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Monday, February 1, 2010
Ohio Republican Party endorses Yost for auditor; Morgan still in race
The Ohio Republican Party endorsed Dave Yost, Delaware County prosecutor, for state auditor on Monday, Feb. 1, but state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, remains in the race for the nomination, said Rob Scott, Morgan’s campaign spokesman.
“I am pleased and humbled to have this endorsement,” Yost said in a press release. “I know the challenge ahead of me to fill the shoes of Mary Taylor is huge. I’ll work hard to keep a conservative in that office and put together a campaign to win.”
“Dave Yost would have been a great attorney general,” Scott said in a press release. “The Ohio auditor’s office is not a bargaining chip to be played for nor is it an office for someone who concedes to political pressure.”
About 30 critics of the decision to endorse Yost demonstrated outside the party meeting at GOP headquarters in Columbus, party spokesman John McClelland said in an e-mail.
“We are a big tent party and sometimes people have disagreements. I talked with some people and they were very cordial,” said McClelland.
Mark Haverkos of West Chester in Butler County, who helped organize the demonstration, said demonstrators had backed Yost for attorney general.
Yost had been running against former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Cedarville for the GOP nomination for AG but switched to the auditor’s race at the request of Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine, Mike DeWine’s second cousin.
The demonstrators do not support Mike DeWine for attorney general, said Haverkos.
The scramble to fill the auditor’s slot on the GOP ticket came after incumbent GOP auditor Mary Taylor joined Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich as his running mate.
Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper is the Democratic candidate for auditor.
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Franklin County judge to run for chief justice
Franklin County Probate Court Judge Eric Brown on Tuesday, Feb. 2, will announce his candidacy for chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Democratic Party announced on Monday.
Gov. Ted Strickland will introduce Brown at a 10 a.m. Statehouse press conference, a press release said. Brown was elected in November 2008 to a full term as probate court judge previously served at a judge in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court general division.
The Republican candidate for chief justice is expected to be Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor.
Incumbent Chief Justice Thomas Moyer is retiring.
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Ohio Right to Life endorses Portman, Kasich, Husted, M. DeWine and Mandel
The Ohio Right to Life Society PAC on Monday, Feb. 1, endorsed Republican candidates in five statewide races, including two races with likely GOP primaries.
The endorsements:
U.S. Senate - Rob Portman, the former U.S. House member, who faces Tom Ganley, a Cleveland-area car dealer, in a possible GOP primary.
Secretary of State - Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, who faces former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien in a possible GOP primary.
Governor and Lt. Gov. - Former U.S. Rep. John Kasich and Auditor Mary Taylor
Attorney General - Former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Cedarville
Treasurer - State Rep. Josh Mandel, R-Lyndhurst.
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House Dems unveil reappportionment plan
Rep. Tom Letson, D-Warren, on Monday, Feb. 1, unveiled House Democrats’ plan to change how Ohio draws state legislative districts.
Unlike the plan approved last fall by the Republican-controlled Senate, the House plan would not cover how U.S. House districts are drawn.
Also, Letson said the goal is get a proposal before voters on Nov. 2. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, sponsor of the Senate plan, wanted to get the issue on the May 4 primary ballot.
Letson said his plan “will take the politics out of the reapportionment process.”
It calls for Ohio citizens after each census - including the 2010 census - to submit proposals to the Apportionment Board based on: competitive fairness; political competitiveness; communities of interest and compactness.
The five-member board would review the proposals and the final arbiter would be a five-member panel of retired judges - two Democrats, two Republicans and a fifth selected by the other four.
Husted said he welcomed the Democrats’ proposal but was disappointed that it did not cover U.S. House districts and that Democrats want to wait until November to put the issue on the ballot.
Husted’s proposal would do away with the Apportionment Board. It is made up of the governor, auditor, secretary of state and a legislator from each party. The party that controls two of the three statewide seats on the board controls redistricting.
His plan would instead set up a seven-member commission - governor, auditor, secretary of state, House speaker, Senate president and House and Senate minority leaders. A five-vote supermajority would be required to adopt a redistricting plan. Also, at least two votes would have to come from commission members not in the majority party.
Letson said his plan focuses on “how” the districts are drawn while Husted’s focuses on “who” draws them.
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Another farm issue heading to ballot?
Only three months after agri-business convinced Ohio voters to create a Livestock Standards Board, the Humane Society of the United States announced Monday, Feb. 1, that it’ll push for another state constitutional amendment to regulate how farm animals are treated in Ohio.
Ohioans for Humane Farms plans to collect more than 403,000 valid signatures from registered voters by July 1 to put an anti-cruelty measure on the November ballot, said Paul Shapiro, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States.
HSUS spent $10 million on a similar campaign in California and $1.5 million in Arizona. “We don’t have concrete numbers in mind (for the Ohio campaign) but we know this will be a major priority for the organization as well as other organizations involved,” Shapiro said.
The proposed measure would require the new, yet-to-be appointed Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to adopt standards to prevent animal cruelty and enhance food safety, HSUS said.
Last year, the Ohio Farm Bureau and other agri-business interests rallied behind State Issue 2 to create the 13-member Livestock Standards Board. It was seen as an effort to head off a campaign by the HSUS to get its own regulations adopted.
Ohioans for Humane Farms said its measure will allow voters to prevent practices in Ohio that include confining animals in tiny cages for months on end and allowing sick and injured animals into the human food supply chain.
The measure would give the Livestock Care Standards Board six years to implement the minimum standards.
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Democrat O’Shaughnessy running for secretary of state
With support from Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern, Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maryellen O’Shaughnessy has launched her campaign for Ohio Secretary of State.
“After consultations with Democratic officials, our friends in labor and numerous additional Democratic stakeholders, Gov. Strickland and I have concluded that Maryellen O’Shaughnessy is without a doubt the best candidate to be secretary of state,” Redern said in a press release on Monday, Feb. 1.
The announcement comes after Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, last week withdrew from the secretary of state race. O’Shaughnessy is a former member of Columbus City Council and was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House in 2000.
State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, and former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien are seeking the GOP nomination for secretary of state. Husted has $2 million on hand in his campaign fund.
“I look forward to taking my case to the people of Ohio and advocating free, fair and open elections with increased voter participation, competitive apportionment and the protection of each Ohioan’s right to vote,” O’ Shaughnessy said in the press release.
The secretary of state is Ohio’s chief elections officer but the race has added importance this year. The secretary of state, governor and auditor plus a legislator from each party will make up the Apportionment Board. The board will draw new stat legislative districts after the 2010 census.
The party that holds two of the state-wide seats on the board will control redistricting.
