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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2010 > February > 10
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Dem O’Shaughnessy launches secretary of state campaign
Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, with Gov. Ted Strickland’s blessing, launched her campaign for secretary of state, the state’s chief elections officer, on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
Strickland tapped O’Shaughnessy, Franklin County Clerk of Courts, for the slot after state Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, withdrew from the race.
“She will be a guardian of the integrity of the elections system and implement new ideas to increase voter participation and enhance voter protection,” Strickland said in a press release.
O’Shaughnessy pledged to “work every day to administer elections in a free, open and fair way.”
State Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine wasn’t impressed.
“Another week, another candidate for secretary of state. They obviously spin a wheel over at the Democratic Party headquarters and whoever it lands on gets to run for this office,” DeWine said in press release.
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, and former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien seeking the GOP nomination for secretary of state.
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Fisher campaign study: Loans to Dayton small businesses drop 28 percent
Loans to small businesses in Dayton dropped 28 percent - more than $5 million - between 2006 and 2009, according to a study prepared and released on Wednesday, Feb. 10, by Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher’s U.S. Senate campaign. The drop was from about $17.9 million to about $12.8 million, according to the Fisher campaign.
In a conference call with reporters, Fisher, a Democrat, blamed the drop largely on the economic policies of former Republican President George W. Bush. Fisher called Republican Rob Portman, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, a “chief architect” of Bush policies. Bush, with Portman’s backing, cut SBA funding and increased fees for small businesses, said Fisher.
Portman served as budget director and U.S. trade representative under Bush.
Statewide, loans to small businesses dropped 34 percent during the period of the study, Fisher said. The study looked at loans from the federal Small Business Administration used to start up and expand small businesses. The SBA does not make the loans, but guarantees them.
Jessica Towhey, spokeswoman for Portman’s campaign, said she was wary of the study.
“We have to wonder about the authenticity of data coming from a campaign that is desperate to convince Ohioans that Job Czar Lee Fisher spent the last three years focused on creating jobs while more than 300,000 Ohioans have lost their jobs and the unemployment rate has more than doubled,” Towhey said in an e-mail.
To help small businesses, Fisher proposed:
*Creating five million jobs nationwide over two years with a new job creation tax credit.
*Encouraging banks to get loans out to responsible small business owners and cutting red tape.
*Boosting transparency and accountability on Wall Street.
Fisher is running for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
Portman, also a former Cincinnati-area congressman, is running against Cleveland-area car dealer Tom Ganley for the GOP nomination.
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Speaker to allow Right to Life teen on the House floor
Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, reconsidered his opposition to honoring 19-year-old Elizabeth Trisler on the House floor, according to spokesman Keary McCarthy.
Last year, Trisler won an oratory contest sponsored by the National Right to Life and was invited by state Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, to be recognized on the floor. Lawmakers often applaud winning sports teams and academic stand outs on the floor for their achievements.
McCarthy said Budish was concerned that Trisler would use the moment to advocate for her position on abortion.
Both Ohio Right to Life and the ACLU of Ohio urged Budish to reconsider.
Although not a written rule or policy, traditionally, the recognition moments are not used for issue advocacy, McCarthy said.
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Poll: Let gays serve openly in military
Gay men and women should be able to serve openly in the U.S. military, according to a national Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters released on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
By a 57-36 percent margin, voters say gays should be able to serve openly.
Also, by a 66-31 percent margin, voters say the current policy of not allowing openly gay men and women to serve is discrimination.
However, by 54-38 percent margin, voters also say gays serving in the military should face restrictions on showing their sexual orientation on the job.
Among voters in military households with an active or reserve or veteran family member, there was a split - 48-47 percent - on ending the current “don’t ask; don’t tell policy,”
There’s a partisan split on repealing the current policy. Democrats back ending it, 72-23 percent while Republicans oppose repeal, 53-40 percent. Independents favor repeal, 56-37 percent.
“Voters think 2-1 that keeping gays from serving is discrimination,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a press release.
“But they are much more mixed on exactly how the transformation of the military will occur and how the Pentagon should adjust to the needs of gay soldiers, sailors and Marines.”
Other poll findings:
*By an 82-10 percent margin, voters say the military should stop pursuing disciplinary action against gays who are outed against their will.
*Voters split 45-46 percent on whether heterosexual personnel should be required to share quarters with gay personnel.
*Voters say 65-30 percent - including 57-38 percent among military families - that ending “don’t ask; don’t tell” will not be divisive or hurt the ability to fight effectively.
*By a 50-43 percent margin, voters say the Pentagon should not provide for domestic partners of gay personnel.
