MAY 8, 2002 ** SPECIAL EDITION ** FIELD NOW SET FOR NOVEMBER OCCPaC ENDORSED CANDIDATES ALL WIN There were few surprises in the outcomes of yesterday’s primaries but several close contests. For the nine candidates in contested primaries endorsed by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee (OCCPaC), it was a clean sweep. Only one of the nine, Rep. Shirley Smith, failed to win at least 50 percent of the vote. The other OCCPaC-supported winners: incumbent Reps. Ken Carano (D-Austintown), David Evans (R-Newark), Annie Key (D-Cleveland), and Sylvester Patton (D-Youngstown) and non-incumbent candidates Bob Gibbs (R-Lakeville), Jim Raussen (R-Cincinnati), Jeff Wagner (R-Sycamore), and Kathleen Walcher (R-Norwalk). With the preliminaries out of the way, the focus of The Political Edge will, of course, now shift to the fall elections, which promise many competitive and interesting races. We will be posting the complete list of General Election matchups on the Ohio Chamber of Commerce website later today. Check it out at www.ohiochamber.com. What follows is a recap of all of yesterday’s contested Ohio General Assembly primary contests. OHIO SENATE PRIMARY RESULTS Senate District 11: (Republican) – Property manager Phillip Barbosa garnered six-times as many votes as University of Toledo student Kwame Mu’Min to easily win the GOP nomination to oppose Rep. Theresa Fedor. Fedor is the prohibitive favorite in this strong Democrat Lucas County district, open because Sen. Linda Furney is term-limited. Senate District 15: (Democrats) – Rep. Ray Miller scored a 77 percent –23 percent win over Dennis Thompson. Miller will now face Republican Lorena Lacey, a staffer in U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi’s office. Incumbent Sen. Ben Espy is term-limited. Senate District 23: (Republicans) – Parma School Board member Dick Ress posted a 65 percent – 35 percent victory over Joseph Neelon, who works as a bus driver. Ress will oppose Sen. Dan Brady in the fall. Senate District 29: (Democrats) – Canton psychologist Jan Schwartz, the Stark County Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate, won 59 percent – 41 percent over Thomas Robinson. She will now face Rep. Kirk Schuring in November in this open seat contest to replace term-limited incumbent Sen. Scott Oelslager. OHIO HOUSE PRIMARY RESULTS House District 8: (Democrats) – Appointed incumbent Rep. Lance Mason of Shaker Heights easily turned away a challenge by Bedford Heights teacher Terri Honer. Mason won 79 percent of the vote and will probably win with a similar percentage in November against his Republican opponent, Lee Janovitz. House District 10: (Democrats) – Despite four challengers – including two who spent heavily – and the addition of significant new territory to the district, incumbent Rep. Shirley Smith still got almost twice as many votes as any other candidate and won with 44 percent of the vote. Attorney Alex Sanchez was second and social worker Brian Hodous third. Republican Benjamin Malbasa will be her General Election opponent. House District 11: (Democrats) – Reports that first-term Rep. Annie Key was in trouble appear to have been incorrect, as she more than doubled the vote total of her challenger, T.J. Dow, and captured a 69 percent – 31 percent victory. Republican businessman Tony Kaloger awaits Key. House District 12: (Democrats) – Appointed incumbent Rep. Michael DeBose fell just 80 votes short of having more votes than his three opponents combined. Former Garfield Heights Councilman Frank Wagner was second. DeBose will face Republican Dan Trif in November in his effort to win a full term. House District 13: (Democrats) – Plaintiff’s lawyer and Lakewood Councilman Michael Skindell bested fellow Lakewood Councilman Edward FitzGerald 59 percent – 41 percent to capture the Democratic nomination. Skindell and Republican Ryan Patrick Demro will matchup this fall to determine the successor to outgoing Rep. Mary Rose Oakar. House District 18: (Republicans) – Marketing consultant Thomas Patton, president of the local Treasurers & Ticket Sellers Union, won the