Brunner says she won’t campaign for Fisher if she loses Tuesday

Tony Dejak/STF Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher

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Lisa Powell/Staff photographer Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner

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By Laura A. Bischoff and William Hershey
Columbus Bureau Updated 12:30 AM Sunday, May 2, 2010

COLUMBUS — It’s customary in a primary election for the losing candidate to campaign for their party’s nominee in the fall.

But if she loses Tuesday’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner won’t be telling Democrats to vote for the party nominee in November.

Asked by a Dayton Daily News reporter last week how much she would work for Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher if he wins and she loses, Brunner held up her hand and formed a zero.

Her unwillingness to embrace Fisher is indicative of the rancor bubbling in the Democratic Senate race.

Brunner accuses Democratic leaders — including Gov. Ted Strickland — of urging political donors to shut her out. Fisher denies the charge, but has used a giant fund-raising cushion to run TV ads touting his efforts to bring jobs to Ohio.

With no money for traditional advertising, Brunner’s campaign bought a used 1991 school bus with 150,000 miles on it on eBay, painted it silver and hit the road. Brunner’s bus made a stop Friday night at the Country Club of the North in Beavercreek.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, April 28, showed Fisher leading the contest 41 percent to 24 percent. A Suffolk University poll on Friday gave Fisher an even bigger lead.

“Lee should win it but I would not be surprised if Brunner won,” said Jim Ruvolo, former Ohio Democratic Party chairman, noting that a small turnout would help her. Brunner predicts a 24 percent voter turnout statewide.

Although Fisher says he takes nothing for granted, he seems already to be framing the fall campaign. At a UAW union hall in Lordstown Thursday, he outlined an agenda that includes tax breaks for companies that create jobs in the United States. The election, he said, “will be a choice between Main Street and Wall Street.”

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