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FORD,
MCLIN MAYORAL BIDS SUCCESSFUL
Former
House Minority Leader Jack Ford (D-Toledo) and former Senate
Minority Leader Rhine McLin (D-Dayton) both won their mayoral
campaigns yesterday and will soon be exiting the Ohio General
Assembly.
After scoring a convincing 61%-39% win over Lucas County
Treasurer and fellow Democrat Ray Kest, Ford will become
Toledo’s first African-American mayor. The race was
contentious and split the Lucas County Democrats, with Ford
earning the party’s official endorsement but prominent
local party officials and labor unions dividing their support.
A close general election was anticipated after Ford won
the September 11 non-partisan primary by only 41 votes over
Kest. However, Kest was damaged by revelations late in the
campaign that he was carrying in excess of $80,000 in credit
card debt and was also dogged throughout by allegations
of sexual harassment a former employee had previously made
against him.
Ford, who resigned as House Minority Leader after he announced
his candidacy for mayor in May, would have been forced out
of the House by term limits at the end of this term. The
House Democrat caucus will vote to choose a replacement
for Ford after he officially resigns. Toledo City Councilwoman
Edna Brown had already been exploring a run to succeed Ford
prior to his decision to run for mayor, and is one potential
replacement. Others will undoubtedly emerge.
In Dayton, McLin pulled off a narrow 1,096 vote win, ousting
two-term incumbent Republican Mayor Mike Turner. McLin was
buoyed by the city’s 2-to-1 Democrat registration advantage
and unprecedented fundraising assistance and attention by
national Democrats. Democratic National Committee Chairman
Terry McAuliffe was in Dayton twice to campaign for McLin.
McLin who, like Ford, would have been prevented by term-limits
for running for re-election, will become the city’s
first female mayor. Possible replacements for her in the
Senate include current state Rep. Dixie Allen (D-Dayton)
and former state Rep. Tom Roberts (D-Dayton).
The only other sitting member of the Ohio General Assembly
who was on the ballot yesterday didn’t fare as well.
Sen. Linda Furney (D-Toledo) came up a bit short in her
bid to unseat incumbent Toledo Clerk of Courts Maggie Thurber,
a Republican. Thurber beat her 52%-48%. Furney was never
able to satisfactorily explain why Thurber needed to be
replaced.
DEMOCRATS BUOYED BY SWEEP OF METRO-AREA MAYORAL RACES
In addition
to the victories yesterday by Ford and McLin, Democrats
also retained the mayor’s offices in Cleveland and
Cincinnati. Democrats now control the mayoral posts in all
six of Ohio’s largest cities.
Former state Rep. Jane Campbell (D-Cleveland) defeated former
Clinton administration official and fellow Democrat Raymond
Pierce 54%-46%. She will succeed outgoing mayor Mike White,
who chose not to run for re-election.
In Cincinnati, incumbent Mayor Charlie Luken held off a
spirited challenge from Courtis Fuller, a registered Democrat
running as a candidate of Cincinnati’s Charterite Party.
Luken won re-election 55%-45% to become the city’s
first directly-elected mayor since 1926.
OTHER RACES OF NOTE
While
there were literally hundreds of candidates running for
city council, township trustee, school board, and other
offices across the state yesterday, P.a.C.E. has been keeping
an eye on the fortunes of those who are believed to be interested
in running for Ohio General Assembly seats next year.
Here’s a recap of how these candidates fared yesterday.
They are listed under the new, post-reapportionment district
in which they reside.
Senate District 13/House District 57: A proposed North Ridgeville
charter amendment that would have eliminated term limits
for the city’s mayor was defeated 62%-38%. The proposal’s
defeat may be the impetus incumbent Mayor Deanna Hill (D-North
Ridgeville) needed to mount a challenge to either Sen. Jeffry
Armbruster (R-North Ridgeville) or Rep. Jeff Manning (R-North
Ridgeville), both freshmen. Hill, an ex-school teacher and
former district office manager for Cong. Sherrod Brown (D-Elyria),
will not now be able to run for re-election for mayor in
2003.
Senate District 13/House District 57: Avon Mayor Jim Smith
(D-Avon), another possible opponent for either Armbruster
or Hill, won re-election with over 73% of the vote.
House District 33: Sam Malone (R-Cincinnati), a banker and
Navy veteran who lives in Cincinnati’s Bond Hill neighborhood,
failed to win one of nine seats on Cincinnati’s city
council. He finished 12th. Malone is a potential candidate
in the new 33rd House district which, although it currently
has no incumbent, is basically the old 30th district held
by Rep. Sam Britton (D-Cincinnati).
House District 43: Judy Jones (R-Canal Fulton), a hair salon
owner who was beaten 62%-34% by Sen. Leigh Herington (D-Kent)
last year in an Ohio Senate race, lost a bid to become a
Franklin Township trustee. She finished third in a 7-way
race for two spots. Jones is a possible candidate to succeed
term-limited Rep. Twyla Roman (R-Akron).
House District 43: Another potential Republican candidate
in Roman’s district is Mary Taylor, a CPA with Bober,
Markey, Fedorovich & Co. who was appointed to a vacancy
on Green city council in August. She won election to a full
term with a 60%-40% win over her Democrat challenger.
