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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > May > 02 > Entry
Editorial: Primaries feature juicy, important races
2010 ELECTION
Don’t sit out Tuesday’s primary election. There are interesting and important races at both the state and local levels.
Among the most important and hotly contested races are:
State Issue 1
Few regions have benefited as much from the state’s Third Frontier initiative as Dayton. If the issue passes, it would allow the state to borrow $700 million to use for job creation, principally by supporting research at Ohio’s universities and in concert with businesses.
More than $120 million has been awarded to Dayton-area ventures.
Ohio is smart to sponsor targeted research and development to incubate good ideas that otherwise might not get off the ground, or that might blossom in another state that would back the effort.
Dayton is especially well-positioned to benefit because of the increasingly sophisticated research and development work that its universities are doing, not to mention Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s focus on research for the military.
Statewide races
• In the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Jennifer Brunner and Lee Fisher have similar political views, and both have reputations for working hard. But Mr. Fisher’s wide-ranging experience in the executive and legislative branches of state government — and especially his work in job development — tip the balance to him. He knows the state and its issues. He is the stronger candidate.
• For secretary of state, the easy choice in the Republican primary race is a familiar name — Jon Husted, Kettering’s state senator and the former speaker of the Ohio House.
Sen. Husted has a long track record of interest in election issues, including supporting reforms that would make Ohio’s political races more competitive and eliminate gerrymandered districts designed to ensure that a particular party always wins certain seats. He is the clear choice over former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien.
• Another local legislator — Rep. Seth Morgan R-Huber Heights — is seeking the Republican nomination for statewide office as state auditor. His opponent, Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost, is the better choice. Mr. Yost is more qualified to run a major statewide office based on his county-level experience. Both are conservatives, but Mr. Yost is more practical and less fixated on purely ideological fights.
Local school levies
Five area school levies are worthy of voters’ support — in the school districts of Kettering, Miamisburg, Northmont, Trotwood-Madison and West Carrollton. Each district is either a high performer or has demonstrated significant academic improvement in recent years.
In each case, the districts have made cuts and hope to avoid the kind of deep reductions that can bring down an academic program.
Local races
Two of the most hotly contested races locally are in the Warren County Republican primary.
Shannon Jones and Michelle Schneider want to be the Republicans’ choice for the state senate seat that Ms. Jones was appointed to last year.
Meanwhile, a five-way battle is under way for to replace Commissioner Mike Kilburn on the Warren County Commission. This is the election for that race because no Democrat has filed to run in the fall.
Ms. Jones and Ms. Schneider have been engaged in an intense campaign. Ms. Jones has hit the ground running in her short time in the Senate. She brings energy to the job.
Tom Ariss, the retired Warren County sheriff, can be counted on to work collaboratively on tough issues. He is well respected and has a reputation for making good decisions and getting things done.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: 2010 endorsements, Editorials, Miami Valley Politics, Ohio politics
Comments
By Dave
May 2, 2010 10:28 AM | Link to this
Your voters’ guide shows NO Democrats running for anything in all of Montgomery County. Are you that anxious to become conservatives or are you too lazy to cover the election???
By LazerBeams
May 2, 2010 1:08 PM | Link to this
Good luck on Tuesday, Shannon Jones!
By David Esrati
May 3, 2010 6:55 AM | Link to this
Dave, maybe the reason the voters guide doesn’t list Democrats is that there aren’t any contested races? The Dems like to pre-select their candidates for the voters and eliminate primaries. Brunner vs Fisher is the only contest-and the party made sure all the $ went to Fisher.
By DavidSS2`
May 3, 2010 8:27 AM | Link to this
Fisher vs Brunner. Fisher looks like an old school political hack. He fits with Biden in the appearance of being a party guy with no ability otherwise. I’ll take Brunner when I vote tomorrow. The Dems gave me Obama as their chosen one; they’re not hand-selecting which candidate for November by giving all the money to Fisher. They even had the nerve to do a robot call to my do-not-call-listed phone number for Fisher. ———————Brunner for me, to morrow and November.
By SidneyIndependent
May 3, 2010 8:55 AM | Link to this
Brunner is the better choice. Fisher is the party guy pre-selected by the guys in the backroom. We have primaries for a reason.
By hmk2009
May 3, 2010 10:59 AM | Link to this
GOOD LUCK MICHELLE!!! I AM VOTING FOR YOU ON TUESDAY!
By Roger
May 3, 2010 2:55 PM | Link to this
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the contest for Mike Turner’s U.S. House (3rd dist.) nomination against David Finke and Rene Oberer. I’d really like to see him lose this nomination to Oberer. http://www.obererforcongress.com/
By Lori64
May 4, 2010 1:24 PM | Link to this
Good luck Shannon! You are in our prayers tonight, we know you are going to do well!