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May 2010
Strickland edges Kasich in Ohio Poll; Fisher, Portman close in Senate race
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland leads Republican challenger John Kasich, the former Columbus-area U.S. House member, among likely voters, 49-44 percent, in an Ohio Poll released on Friday, May 28.
While Strickland has a slight edge in the governor’s race, the U.S. Senate race between Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Republican Rob Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member, is a virtual tie, with Fisher at 47 percent and Portman at 46 percent.
The poll, sponsored by the University of Cincinnati, also finds that President Barack Obama’s approval rating is down and Strickland’s is up from last fall among Ohio adults, both those likely to vote and unlikely to vote in this year’s elections.
Forty six percent approve Obama’s performance, while 49 percent disapprove. Last October, 52 percent approved and 45 percent disapproved.
In the new poll, 55 percent approve Strickland’s performance, while 35 percent disapprove. Last October, 48 percent approved and 37 percent disapproved.
Other poll findings:
*A majority of voters- 54 percent - say they neither support nor oppose the Tea Party.
*Tea Party supporters make up 29 percent of likely voters, expressing preferences similar to Republican voters. Both groups solidly support Kasich, a former Lehman Brothers managing partner, for governor.
*Independent voters support Strickland, 44-30 percent, with 25 percent undecided or supporting another candidate.
*Independent voters give Portman an edge in the Senate race, 44-35 percent, with 20 percent undecided.
For questions asked of likely voters, the poll was taken from May 11 to May 20 with 668 likely voters across the state and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percent.
For questions asked of Ohio adults, a sample of 898 adults was used, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.
Beginning with this poll, all Ohio Polls now include interviews with both landline telephone and cellular telephone users, a press release said. The change in telephone survey methodology comes on the heels of a recent report showing that one in four American households does not have a landline phone, the release said.
TweetBrunner forms “CouragePAC”
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Friday, May 28, asked supporters to join her in a new effort - “CouragePAC.”
Brunner, who lost the Democratic U.S. Senate primary to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, said in an email to supporters that she calls it CouragePAC ” because candidates who are willing to push through the trappings of big money and the naysaying of established machine politics will need a little courage. We want to help them.
“The campaign we ran for U.S. Senate taught us a new way to campaign in Ohio.”
She asks for donations and says the organization will “help candidates, especially those outside of the special interests that have dominated campaign funding for years.”
She also asks for donations to pay off a debt from her Senate campaign.
Brunner’s decision to seek the U.S. Senate nomination meant she’s not seeking re-election as secretary of state.
Here’s her email:
“The campaign we ran for U.S. Senate taught us a new way to campaign in Ohio.
That’s why I’m not done, and I hear from so many of you that you are ready for the next challenge. That’s why we’re forming an organization to help candidates, especially those outside of the special interests that have dominated campaign funding for years.
We know that women and people of color and differing national origins, sexual orientation and gender identity have not typically been afforded easy access to the mainstream of campaign funding, even though they are increasingly moving into the mainstream of our communities.
We are in a time of profound social change and seeing it in health care reform, banking regulation reform and immigration reform. These are tough issues.
With new challenges like the Citizens United decision that allows corporations to become directly involved in candidate campaigns, the stakes for preserving real democracy are even higher.
It’s important that our government “look like us” and represent the diversity of our experiences.
New candidates who step up buoyed by a passion for public service to solve problems of our complex communities can no longer sustain the established ways that force money to the top of all the issues in a campaign.
Candidates must be able to run consistently with their values. When candidates actually spend time with voters and supporters, both in person and virtually through online communication and video, everyone benefits. Voters can see and hear directly from the candidate, and the candidate better understands their needs. In the end we all get better, people-centered government. So, let’s get started.
I’m working on closure for my Senate primary campaign and will be transitioning activities to a new organization called, “CouragePAC.” We call it CouragePAC, because candidates who are willing to push through the trappings of big money and the naysaying of established machine politics will need a little courage. We want to help them.
But first, I need a little help to get closure on my Senate race. We have a modest debt to be paid so we can move forward and help others. Will you chip in? Your contributions were so helpful in making our grassroots campaign strong and to prove there is a new way to campaign. Just a little more, and we can help others do this, too.
The contribution limit is $2400, but we’re happy with $5 or whatever you want to contribute. Your contribution will help us quickly pay off primary election debt so we can move forward to help other candidates get started.”
TweetStrickland suspends inmate work program
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today, May 27, suspended the Pickaway Correctional Institution’s Inmate Work Program at the Governor’s Residence.
A statement released late Thursday afternoon said the governor decided to suspend the program after learning an inmate consumed alcohol while working at the residence today.
“I have directed the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to immediately suspend the program until a full and thorough external review of this program can be completed,” Strickland said.
According to the Associated Press, prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says the department believes two inmates may have been drinking at the home on Thursday. It was unclear where the alcohol may have come from.
Strickland has been facing political fallout since January after aides canceled an unrelated contraband sting involving an inmate at the residence.
TweetHouse OKs redistricting overhaul ballot proposal
The House on Thursday, May 27, approved a proposal for the November ballot asking voters to overhaul how Ohio draws new state legislative districts every 10 years.
House Joint Resolution 15, approved 69-28 in the Democratic-controlled House, differs from Senate Joint Resolution 5, a competing plan passed earlier by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Negotiations are expected to start immediately with the goal of coming up with a compromise before the legislature leaves for the summer, possibly at the end of next week.
“I’ve got work to do,” said Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, sponsor of the Senate plan.
Husted’s proposal would do away with the five-member Apportionment Board, made up of the governor, auditor, secretary of state and a legislator from each party. The party that controls two of the three statewide seats on the board controls redistricting. It draws legislative districts after each census.
His plan would instead set up a seven-member commission - governor, auditor, secretary of state, House speaker, Senate president and House and Senate minority leaders. A five-vote supermajority would be required to adopt a redistricting plan. Also, at least two votes would have to come from commission members not in the majority party.
The new commission also would draw U.S. House districts. The legislature now draws the U.S. House districts.
