DaytonDailyNews.com

Greg Gantt is trying to get the hang of being the boss.

Last week the Montgomery County Republican chairman told seven people who want to run for the Ohio House of Representatives not to meet with the Dayton Daily News editorial board — or they would be political goners. I know this because he carboned me on his e-mail to them.

Other exchanges followed just with the candidates, including one that said the editorial board was trying to "divide and conquer" the Republican Party. Notwithstanding that offense, Gantt said it'd be OK if the aspirants provided resumes to the editorial board and answered questions by telephone.

If I were Gantt (or chairman of the local Democratic Party), I wouldn't want outsiders getting into my business either. But voters' interests and Gantt's interest aren't one in the same.

What's really going on is that the Republican Party wants to decide now who is going to replace state Reps. Jon Husted of Kettering, John White of Kettering, and Arlene Setzer of Vandalia, beginning in 2009. If there's no primary next year, the party's picks likely will skate into office; the districts have been drawn in ways to assure a Republican will always win. After that, the victors are set for eight years until term limits kick in.

The candidates who seem the most confident that the party is going to endorse them on Monday — Peggy Lehner, who wants to succeed Husted, and Tom Young, who wants to succeed White — are eager to say how fair Gantt has been to them as well as their competition. They point to the fact that a screening committee of 20-plus people vetted them and welcomed all comers.

Others — who don't think they'll be endorsed — are not so sure that the process is wide open.

For instance, in an e-mail complaining about the newspaper, Gantt told the candidates that he was aware that many of them were asking Husted, the speaker of the House, for his support. He said that he appreciated that Husted was deferring to the party's selection process and that the newspaper should do likewise.

Newspapers behave like politicians? Is he kidding?

And don't believe for a second that Husted is sitting this out. He has "his" candidates.

As you might guess, some of the things that the party insiders are saying about the candidates are not necessarily what outsiders — at the newspaper or elsewhere — would focus on.

Here are a few thoughts on each race.

Jon Husted's successor (District 37)

• Peggy Lehner is familiar with local government issues because of her job on Kettering City Council. She's worked hard to become known as more than a pro-life advocate — that's how she got her start in public life. But if Roe v. Wade is ever reversed, she'll be under tremendous pressure to help lead the charge to outlaw abortion in Ohio.

• Don Mottley is smart, digs into complicated issues and is paying a price in the party because he and state Sen. Jeff Jacobson don't get along. Both men had to leave the House at the same time because of term limits and both wanted the Senate seat that Jacobson now has. Mottley is the only candidate running in the three contests who has legislative experience.

• Miami Twp. Trustee Deborah Preston has been itching to move up. While she's been waiting, she's been in the thick of development decisions at the Austin Road interchange. She is one of just three elected officials who gets to decide which developers will be helped or hurt by a pending agreement that allows for revenue sharing among several local governments. Some businesses will end up paying a city income tax even though they'll be in a township, and they're poised to fight that.

Arlene Setzer's successor (District 36)

• Seth Morgan, 31, notes on his Web site that he was re-elected to the Huber Heights City Council in a "landslide," and he asks friends to join the "Morgan Machine." He justifies that description on the basis that last year he got more votes in his district than GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell. (He doesn't mention that Blackwell was stomped all across the state.)

• Greg Hanahan, a German Twp. trustee and the Miami Twp. administrator, has township connections galore.

John White's successor (District 38)

• Tom Young, a financial planner, is trying for this third office. He has run unsuccessfully for county treasurer and, in 2005, for Washington Twp. trustee; he has the unanimous support of the screening committee and Jacobson is pushing his candidacy.

• Washington Twp. Trustee Terry Blair feels he's been snubbed because he was elected multiple times for an office that Young lost. A small businessman, he thinks he has a nice combination of experience.

There's obviously more information you might like to know about these people, but we didn't get to ask questions of all of them. Only Mottley and Blair accepted an invitation to meet with us.

Not to worry, though. Next week Gantt and 100-plus precinct captains from each relevant legislative district will report back. They'll tell us whom they've picked to represent us — starting in about a year and a half and continuing potentially until 2016.

It's great to have so many important decisions out of the way.

Ellen Belcher

is editor of the

editorial pages. Her telephone number is 225-2286; her e-mail address is ebelcher@DaytonDaily

News.com.