Less regulations, new blood in Washington and a commitment to stopping reckless spending are the necessary steps to returning jobs to Ohio, Josh Mandel told a group of about 50 supporters Tuesday at the Warren County Republican Headquarters.

Mandel outlined his plan to bring jobs back to the region, which included easing tax burdens on small businesses and farmers and creating an environment conducive to manufacturing businesses.

“Small businesses are hampered by an overly complicated tax code and an overly aggressive regulatory environment,” Mandel said. “We have a federal government that treats small businesses as guilty until proven innocent.”

Mandel said the nation’s energy policy should take advantage of natural gas reserves buried under the eastern portion of the state.

“The administration — and Congress to a certain extent — fail to see our natural resources as assets,” Mandel said. “I believe the oil and gas and other natural resources we’re blessed to have should be used in a responsible way.”

Mandel also called for the loosening of regulations on farmers and elimination of the so-called “death tax,” which he said was an unjust double taxation that stole money from hardworking farmers.

Mandel painted himself as a plucky underdog who came from 17 points behind Sen. Sherrod Brown into a dead heat, according to the latest poll by The Columbus Dispatch and as someone who was not afraid to stand up to his own party if he disagreed with them.

Mandel called Brown’s attack on him as an absentee Treasurer “hogwash” and cited an upgrade in the Ohio Enterprise Bond Fund, a AAA rating for the state’s investment fund, and cutting the budget for the past two years as proof of success on the job.

“When I came into the Treasurer’s office, it was a fiscal nightmare and an ethics mess,” Mandel said. “I’m proud to report we cleaned it up”

Brown’s camp called Mandel hypocritical for attacking Brown’s years in office and a danger to the middle class.

“I can’t remember a time Josh Mandel wasn’t on the ballot,” Brown spokesman Justin Barasky said. “He’s barely in one office before he’s running for another.”

Mandel’s priorities were a threat to the middle class, Barasky said, citing the candidate’s failure to support the auto bailout, which Barasky said saved 850,000 Ohio jobs.