Compactness and competitiveness would be emphasized in drawing new districts under the plan.
The House plan would not change how U.S. House districts are drawn.
It calls for Ohio citizens after each census - including the 2010 census - to submit proposals to the Apportionment Board based on: competitive fairness; political competitiveness; communities of interest and compactness.
The board would administer the process but district lines would be determined by the winner of a public competition using the predetermined criteria.
Challenges would be settled by a judicial tribunal.
TweetOhioans one step closer to being allowed to carry guns in bars, restaurants
Concealed carry permit holders would be allowed to carry their guns into bars and restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages under legislation approved 23-10 on Thursday, May 27, by the Ohio Senate.
Senate Bill 239 now goes to the Ohio House.
The permit holder would be allowed to carry the gun in bars and restaurants as long as he or she was not drinking.
The bill also removes requirements that guns carried by permit holders in motor vehicles be kept out of sight in locations such as glove compartments.
Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, sponsor of the bill, said more than 40 other states already permit permit concealed carry in bars and restaurants.
TweetTeen sexting bill passed by Ohio House
By Laura A. Bischoff Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS - Teens who send and receive nude photos of one another could be prosecuted for “sexting” but wouldn’t risk being labeled sex offenders for the rest of their lives, according to a bill passed Wednesday, May 26, by the Ohio House.
Currently, such exchange of nude photos of minors - even among hormone-charged teens - falls under the statutes that ban adults from trafficking in child pornography.
House members voted 86-12 in favor of the bill that attempts to deal with the increasingly popular practice among teens of sending out sexually explicit photos of themselves via cell phones or computer. An Associated Press-MTV poll last year found more than a quarter of teens surveyed said they had engaged in sexting. When teens break up, often the photos then make the cyber rounds, which can lead to harassment and tragedy.
Jessica Logan, 18, of Cincinnati, hanged herself in 2008 after enduring weeks of ridicule at school because her ex-boyfriend forwarded a nude picture she had sent him to other girls. In Kettering, 10 Alter High School students were suspended for forwarding sexually explicit photos of an Alter freshman girl to other students via cell phones.
Bill sponsor Connie Pillich, D-Cincinnati, said Ohio is among 15 states that have passed or are considering similar bills.
The Ohio Association of Prosecuting Attorneys opposes the bill. The bill now moves to the Ohio Senate for consideration.
TweetHuntington loans $465 million to small businesses
Gov. Ted Strickland and Huntington Bank Chief Executive Steve Steinour stood shoulder to shoulder last year during the height of the credit crunch to announce the plan to loan $1 billion to small businesses in Ohio.
They joined together on Wednesday, May 26, to announce the bank has loaned $465 million to more than 2,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in Ohio over the last year.
“It is a program that is, in fact, working,” Strickland said.
The Ohio Huntington Business Loan Program, which runs for three years, includes a variety of state and federal loan programs. Steinour said the loans are going to companies that employ a handful to hundreds of workers.
TweetStrickland names new public safety director - updated with Senate President Harris reaction
Moving quickly, Gov. Ted Strickland on Wednesday, May 26, named Tom Stickrath, 55, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, effective immediately.
Stickrath replaces Cathy Collins-Taylor whose appointment was rejected by the Ohio Senate, 18-15, on Tuesday. Stickrath had been director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
The Senate rejected Collins-Taylor’s appointment in the wake of her role in a controversy surrounding a canceled contraband sting operation at the governor’s residence in suburban Columbus
Stickrath’s salary is $128,544, the governor’s office said in a press release. His appointment also will require Senate confirmation.
Current DYS Deputy Director for the Division of Facility Programs and Operations, Christine Money, will serve as interim director of the Department of Youth Services until the governor appoints a director, a press release said.
“I know that Tom’s thoughtful leadership, personal integrity and deep commitment to public safety will ensure the department continues its important mission to protect the safety and security of Ohioans,” Strickland said in the release.
Strickland picked a director who is widely-known around the Statehouse. Stickrath has served as youth services director since December 2004.
Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, who voted against Collins-Taylor, said that he always has worked well with Stickrath, Maggie Ostrowski, Harris’ spokeswoman, said in an email.
Before taking over at DYS, Stickrath was assistant director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC).
Also, Stickrath served as interim director of the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Services in 1991 and 1998, and as the interim director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety in 2002, the release said.
Stickrath also served as a regional director, warden and chief inspector for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the release added.
The release said that as DYS director Stickrath “instituted an aggressive agenda of reform that improved all aspects of the agency including facility operations, assessments of when youths were ready to be released, and consistency in parole decisions.”
Stickrath received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio State University in 1976 and a law degree from Ohio State University in 1979, said the release.
“I’ve spent a lengthy career in state government working to protect the public safety of Ohioans. I’m looking forward to using the knowledge I’ve gained over the years to meet the challenges and opportunities at the Ohio Department of Public Safety,” Stickrath said in the release.
“As director, I’ll work to further the critical mission of the department to keep Ohioans and their communities safe and secure.”
Stickrath resides in Westerville; he and his wife have two children, the release said.
TweetObama approval up but hope for economy lags in new poll
For the first time this year, more voters approve of President Barack Obama’s performance than disapprove in a national Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, May 26.
Voters approve the president’s job performance, 48-43 percent, up from April 21 when 44 percent approved and 46 percent disapproved.
Still, voters say, 74-21 percent that the U.S. economy is in a recession and disapprove 50-44 percent how the president is handling the economy.
“The fact that three out of four American voters still see the nation in recession, despite the claims from the so-called experts, highlights the disconnect between Wall Street, Washington D.C.’s K St. and Main Street,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the independent Quinnipiac Poll, said in a press release..
“For Obama to get his job approval back over 50 percent, where the White House would like to be, he needs to convince Joe and Jill Six-pack that his programs are helping them.”
Other findings in the poll:
*Voters say 29-16 percent that Obama’s policies have hurt rather than helped their personal financial situation, while 54 percent say the policies have made no difference.
*American voters trust Obama 45 - 36 percent over Congressional Republicans to handle the economy.
