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StumbleuponElection 2008 preview: U.S. Congress 2nd District
Sunday, September 07, 2008
WASHINGTON — The hottest congressional race in southwest Ohio is in the 2nd District, where Republican Rob Portman used to win comfortably.
But it's been a different story for Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt, who replaced Portman in 2005. Schmidt beat Democrat Victoria Wulsin by just 50-49 in 2006.
The same two candidates are at it again this year, and the contest is anything but sleepy. Wulsin's campaign has accused Schmidt of violating House ethics rules by using her congressional staff for the campaign. Schmidt denies it. Wulsin also hit Schmidt for paying only $95 in property taxes on land Wulsin says should be assessed at a higher rate.
Bruce Pfaff, Schmidt's spokesman, said the tax benefit on her farm, which has been in the family for 60 years, stems from a law barring certain farmland from being developed. He also said benefited from similar land tax breaks.
The biggest blast in the campaign, however, was a fundraising letter by Schmidt accusing Wulsin of taking part in a "grotesque" human experiment that involved injecting malaria into AIDS victims.
The allegation involves research by Dr. Henry Heimlich, best known for the "maneuver" used to dislodge food from choking victims. Heimlich has theorized that AIDS patients can be cured with malaria injections because the high fevers the malaria causes kills the AIDS virus. The fevers can then be treated, he believes.
Wulsin, under a contract with Heimlich's institute, analyzed some of the research done in China and Africa and concluded the treatment has not worked. In the fundraising letter, Schmidt accused Wulsin of a "contempt for the culture of life." Wulsin's spokesman, Kevin Franck, fired back, saying Schmidt is lying about Wulsin's involvement in the research.
Pfaff said polls have given Schmidt a lead. "We feel good," he said. "I think the more people get to know about Vic Wulsin, the more they don't like her."
Responded Franck: "What the poll told us was Jean Schmidt is an incredibly vulnerable incumbent."
