Is Paula Brooks Our SOS Candidate? If So, I'm Happy

So over at BSB David says that Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks may be the woman Jennifer Brunner is recruiting to replace her as Secretary of State. If this report is correct, it would make me feel much better about Brunner running for the U.S. Senate.

Paula Brooks was elected County Commissioner in 2004 after 8 years of serving on Upper Arlington City Council. That's right, Brooks was a Democrat on the city council of Columbus' iconic old-money, pretentious, tradtionally GOP subrub. Translation: she knows how to get GOP votes.

Her term on the Franklin County Board of Commissioners saw Democrats complete a take over of the board. Franklin County remains one of only a handful of Ohio governments to retain a AAA bond rating - the highest possible - which speaks to the counties' financial management under not only Brooks' leadership, but also under the leadership of now Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy.

In 2004, when I was just starting as a Democratic activist, Brooks gave me a view into how she approaches campaiging for office. "You have to earn each and every vote" I remember her telling me... and I can't think of a more perfect motto for a SOS candidate who will be protecting those votes once in office.