*Voters approve, 48-30 percent with 22 percent undecided, Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.
*Voters say 42-36 percent that they would vote for a Democrat rather than a Republican in this year’s Congressional elections, reversing a 44-39 percent Republican lead on March 24.
The poll interviewed 1,914 registered voters across the country from Wednesday, May 19 to Monday, May 24, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
TweetStrickland praises big wind farm project for Lake Erie
Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday, May 24, praised plans to develop the first fresh water offshore wind farm in North America.
The project is a partnership between General Electric and the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation, according to a press release from Strickland’s office.
“Ohio’s greatest potential for creating wind energy is offshore in Lake Erie and this partnership marks a significant step forward,” Strickland said in the press release.
“Offshore wind has the potential to create thousands of new jobs in Ohio and become a major source of economic growth,” Vic Abate, vice president of GE’s renewable energy business, said in the release.
The announcement comes with the Ohio House and Senate still trying to come to agreement on legislation aimed at providing tax breaks for wind and other renewable energy projects in the state.
The Republican-controlled Senate last week approved Senate Bill 232 but the House still has not acted on similar legislation.
The Senate bill would set up a new taxing system for projects in operation by 2013. Instead of paying property tax, including the tangible personal property tax on equipment and machinery, companies would pay an annual fee of $7,000 per megawatt for the life of the facility. This is comparable to fees in neighboring states, said Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, the sponsor.
GE has pledged to providing offshore wind turbines and maintenance services for an initial 20-megawatt wind farm, the release said.
Completion is targeted for 2012, according to the release. The project would be located off the shores of Lake Erie near Cleveland. It would be followed by more projects with a long-term goal of 1,000 megawatts in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie by 2020, the release said.
The project needs the approval of the Ohio Power Siting Board, said Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman.
TweetEsrati to run for Congress
By Joanne Huist Smith Staff Writer
DAYTON — Dayton activist and business owner David Esrati is the latest Democrat to announce that he’s running for Congress to challenge U.S. Rep. Mike Turner in November.
On Friday, May 21, Esrati said he has started collecting the 50 signatures required to get his name on the ballot to run in the 3rd Congressional District. The district covers most of Montgomery County, northern Warren County and all of Clinton and Highland counties.
Political consultant Joe Roberts of Kettering, who announced he was running earlier this week, picked up candidate petitions on Friday.
The party’s former candidate, Dr. Mark A. MacNealy of Vandalia, informed the Montgomery County Board of Elections earlier this week that he is no longer seeking the 3rd Congressional District seat held by Turner. Roberts was working for MacNealy before he dropped out of the race.
Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, proposed to the Ohio secretary of state a deadline of June 10 for candidates to file petitions for a special election to be July 13. He expects a decision from the state by Monday.
The state will pay for the special election estimated to cost between $300,000 - $325,000. Esrati ran in the Democratic Primary for the 3rd congressional District in 2008 and lost to Jane Mitakides who lost to Turner in the general election. Esrati’s last election was a bid in 2009 for Dayton city commissioner.
Esrati’s petitions to run for Congress in this year’s May 4 primary were rejected by the board of elections because his candidacy declaration was not properly signed and dated. Harsman asked the Ohio secretary of state to determine if Esrati’s earlier filing prevented him from seeking the office again.
“It’s the secretary of state’s opinion that he can file for it,” Harsman said.
Esrati said he is video taping citizens as they sign his candidate petitions. Esrati, owner of The Next Wave advertising agency, plans to incorporate the video footage into his campaign ads.
“I have a passion for honest, open government,” Esrati said. “I can bring accessibility. I can bring new thinking. I can bring a true independent perspective that’s not going to sell out to corporations and special interest groups.”
Roberts said he’s running because he’s tired of seeing families suffer.
“We really need someone to step up with a middle class background who understands what it is to live from paycheck to paycheck,” he said.
The Montgomery County Democratic Party plans to look at all candidates who file, then decide whether to endorse, said Mark Owens, chairman of the party.
Turner campaign spokesman Adam Murka said the congressman is fully focused on working on behalf of his constituents.
“We look forward to running a strong race in November that will focus on the issues pressing our country and Mike Turner’s strong record of achievement, regardless of who our democratic opponent might be,” Murka said.
TweetOhio leads nation in job gains in April
Ohio gained more jobs than any other state in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, May 21.
Ohio gained 37,300 jobs over the March number, followed by Pennsylvania which gained 34,000 jobs, the bureau reported.
Despite the gain in April, the state still has a long way to go before recovering all the jobs lost since the beginning of the current recession in December 2007. There were 5,023,000 jobs reported for April, 405,000 fewer than the 5,428,000 jobs in December 2007.
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who’s been blasted regularly by Republicans for job losses, praised the new report in a press release:
“This news, coming on the heels of the recent passage of Ohio Third Frontier and the ongoing research being generated by our great universities, should give us all hope that Ohio is well-positioned for recovery. Ohioans are working hard to rebuild our economy.
“We have a long way to go, but Ohio is making steady progress in the right direction.” The report came as the state’s unemployment rate for April declined to 10.9 percent, from 11 percent in March.
Economist Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics in Pepper Pike, a Cleveland suburb, said the numbers for the unemployment rate and jobs come from separate surveys.
The unemployment rate numbers come from a survey of households while the jobs numbers come from a survey of business establishment. The business establishment survey is less volatile, said Mayland.
TweetRepublicans launch new ad against Strickland
The Republican Governors Association launched a 30-second TV ad on Friday, May 21, that attacks Gov. Ted Strickland’s campaign for attacking the John Kasich campaign.
The RGA piece features a young woman and 50-something man sipping coffee at a diner counter and speculating on the strategy behind a political ad that the Strickland campaign ran on TV more than two weeks ago. In Strickland’s ad, a young woman questions why Ohio would want John Kasich, a former Wall Street banker, as governor.
The RGA puts forth a narrative that Strickland used an attack ad because he has nothing good to report about his track record in the governor’s office. And the ad only refers to Strickland and Kasich by last name.