House District 48: Edna Brown (D-Toledo) cruised to a third
term as Toledo Ward 4 city councilwoman. Brown would like
to succeed newly-elected Toledo Mayor Jack Ford.
House District 50: Lee Laubacher (D-Massillon) won re-election
as a Perry Township Trustee. Laubacher screened to replace
former Rep. Johnnie Maier (D-Massillon) in 2000 and could
run against freshman Rep. John Hagan (R-Alliance).
House District 50: The Democrat that was chosen to replace
Maier was Mike Stevens (D-Canal Fulton). He made a triumphant
return to public office with a 60%-40% victory in a race
for Lawrence Township trustee. Stevens lost to Hagan 49%-47%
last November and may seek a rematch.
House District 50: Yet another possible Hagan challenger
is Dave Thorley (D-Louisville). Thorley, an assistant Stark
County prosecutor, won re-election to Louisville city council,
finishing second in a three-way race for two at-large seats.
House District 68: Gene Brown (D-Ravenna) was re-elected
to Ravenna city council. He was the leading vote-getter
in a field race for two at-large council seats. Brown was
the Democrat challenger to Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin (R-Aurora)
last year, earning 41% of the vote. Womer Benjamin is term-limited
and Brown may seek the seat again.
House District 68: A potential Republican candidate for
Womer Benjamin’s seat is Teri Hauenstein. She won re-election
to her seat on the Aurora school board.
House District 86: Geoffrey Phillips (R-Wilmington), a likely
candidate in the newly created 86th district that contains
all of Clinton, Highland, and Pike Counties, was unopposed
in his bid for re-election to Wilmington city treasurer.
Phillips is the vice president for community and government
relations for Wilmington-based Liberty Savings Bank.
House District 87: It’s still up in the air as to whether
or not Fred Deel (D-Gallipolis), an OSU extension agent
for 4-H youth development, won re-election to the Gallia
County Local school board. With all but walk-in votes counted,
Deel trailed the third leading vote-getter by four votes
in a field race for three seats. Deel is the likely Democrat
candidate for the open seat in term-limited Rep. John Carey’s
(R-Wellston) district.
House District 89: Porstmouth Mayor Greg Bauer (R) turned
back a strong challenge from Democrat Franklin Gerlach to
win re-election to a second term by just 204 votes. The
contest was a rematch of the 1997 race when Bauer ousted
then-incumbent Gerlach. Bauer is a possible candidate to
succeed term-limited Rep. Bill Ogg (D-Sciotoville).
GOP WINS PA SUPREME COURT RACE AMID ISSUE AD LITIGATION
Republican
Mike Eakin was elected to Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court
yesterday, giving the GOP a majority on the state’s
highest bench for the first time in decades. Like Ohio’s
Supreme Court races last year, the race was contentious
and featured a flurry of legal motions designed to pull
or preserve televised issue ads funded by non-profit groups.
In the Keystone state, legal wrangling ensued over issue
advertising produced by the Law Enforcement Alliance of
America (LEAA), a pro-gun police and crime victims group.
The two ads, one praising Eakin and another criticizing
the record of his opponent, Kate Ford Elliott, were pulled
from the airwaves when an Allegheny County judge issued
an injunction almost two weeks before the election.
Eakin’s victory is perceived as having benefits for
the Republican Party and the state’s business community,
if for very different reasons. Congressional and state legislative
redistricting district plans could be brought before the
state supreme court in the near future, so GOP activists
are pleased to have an edge. On the business side, Pennsylvania
Law Watch, a group that performed a judicial evaluation
on both Eakin and Elliott, showed there was a clear pro-business
advantage to support Eakin.
In a bizarre twist, the Law Watch group – which reportedly
intended to run issue ads – reached a settlement with
the state Democratic Party refraining from advertisements.
This ended weeks of tension, punctuated by a Democratic
state senator threatening business people that they would
be “led away in handcuffs” if they gave money
to Pennsylvania Law Watch.
Since 1996, each state had its own furious battle over issue
advocacy the first time it was used at the state level –
including the legal barrage aimed at Citizens for a Strong
Ohio in 2000. If precedent is any guide, the LEAA and other
issue advocates should eventually prevail in court.
DEMOCRATS MAKE GAINS IN NEW JERSEY, VIRGINIA
As the
only states to elect governors and state legislative candidates
in odd-numbered years, New Jersey and Virginia are often
viewed as barometers of the relative strength of the political
parties in the period between congressional elections. Yesterday,
Democrats James McGreevey (NJ) and Mark Warner (VA) ended
many years of Republican control of the governors’
mansions in their respective states.
In New Jersey, McGreevey’s 14 point win was credited
with giving extra momentum to Democrats in state legislative
races, where Republicans lost majorities in both chambers.
While Democrats were aided by new district maps they had
drawn earlier this year, one Republican legislator attributed
the loss of at least ten seats to the poor performance of
GOP nominee Bret Schundler. Democrats won a majority of
House seats and achieved a 20-20 split in the Senate.
Virginia produced one bright spot for Republicans as they
added 12 seats to their majority in the House of Delegates.
On the strength of a GOP-drawn map, the caucus elected 64
members.
Exactly what can be inferred from these results is not clear,
given the dampening effects of the September 11 terrorist
attacks on politics, especially in two states that were
so directly impacted. As always, though, it pays to hold
the pen when new districts are drawn.
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