DaytonDailyNews.com

MEDINA — — When Collette Gerba moved to Medina County 30 years ago she felt a bit isolated as a Democrat in a solidly Republican area. But increasingly these days, Gerba has more company when it comes to his political views.

"We've been here a long time and we've seen a lot of changes," said Gerba, who commutes from Brunswick to Cleveland for her job with Delta Global Services.

Extras

Photos

Click to enlarge

Republicans have ruled Medina County for decades, routinely capturing all the local offices and sending conservatives like Bill Batchelder to represent them in the Statehouse.

It's an "exurban" county — the kind of fast-growing, wealthy Ohio community that was key to George Bush's victory over John Kerry in 2004.

"Bush's key — not just in Ohio, but it was certainly true in Ohio — was exurban America," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "He got huge numbers there."

When Ohio Democratic leaders saw the early returns on Election Night 2004, they thought they had the state won, Brown said. "What they didn't anticipate was the very strong Republican turnout in Republican counties, essentially, these exurban counties."

Medina County went for Bush by 14 percent in 2004, down slightly from 16 percent in the 2000 presidential election against Vice President Al Gore. But thanks to an influx of young families from Cleveland and a general unease about the economy, the county of 165,000 isn't as solidly Republican as it once was.

Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who represented parts of the county in Congress, beat incumbent Republican Sen. Mike DeWine here by 11 percent in last year's senate race, 36,386 to 29,186. That's a swing of 27 percentage points from red to blue in six years.

"If the Republicans don't get Medina County this next election cycle, they're in big trouble," said Joe DeAngelis, a 62-year-old retired teacher who moved to Medina in 1970. "Personally, I'm going to do all I can to make sure people go conservative. I'm a values voter."

Batchelder said many conservatives backed away from DeWine because they didn't feel he was conservative enough. Although DeWine supported anti-abortion legislation, Right to Life members hammered him over judicial appointments at a picnic during the campaign, Batchelder recalled.

"Almost all federal senators in a six-year term end up with an issue that comes back to bite them," Batchelder said. While the Medina GOP headquarters usually has 15 or 20 volunteers in the office every day during a campaign, "it was lean on the ground last time."

Meanwhile, Batchelder said, Brown's stance on trade struck a chord with many Medina County workers who commute to Cleveland or Akron for manufacturing jobs.

Still, no one seems quite ready to call Medina County a blue area. After all, the county voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 and the bulk of the county offices are held by the GOP.

"There's a lot of young families. I think the younger crowd is more Democrat. And so many people have been unhappy with the performance of the Republicans that they wanted a change," said Amy Busby, 42, a stay-at-home mom and lifelong Republican. "I don't think there's any loyalty to any party any more. (The younger voters) want the person who will give them the most opportunities."

Seth Kujat, 25, a youth director at a Methodist church and a political independent, said, "I think people are smarter than the media portray. They say are you a red guy or a blue guy. No, I'm a human being and I'm going to vote for whoever represents me the best ... I don't ever want to be that grumpy old man who says I'm voting red because I've always voted red."

Kujat, in fact, didn't vote red, or at least not across the board. He voted for Sherrod Brown – in part, he said, because Brown seemed to campaign harder than DeWine did — and he voted for Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell for governor.

David Brown, a retired lawyer who coordinated the Medina County campaigns for Kerry, Strickland and Brown, said Brown's Senate victory and Democratic gains in local offices show the beginnings of a trend, particularly as younger families move in from Cuyahoga County.

Families are interested in education, health care and the economy — issues the Democratic party addresses, he said. "Sherrod Brown really addressed their concerns much more directly than Mike DeWine did."

Changing demographics, Brown's name recognition and DeWine's failure to inspire his conservative base all help explain why Medina County turned blue in 2006. But Ralph Berry, the former county GOP chairman, said it didn't happen overnight.

"As time has gone on, the red has not been as bright," he said.

Medina County Democratic Party Chairwoman Pam Miller isn't ready to call Ohio blue.

"I don't think we're there yet," she said. "Maybe we're a purple state with a bluish tint."

> Interactive: Democratic gains in Ohio from 2000-2006

Related article: Is the Buckeye State swinging for Democrats in 2008?