RGA spokesman Tim Murtaugh declined disclose the ad buy or distribution but it is reportedly running in the Dayton market. “The ad stands out. We are actually very happy with it,” Murtaugh said.
To view the RGA ad, click here.
TweetWhat’s next for Secretary of State Brunner?
There’s political life for Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner after Brunner’s loss to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.
Brunner gave her backers a hint about those plans in an email on Thursday, May 20, and invited them to come along:
“I don’t intend to stop now. How about you? While we wait for the right time to pick up our fight in another campaign, how about helping me help others?
“In the next days and weeks I intend to introduce you to causes and people who are making a difference in their efforts to change government at all levels to work better for us. Your email address will not be provided to anyone. Instead, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about other organizations and candidates—and you can opt to learn more about them and how to get involved.”
Brunner’s campaign said further details aren’t available yet.
Here’s the full email:
In the last two weeks people have been asking, “What’s next for you?” A person can start a journey with every intention of completing it, yet be waylaid only to find a different, unanticipated path.
My U.S. Senate campaign was a journey through Ohio (in an old silver school bus) that blessed me with the privilege to see and hear firsthand the stories and concerns of many resilient and caring people in Ohio. I am forever changed by them and you.
Our campaign energized and inspired people. Our “new, old-fashioned” campaign, combining grassroots with Netroots, empowered thousands and helped us compete with less money and more genuine people support.
Together, we built an organization that can continue to demand we elect our leaders in a new way and change how our government works for us. We have a lot to do.
I don’t intend to stop now. How about you? While we wait for the right time to pick up our fight in another campaign, how about helping me help others?
In the next days and weeks I intend to introduce you to causes and people who are making a difference in their efforts to change government at all levels to work better for us. Your email address will not be provided to anyone. Instead, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about other organizations and candidates—and you can opt to learn more about them and how to get involved.
You mean a lot to me, and I’m grateful for what so many of you have done. I’m more committed than ever. We have been part of something special, each in our own unique way. I’m ready to keep going. How about you? I’ll follow up soon.
Thanks for all you do.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Brunner Ohio Secretary of State
P.S. You can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JenniferBrunner or join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BrunnerForSenate.
TweetState Rep. Winburn wins leadership institute fellowship
State Rep. Roland Winburn, D-Harrison Twp., has been chosen for a training program that identifies and assists promising state leaders in the Midwest.
He is one of 37 lawmakers in the region chosen for the program at the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development, sponsored by the Council of State Governments, according to a press release on Thursday, May 20.
He will join lawmakers from 11 states and several Canadian provinces from July 9-13 in Madison, Wisc., the release said.
“Other states in the Midwest are facing many of the same challenges we are grappling with in Ohio, and I relish the opportunity to exchange ideas with my colleagues from around the region. I look forward to bringing home leadership skills that will allow me to help position Ohio for an even greater future,” Winburn said in the release.
He and the others were chosen through a competitive nonpartisan process, the release said.
TweetIG should be able to recuse himself, legislator says
The state inspector general should have a way of removing himself from investigations involving his former employer or a family member’s current employer, a state lawmaker says.
State Rep. Dennis Murray, D-Sandusky, is introducing legislation that would require that the IG name a deputy inspector general to oversee investigations where a potential conflict may exist, including probes of agencies that formerly employed the IG or currently employ immediate family members of the IG.
The inspector general is appointed by the governor and charged with investigating allegations of waste, fraud and abuse within departments and agencies under the governor’s control.
Inspector General Tom Charles is under fire for a recent report that criticizes state Department of Public Safety Director Cathy Collins-Taylor who oversees the Ohio Highway Patrol. Charles retired from the patrol and his son and wife both currently work there.
Murray said he did not read that report or discuss the proposed legislation with Charles.
TweetLawmakers target “cyberbullying” in Ohio schools
Two Democratic House members on Monday, May 17, unveiled legislation aimed at giving local school districts the authority to crack down on “cyberbullying”, even when it occurs off school property.
The legislation backed by Reps. Marian Harris of Columbus and Nancy Garland of New Albany is pattered after Senate Bill 126, sponsored by Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo.
Because Democrats control the House, the bill could have a better chance of advancing there than in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The legislation would allow schools to discipline students who use text messaging, emails, cell phones or other interactive technologies and devices to harass, threaten or intimidate classmates. Schools already must have policies in place against bullying in general, the lawmakers said.
The bill also would also require school to provide anti-cyber bullying training to employees and volunteers.
“It’s the changing world that we live in,” Garland said, explaining the need for the legislation.
She and Harris said that courts have held that schools can impose discipline for off-campus misconduct if the behavior negatively affects the schools’ educational environment.
Damon Asbury, director of legislative services for the Ohio School Boards Association, said his group has not taken a position on the legislation but that many districts already have policies in place to address cyber bullying.
TweetSubpoenas issued in Governor’s mansion investigation
By Laura A. Bischoff Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland on Friday, May 14 is calling tactics used by state Sen. Tim Grendell “disturbing,” “un-American” and “bullying” after the GOP-controlled Senate issued subpoenas and asked two top administration officials to waive their constitutional rights.
Grendell, R-Chesterland, plans to hold hearings on Wednesday and Thursday next week over when and why Public Safety Director Cathy Collins Taylor killed a planned sting operation at the Governor’s Residence in January.
Letters from Grendell to Collins Taylor and Ohio Highway Patrol Superintendent David Dicken said they would be administered an oath “and asked to waive, in writing, any immunity that might accrue from testifying before the Committee.”
Letters to other subpoenaed witnesses did not ask them to waive their rights. Grendell could not be reached for comment.
“This is, I believe, a McCarthy Era tactic. I think it’s reprehensible,” Strickland said.
The showdown between Grendell and the Strickland administration stems from the decision to cancel a sting operation at the Governor’s Residence while the Stricklands hosted John and Annie Glenn at a dinner party.
