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Senate hopefuls’ Ohio roots run deep

Senate candidates take different paths to politics

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By Jessica Wehrman, Staff Writer Updated 7:27 PM Saturday, July 18, 2009

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor took heat about a comment she once made about “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences” reaching conclusions on court cases.

She later backpedaled, but her comments raise a question: Does your heritage and background influence how you do your job?

In the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, four candidates all claim they were shaped by the state they now hope to represent in the U.S. Senate.

Republican Rob Portman is the descendant of Quakers who moved to Ohio to escape the scourge of slavery.

Democrat Lee Fisher is the grandson of Eastern European immigrants who found opportunity when they moved to Ohio and opened women’s dress shops.

Democrat Jennifer Brunner, born in Springfield and raised in South Charleston, has a family tree that includes the first Republican operative, a man who helped elect William McKinley president by masterminding his front porch campaign.

And Tom Ganley, a Republican running in part because of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, is a lifelong son of the state whose parents sought opportunity in northeastern Ohio during the very economic catastrophe that is often used as a benchmark for how bad things are now.

When the next U.S. senator is sworn in in January 2011, he or she will no doubt stock the office with Ohio memorabilia, maps and posters that reflect the state’s heritage and culture.

But the state’s newest senator also will bring something you can’t hang on a wall.

Whether it influences them or not, each has roots steeped in the heritage and experiences that are part of the richness of Ohio.

Keep reading: Candidates take different paths to politics

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