(Image source from: Indiawest.com)

The Ohio Election Commission has voted to further investigate allegations that an Indian American Democratic congressional candidate used funds from a local race to bolster his campaign for the United States Representative seat.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that 35-year-old Aftab Pureval says the funds from his local campaign account were utilized in his role as Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.

An attorney for the anti-tax activist who filed the complaint says the candidate's trips outside of the state and county, among other expenses, can't be applicable to that office.

An attorney for the Pureval campaign says he worries the process will become a "circus" used by Pureval's political opponents.

A hearing date has not been set.

Pureval is running against incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Chabot for the congressional seat in Ohio's 1st District.

Pureval is among the Democratic hopefuls looking to reclaim districts that span the nation's small and midsize cities and their surrounding suburbs and small towns - much of it political territory where Democrats have swept away in Republicans' 2010 midterm romp.

By Sowmya Sangam