Prison officials told the patrol of plans by an inmate working at the residence to have drugs or tobacco dropped there so he could smuggle them into the prison. Collins Taylor, who oversees the patrol, called off the planned sting. The question is whether it was done over concerns for safety or political embarrassment for Strickland.
State Inspector General Tom Charles issued a report last month that criticized supervision of the inmate work program at the Residence and said Collins Taylor lied to investigators. Collins Taylor’s job hangs in the balance since the Strickland administration inadvertently never submitted her name to the Ohio Senate for confirmation.
Collins Taylor’s attorney Rocky Saxbe said his client plans to be at the hearings and tell the truth. As far as waiving of rights, Saxbe said, “we have got to have clarification on why this is being done and why it is being done selectively.”
TweetPresident Obama to visit Youngstown
President Barack Obama will visit V & M Star, a steel manufacturing company in Youngstown, on Tuesday, May 18, the White House said on Friday, May 14.
Obama will speak on jobs and the economy to workers, the White House said. Federal stimulus investments helped “propel” an expansion that Valllourec, parent company of V & M, was considering, the White House said.
The new plant is expected to double the size of V & M’s Youngstown workforce when complete, the White House added.
TweetKasich in Xenia on Strickland attack: “Pathetic”
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s blasts at Republican John Kasich’s Wall Street connections drew a sharp response from Kasich on Thursday, May 13.
“I thought it was pathetic,” Kasich told reporters after speaking to a rally at the Shawnee Park Pavilion in Xenia.
Strickland and his allies “want to change the subject” from the state’s slumping economy, said Kasich.
Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member, didn’t mention Strickland’s attack during his 15-minute speech which focused on his plans to create jobs, cut taxes and streamline government.
“The situation in our state ….is we have to create an environment where we can create jobs,” said Kasich.
It was Kasich’s 58th birthday and the crowd of about 80 serenaded him with a chorus of “Happy Birthday.” He and his lieutenant governor running mate Mary Taylor are on the second day of a three-day, 13-county campaign bus trip through Republican-friendly territory. They were accompanied in Xenia by Kasich’s wife Karen and their twins, Emma and Reese, 10.
Strickland on Wednesday called Kasich “Wall Street to the core” and said he wouldn’t let Kasich dodge discussing Kasich’s nearly eight years as a managing director of Lehman Brothers, the investment firm whose 2008 bankruptcy has been blamed for the nation’s economic meltdown.
Lis Smith, Strickland’s campaign spokeswoman, said in an email that Kasich has spent a year criticizing Strickland without offering positive ideas for the future and that his “latest stunt reeks of desperation.”
“Ted is not going to give Ohio over to Wall Street values without a fight,” said Smith.
TweetStrickland on Kasich: “He’s Wall Street to the core”
Gov. Ted Strickland roared into the general election campaign on Wednesday, May 12, with a withering attack on his Republican opponent John Kasich’s work as a managing director of Lehman Brothers, the Wall Street investment banking firm whose 2008 bankruptcy has been blamed for the nation’s economic meltdown.
“…when Lehman Brothers plummeted into the largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States, Congressman Kasich and the top people at Lehman brothers put out their hands and kept getting paid,” Strickland said in his 25-minute speech at Ohio Democratic headquarters here.
Strickland said investors all over the world, including Ohio state pension funds, lost “hundreds of millions of dollars because of Lehman Brothers’ collapse.” He assailed Wall Street “greed.”
Kasich, he said, is “Wall Street to the core.”
See the whole speech here.
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesman, fired back with this email:
“The most important thing for Ohio right now is to create jobs and revive our economy. Ohioans have had three and a half years to judge Ted Strickland’s performance, and by every measure, he has failed and Ohioans are moving on.
“Ted Strickland’s fixation on negative attacks does nothing to revive our economy or create jobs, and is a transparent admission that he has nothing to brag about in his own record. Ohioans will see through him and hold him accountable in November.”
Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member, was a managing director for Lehman Brothers for about eight years from about 2001 until shortly after the firm collapsed in 2008.
Strickland said that Kasich once touted his work at the firm but now has removed any mention of it from his campaign Web site. Kasich used to “drop the names of his fellow business big shots” like Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld, said Strickland.
Kasich, according to Strickland, said “I like people who are really smart and really great leaders.”
“And, he forgot to mention, really, really unethical,” Strickland said.
The governor contrasted Kasich’s “Wall Street values” with the values Strickland said he had learned from his parents growing up on rural Duck Run in Scioto County in southern Ohio.
His best advice, Strickland said, came from his mother: “Love your family and look out for each other.”
He mocked Kasich’s work as a Wall Street investment banker:
“…before I’d go to John Kasich for lessons on successful banking, I’d go to Dick Cheney for lessons on safe hunting.”
After the speech, Strickland acknowledged that he is trying to define Kasich to voters in the wake of polls that show many Ohioans don’t know enough about Kasich to have an opinion of him.
TweetStrickland, Kasich heat up race for governor
With the primary now a week behind them, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and his Republican challenger, former U.S. Rep. John Kasich, began ratcheting up their campaign efforts on Wednesday, May 12.
Strickland will deliver what his campaign is calling “a major campaign speech—his first in the race—outlining the stark choices for governor and the high stakes of the November election” at 11 a.m. at Ohio Democratic Party headquarters in Columbus.
The speech will be streamed live at www.tedstrickland.com/live
Kasich and state Auditor Mary Taylor, his lieutenant governor running mate, meanwhile, are launching a 14-county campaign bus tour that will include stops in the Dayton area on Thursday.
The Thursday stops include:
Miami County
10:30 - 11:30 a.m., tour and economic roundtable with local business leaders at Repacorp, Inc., Tipp City.
Greene County
12:30 - 1:30 p.m., rally with supporters, Shawnee Park, 591 South Park Drive, Xenia
Butler County
2:30 - 3:45 p.m., tour and economic roundtable with local business leaders, Connector Manufacturing Corp., Hamilton
Also, Wednesday, Kasich will appear live via the Internet at 7 p.m. at the Western Ohio Reagan Dinner. You can watch the webcast by visiting http://www.KasichForOhio.com/webcast.
