Friday, May 15, 2009

OH-01: Driehaus Makes List of Most Vulnerable House Incumbents

This from the Fix's first ranking of the 10 U.S. House seats most likely to switch parties in 2010:
8. Ohio's 1st district (D) (55 percent): Rep. Steve Chabot's (R) hold on this Cincinnati-area district was always tenuous due to the heavy (27 percent) black population. With President Obama's historic candidacy leading the ticket, Chabot's number came up in 2008 as state Rep.Steve Driehaus (D) knocked him off by just over 8,000 votes. Chabot is running again, believing that the high levels of black turnout will not be repeatable in 2010. He's probably right but Driehaus will also benefit from the power of incumbency; witness the $152,000 (out of $215,000 raised) that came from political action committees in the first three months of the year.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Akron Recall Is On

Yesterday Akron City Council Clerk Bob Keith certified that Warner Mendenhall's group Change Akron Now has more than enough signatures to recall Mayor Don Plusquellic. Plusquellic will now have 5 business days to resign or City Council will be required to schedule a recall election between 40 and 60 days later, meaning it would be sometime between late June and mid July.

I have an e-mail into the Ohio Democratic Party wondering how they will respond to this recall. When I hear back from them I'll post on it.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Brunner: Under No Circumstances Will I Run for SOS

In a letter to the chairs of county Democratic parties today, Jennifer Brunner unequivocally states that she will not seek re-election to the SOS position:
I want to make it clear that under no circumstances will I consider seeking re-election to the Secretary of State's position, or any other statewide or federal office, other than the open U.S. Senate seat of retiring Senator George Voinovich. I am pleased with the work that you and I have accomplished in improving elections in Ohio and the operations of the Secretary of State's office in less than three years, including protecting each Ohioan's social security number from public access and ensuring trust in Ohio's elections.

Modern & Russo's Leger De Main Re: Brunner

Leger De Main is a French phrase that means sleight of hand, an attempt at diversion. Jennifer Brunner supporters Modern Esquire and Tim Russo are hard at work practicing Leger De Main right now in an attempt to distract attention from Brunner's poor 1st Quarter fund raising totals, and the pressure she is feeling from national Democrats to improve her fundraising or leave the race.

Two national bloggers, Chris Cilliza of the Washington Post blog The Fix , and Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com have written recently that Brunner's lackluster fundraising total in Q1 means that unless her Q2 results show marked improvement, she'll feel the heat from national Democrats to leave the race. Especially since GOP front runner Rob Portman has over $3 million in the bank and a cleared primary field.

I don't know about you, but I really can't see Jennifer Brunner saying no to Rahm Emanuel if he calls her and asks her to step aside. Thus all the heat is on Brunner to at least match Fisher's Q2 fundraising totals or leave the race. The DSCC knows that Ohio is a key pickup opportunity that can serve either as a firewall against GOP gains elsewhere, or as a key piece in the puzzle of 60 senate votes. A bloody Democratic primary where the GOP candidate has a cleared field and can raise funds and define himself at will is their worst nightmare. 

From outside the vitrol that Modern and Russo have for Fisher for whatever reason, it would appear that the candidate who raised $1 million and has 20 years experience is more viable than one who raised $200,000 and has no legislative experience whatsover. So the heat is on Brunner to improve her fundraising totals or clear the field for Fisher. 

So, pay no attention to Modern & Russo's Leger De Main.

Monday, May 11, 2009

ODP Confirms: David Pepper Announcing Tomorrow

The Ohio Democratic Party has confirmed what Ohio Daily Blog speculated on earlier today: tomorrow morning Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper will announce his candidacy for Auditor of State, flanked by Chris Redfern and Gov. Ted Strickland. Look out, Mary Taylor. From the presser:

Tuesday: David Pepper Campaign Announcement

Will be joined by Governor Ted Strickland, Chairman Chris Redfern

David Pepper, Hamilton County Commission President, will make a major announcement regarding the 2010 campaign tomorrow at Ohio Democratic Party Headquarters.

Governor Ted Strickland will speak. ODP Chairman Chris Redfern and other elected officials will attend the announcement.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
10:30 a.m.
Ohio Democratic Party HQ
340 Fulton St., Columbus