

Rather than answer, Mandel walked to the rear entrance of the restaurant. As he did, the reporter asked, “Nothing else?’’ Again, Mandel declined to answer as an aide told him, “Right this way.”

It is not the first time that Mandel has had a non-responsive exchange with reporters covering his campaign. He has declined to respond to questions about an FBI investigation into $105,000 in donations to his campaign from employees of a Canton company. Mandel has returned the contributions.

In addition, Brown’s campaign staff has assailed Mandel for holding fund-raisers outside of Ohio on days when he is supposed to conduct his duties as state treasurer.