TweetDems response: 4 shirtless men, 1 woman in a bra
The advertising tactics in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio took another strange turn on Monday, May 10 when the Ohio Democratic Party released an Internet ad urging workers to take off their shirts and send them to Republican candidate Rob Portman.
The ad features three paunchy, shirtless union men and one bra-wearing union woman talking about how Portman’s trade and economic policies during his time in the Bush administration caused blue collar workers to lose their shirts.
Confused?
Last week, the National Republican Senatorial Committee used a screen-shot of shirtless Democrat Lee Fisher in a sexually suggestive Internet ad that implied Fisher was masturbating.
YouTube removed the ad on Friday over a copyright complaint. The NRSC re-posted it on its website but then removed it over the weekend. The NRSC claimed that their ad was about jobs lost during Fisher’s time as Ohio’s economic development director.
The ad got slammed by critics but it did create buzz.
On Monday, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern called shirtless Fisher ad sleazy, over the top, demeaning and indecent. And then he unveiled the party’s response: www.portmantooktheshirtoffmyback.com and a short ad featuring the shirtless union members standing in an alley and dumping on Portman’s trade policies. The workers urge Ohioans to mail a shirt off their back to Portman.
To see the ad, click here.
Redfern also said that Portman hasn’t done enough to denounce the NRSC ad. “Washington may have the stomach for this kind of sleaze, but it’s outrageous that Congressman Portman would allow these tactics be used on his behalf,” Redfern said.
“Rob Portman spoke out against this ad last week as soon as he saw it, saying it was in poor taste and making clear that he had communicated that to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, Chris Redfern and the Ohio Democratic Party know this,” Portman campaign spokeswoman Jessica Towhey.
TweetObama Supreme Court nominee gets mixed Ohio reaction
President Barack Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, May 10, got a mixed reaction from Ohio officeholders, including the state’s two U.S. senators.
“I look forward to meeting Elena Kagan and exploring her judicial philosophy and relevant background in academia and government to determine if she is fit to serve,” Republican Sen. George Voinovich said in a press release.
Kagan’s lack of judicial experience means the Senate Judiciary Committee and full Senate need the “requisite time for an exhaustive review of her record,” said Voinovich.
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who like Voinovich would have to vote on the nomination if it gets to the Senate floor, was more upbeat.
“Elena Kagan’s diverse background has given her a unique understanding of how the law affects every-day Americans. I look forward to a thorough confirmation process that will allow us to learn more about Solicitor General Kagan’s perspective and record,” Brown said in a press release.
He said that he hoped she would “rectify the recent judicial activism which produced the Citizens United decision, overturning a century of jurisprudence to give large corporations too big a voice in our elections.”
U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, who has no vote on the nomination, was critical.
“Given her lack of judicial experience or time spent as a practicing lawyer, other aspects of her record must be thoroughly examined, including her troubling decision to ban United States Armed forces recruiters from Harvard Law School,” Boehner said in a press release.
The two major party candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in this year’s election also were divided.
Republican Rob Portman, the former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member, took a wait-and-see approach in his press release:
‘I am hopeful that she will make clear that she will not legislate from the bench and will instead be guided by the Constitution.”
Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the Democratic candidate for Senate, praised Kagan in his prepared statement:
“She brings outstanding qualifications and a deep understanding of constitutional law to the Court.”
The winner of the Senate race will replace Voinovich, who is retiring.
TweetKarl Rove to sign books at Butler County bookstore
Karl Rove is signing copies of his new book, Courage and Consequence, at Books-A-Million in Fairfield Twp. on Friday, May 21.
Rove, former senior advisor to President George W. Bush, will be at the store from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
The store is at 3355-3435 Princeton Road in the Bridgewater Falls Shopping Center.
For more details, go to www.rove.com.
TweetDann admits guilt to criminal charges
For two years, former attorney general Marc Dann insisted that while he made mistakes, he committed no crimes. But on Friday, May 7, Dann pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor ethics charges in the scandal that forced him to resign, damaged his reputation and finances and destroyed his marriage.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Ted Barrows sentenced Dann to $1,000 in fines and 500 hours of community service, plus court costs. Dann told the judge that he was unable to pay the fines until next week.
Dann said he would report the convictions to the disciplinary counsel of the Ohio Supreme Court and make an argument that he should be allowed to continue practicing law.
Dann accepted responsibility for his actions and pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting or receiving improper compensation and one count of filing false financial disclosure statements.
Dann, a Democrat, held the attorney general’s office for just 17 months. His administration was marked by gaffes and then a sexual harassment scandal involving his top aide. Dann admitted that he was unprepared for the office and confessed to an extramarital affair with a junior staffer.
The scandal led to Dann being forced to resign May 14, 2008 and investigations by the state Inspector General, Ohio Ethics Commission, Secretary of State, state Auditor and Ohio Highway Patrol.
In addition to Dann, the following people also pleaded guilty to criminal charges during the probe: Alyssa Lenhoff, his estranged wife; Edgar Simpson, his former chief of staff; Leo Jennings III, his former communications director; and Tony Gutierrez, his former general services director.
TweetPortman, Fisher start out tied in race for U.S. Senate.
Democrat Lee Fisher and Republican Rob Portman are starting their general election campaign for the U.S. Senate in a virtual tie among likely voters, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released on Friday, May 7.
The survey, taken on Wednesday, May 5, showed Fisher, the lieutenant governor, leading 43-42 percent, with 4 percent choosing another candidate and 11 percent undecided.
The poll, with margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent, came just a day after Fisher defeated Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for the Democratic nomination in the Ohio primary.
Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member and budget director and U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush, was unopposed for the Republican nomination.
The winner in the general election will replace Republican Sen. George Voinovich who is retiring at the end of the year.
The survey was taken with 500 likely voters.
TweetPoll: Ohio voters favor Arizona-type immigration law
Fifty-nine percent of Ohio likely voters favored an immigration law like the one adopted in Arizona, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released on Friday, May 7.
The poll found that 32 percent of likely voters opposed such a law, which permits local police to stop and check immigration status when they suspect people of being illegal immigrants.
The survey also found that 62 percent of those favoring such a law back Republican John Kasich, the former Columbus-area U.S. House member, for governor. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland got the support from 74 percent of those who oppose such a law.
The poll was taken on Wednesday, May 5, with 500 likely voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.
TweetKasich, Strickland neck-and-neck in new guv poll
For the second straight month, Republican challenger John Kasich and Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland are virtually tied among likely voters in a Rasmussen Reports poll for the Ohio governor’s race released on Friday, May 7.
The poll showed Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member, leading Strickland, 46-45 percent. The margin of error in the poll was plus or minus 4.5 percent. Three percent favored another candidate and 6 percent were undecided.
Until last month, Kasich had led Strickland by from six to 11 points in surveys going back to December. The new poll was taken on Wednesday, May 5, a day after Ohio’s primary in which Kasich and Strickland were unopposed for their parties’ nominations.
The survey was taken with 500 likely voters.
TweetSexually suggestive ad attacks Fisher
A Republican attack ad uses double entendres, smarmy lounge music and a screen shot of a shirtless Lee Fisher to give the impression that the Democrat is pleasuring himself.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee released the 53-second ad on YouTube and its own website on Thursday, May 6. It uses a screen shot of Fisher, shirtless with one hand on his chest and the other hidden below his waist, and says “he didn’t get the job done” and “he was more concerned about his job than yours.”
Amber Marchand, spokeswoman for the NRSC, insists that the video is not sexually suggestive.
“The video is about jobs. The video is about Lee Fisher’s record as the job czar and the 400,000 jobs that have been lost on his watch,” she said.
Fisher, who is lieutenant governor and the Democratic Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate, served as economic development director in the Strickland administration.
To see the ad, click here. But you may want to hurry. There is a question about whether copyrighted visual images in the ad are being used without permission. The shirtless shot comes from a 2006 documentary film produced by Fisher’s son.
When asked whether NRSC has permission to use the screen shot and other video in the ad, Marchand said they haven’t received any complaints.
TweetDems’ bill targets Kasich’s finances
Two House Democrats on Thursday, May 6, targeted Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich and his personal finances with proposed legislation to require statewide, non-judicial candidates to disclose their federal income tax returns or amounts of income in a sworn statement.
“I’m not going to deny that Republicans have given us a political tool by nominating John Kasich for governor,” Rep. Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, originally from the Dayton area, said.
Kasich is a former Columbus-area U.S. House member and also a former managing director of Lehman Brothers. The company’s 2008 collapse has been blamed for the national economic meltdown.
Kasich campaign spokesman Rob Nichols sent an e-mail with this reaction:
“John and Karen have already released more information than they were required to and if the General Assembly changes the law, they’ll be glad to comply.
“Frankly, if Ted Strickland worried less about John’s money and more about the taxpayers’ money, maybe we wouldn’t be facing an $8 billion budget hole.”
Foley and Rep. Bob Hagan, D-Youngstown, added, however, that they want to restore trust in government by requiring candidates to be transparent with their personal finances. Their proposal is patterned after a Florida law, they said. It would require reporting financial records for four years and failure to comply would result in an ethics violation.
Kasich last month permitted a handful of reporters to examine but not photocopy a summary of his 2008 federal income tax return. The information showed that Kasich received a $432,000 bonus from Lehman Brothers in January 2008 for work done in 2007. It also showed that he and his wife had taxable income of more than $1.1 million in 2008.
Kasich is running against Democratic incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland who recently released his federal income tax returns for 2006-2009. During the 2006 governor’s race, he released earlier tax returns. Strickland called on Kasich to release his tax returns for the past 10 years.
Strickland’s returns showed that he and his wife Frances had total income of $166,321 in 2009, mostly from his $142,356 salary as governor, and $116,783 in taxable income after deductions and exemptions.
TweetFake web site set up
A fake web site and Twitter account for former U.S. representative Rob Portman set up by the Ohio Democratic Party paints him as a Washington insider who boosted the deficit and sent jobs overseas.
Portman is a Republican, former White House budget director and U.S. trade representative.
RobertPortman.com is modeled after Portman’s own site for his campaign for U.S. Senate against Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, a Democrat. The Twitter account, RobertPortman, tells visitor that he will keep them informed about his “failed record in Washington.” The web site includes a “Where did your job go” feature that allows a person to type in a job and a location. Typing in “manufacturing” results in a pop-up map of China and a claim that “Congressman Portman shipped your job here.”
Reached by phone on Thursday, Portman spokeswoman Jessica Towhey said Portman is the only candidate who has a plan to create jobs in Ohio and that Fisher, who also served as Ohio’s director of development before stepping down to run for senate, “failed miserably” in creating jobs.
TweetHusted “honored” by his win in GOP secretary of state race
State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said on Tuesday, May 4, that he was “honored” that Republican voters overwhelmingly selected him as their candidate for secretary of state over former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien.
O’Brien, the GOP candidate for state treasurer in 2006, issued this statement:
“The results were not as good as we had hoped for, I would like to thank all of my supporters and all of those who voted for me today. I would also like to congratulate all of today’s winners and wish them well in November.”
Husted will take on Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, the Franklin County clerk of courts, in the general election.
TweetMorgan concedes to Yost in GOP auditor’s race
State Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, conceded to Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4, in the race for the Republican nomination for auditor.
“We congratulate Dave and wish him well against David Pepper. The campaign will support his campaign to be Ohio’s next auditor,” Morgan said in a prepared statement.
He told the Dayton Daily News that he would support Yost against Democrat David Pepper in the general election but called the election outcome a story of the “bludgeon force” applied by the Ohio Republican Party on behalf of Yost, the state GOP-endorsed candidate.
TweetFisher wins Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate
Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher defeated Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Senate.
Fisher will take on former Republican Congressman Rob Portman in November.
With 55 percent of precincts reporting, Fisher had 56 percent of the vote.
“I congratulate Lt. Gov. Fisher, our nominee, for the U.S. Senate and I join all Democrats in Ohio in looking forward to a vigorous campaign in the fall,” Brunner said in a statement.
TweetAP calls GOP auditor’s race for Yost
With 29 percent of precincts counted, the Associated Press called Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost the winner over state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, in the race for the Republican nomination for auditor on Tuesday, May 4.
Yost was leading with 67 percent of the vote to about 33 percent for Morgan.
Yost was the state GOP-endorsed candidate but Morgan, a former Huber Heights city council member, appeared to have strong support from the Tea Party movement. Morgan was the only statewide candidate endorsed by the Ohio Tea Party political action committee, which represented many but not all state Tea Party groups.
Yost will take on Democrat David Pepper, a Hamilton County commissioner, in the general election in November.
TweetAP calls Husted winner in GOP secretary of state race
With 30 percent of precincts reporting statewide, the Associated Press on Tuesday, May 4, called state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, the winner of the Republican nomination for secretary of state.
Husted was leading former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien, with 69 percent of the vote to 31 percent for O’Brien.
Husted, a former House speaker, will take on Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy in the November election. O’Shaughnessy is Franklin County clerk of courts.
TweetHusted continues to lead in GOP secretary of state race
With unofficial results from about 4.5 percent of the state’s precincts, state Sen. Jon Husted led former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien, 23,560 to 8,791 for the Republican secretary of state nomination.
Husted had about 73 percent of the vote. The winner will take on Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, Franklin County clerk of courts, in the general election.
TweetYost leads Morgan in early results for GOP auditor nomination
Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost took an early lead on Tuesday, May 4, against state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, in the race for the Republican nomination for auditor.
Early results from the secretary of state’s office showed Yost leading, 3,812 to 1,414, with about 73 percent of the vote.
The winner will take on Democrat David Pepper, a Hamilton County commissioner, in the general election in November.
TweetHusted takes early lead in GOP secretary of state race
State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, took an early lead on Tuesday, May 4, over Sandra O’Brien, former Ashtabula County auditor, in the race for the Republican secretary of state nomination.
Early returns from the secretary of state’s office showed Husted leading, 4,047 to 1,567, with about 72 percent of the vote.
The winner will take on Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, the Franklin County clerk of courts, in the November election.
TweetStrickland TV ad features former Delphi worker from Dayton
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is using the story of a former Delphi worker from Dayton to kick off his TV advertising effort in his re-election campaign against Republican John Kasich, the former U.S. House member from the Columbus area.
The ad, set to start on Tuesday, May 4, uses Cofield to criticize what the Strickland campaign calls Kasich’s support for “unfair trade deals like NAFTA and PNTR in Congress.”
“We were doing good work here in Ohio - then my job got shipped to China,” Meghan Cofield says in the ad.
Kasich campaign spokesman Rob Nichols issued this response:
“Ted Strickland is in political jeopardy because his chronic mismanagement of state government worsened the recession’s impact on Ohio, and he thinks his only chance is to go negative to distract voters from his failures.
“How sad for Ted Strickland and how sad for Ohio. The 427,300 Ohioans who lost their jobs want him to get off the dime and restore Ohio’s prosperity, and instead he just retreads a union attack ad from the 2008 Obama campaign.
“Ohioans deserve better and in November they’ll be able to make the choice to do better by electing John Kasich.”
Cofield, 37, who returned to school to become a nurse after losing her Delphi job, said she did a similar ad for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) blasting Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s position on trade in the 2008 presidential campaign.
She said she’s big Strickland fan.
“I like that he has a humble beginning and he’s never forgotten where he came from,” said Cofield.
The 30-second ad is to run in the Dayton, Cleveland and Columbus markets.
TweetFormer Mike DeWine aide to join Portman Senate campaign
Jeff Sadosky, once a press secretary for U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, the Cedarville Republican, is joining Republican Rob Portman’s U.S. Senate campaign as communications director.
“I am proud to be joining Rob Portman’s campaign as Communications Director. It looks to be an exciting campaign,” Sadosky said in an email to friends and colleagues.
Monday, May 3, was Sadosky’s last day as communications director for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas before taking the job with the Portman campaign, he said in the email.
Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member, will take on the winner of the Democratic U.S. Senate primary between Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in the general election.
TweetDemocrat Eric Brown sworn in as chief justice
Eric Brown was sworn in as chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court on Monday, May 3, becoming the first Democrat on the high court since 2006 and the first Democrat to lead the court since 1986.
Brown was appointed chief justice by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland to replace the late Thomas J. Moyer, who died on April 2. The appointment is for the remainder of Moyer’s term through the end of the year.
Brown, 56, is running for a full six-year term in November against Republican Justice Maureen O’Connor who was sitting with other members of the high court during the Statehouse ceremony.
The new few months will be full of challenges, Brown said after taking office.
In an apparent reference to the campaign between him and O’Connor, Brown said “the challenges will be confined to campaign rallies and campaign nights.”
“This would be a humbling moment in the best of circumstances,” said Brown, who was Franklin County Probate Judge before Strickland appointed him to the seven-member Supreme Court.
Justice Paul Pfeifer, who had been acting chief justice, administered the oath of office.
TweetFisher holds 20-point lead, poll says
Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher holds a 20-point lead over Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner among likely voters the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate, according to Quinnipiac University poll released Monday, May 3.
However, 44 percent of voters who named a candidate said they might switch and 32 percent of likely voters are still undecided between Brunner and Fisher, the poll said.
“Lt. Gov. Fisher started the campaign better known and raised more money to keep him better known and able to get out his message. On the eve of the primary, he is in very strong shape to win,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Ms. Brunner would need to hold all of those who say they are voting for her and win most of the undecided voters in order to prevail. Brunner voters are just as likely to change their minds as Fisher voters.”
The primary is Tuesday, May 4. The winner faces former U.S. Congressman Rob Portman of Cincinnati. Portman served as George W. Bush’s budget director and trade representative.
The poll surveyed 980 likely Democratic primary voters between April 28 and May 2. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
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