GOP nomination by capturing 42 percent in a five-way race. Firefighter Greg Schneider finished second and CPA Gordon Short, the Cuyahoga County GOP’s endorsed candidate, a distant third. Sue Adams, a Berea Public Schools employee, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The Patton-Adams race could be one of the year’s most competitive. House District 22: (Democrats) – Marijuana advocate Ken Schweickart scored the year’s closest win. He defeated Gary Josephson, former President of Communication Workers of America Local 4501, by only 31 votes out of 2,609 cast. He now faces an even tougher race against Rep. Jim Hughes. House District 25: (Democrats) – Dan Stewart, lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union, rode his lifelong residency in the district and the endorsement of the Franklin County Democratic Party to a convincing 65 percent – 35 percent win over Chad Foust. Foust had hoped to become the state’s first openly gay state representative. Stewart and former Columbus School Board member Dave Dobos will square off in November for the right to replace term-limited incumbent Rep. Amy Salerno. House District 28: (Republicans) – The recent flap over the recorded phone conversation between Speaker Larry Householder’s chief of staff Brett Buerck and House candidate Doug Mink apparently didn’t harm Jim Raussen. The purpose of the conversation was to encourage Mink to drop his challenge to Raussen and withdraw from the race. Raussen, a 2000 OCCPaC Chamber Choice candidate, beat Mink 79 percent –21 percent, setting up a rematch between Raussen and freshman Rep. Wayne Coates. House District 33: (Democrats) – In a battle between two former vice mayors of Cincinnati, Tyrone Yates beat Minette Cooper 51 percent –35 percent. LeRoy Hopkins finished third. Yates and former Deer Park Councilwoman Sandy Hall will face each other in the General Election. House District 39: (Republicans) – Brian Whitaker hopes the third time is a charm. Whitaker captured the GOP nomination over Jose Davila 63 percent – 37 percent and will now face Rep. Dixie Allen. Whitaker ran for the House against Rep. Fred Strahorn in 2000 and former Rep. Tom Roberts in 1998, losing both times. In this heavily Democratic district, his chances don’t appear much better in 2002. House District 42: (Democrats) – Stow’s Kelly Keleman defeated attorney George Miller 55 percent – 45 percent and will be the Democratic challenger against appointed Rep. John Widowfield. House District 56: (Democrats) – 19-year old Lorain County Community College student Justin Hill of Sheffield Lake performed respectably, picking up 36 percent of the vote, but veteran politician and appointed Rep. Joe Koziura of Lorain still won. Kozuira will be opposed by Republican Dan Williamson in the fall. House District 58: (Republicans) – Huron County Clerk of Courts Kathleen Walcher had no trouble dispatching former Ford Motor Co. machinist Jack Williamson of Bellevue, 72 percent –28 percent. Awaiting Walcher in November is 17-year-old Norwalk High School senior Ken Bailey. House District 59: (Democrats) – Freshman Rep. Ken Carano of Austintown turned away 19-year old Youngstown State University student David Sisk, 70 percent –30 percent. Carano’s General Election opponent is Paul Alberty of Poland, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2000 against U.S. Rep. Jim Traficant. House District 60: (Democrats) – Rep. Sylvester Patton of Youngstown scored a 59 percent – 41 percent win over former Youngstown City Councilman Jerry McNally. Struthers’ Bill Sicafuse is the GOP candidate. House District 61: (Republicans) – Longaberger employee Randy Pope, who helped manage former Rep. Ron Hood's campaigns in this same district, offset a third place finish in Mahoning County with a 992 vote margin in Stark County and won this three-way race. Pope pulled 40 percent of the vote overall. Ron Barnhart was second, 529 votes behind. Heather Plues finished third. Pope will now attempt to knock off freshman Rep. John Boccieri. House District 65: (Democrats) – The Trumbull County Democratic Party endorsement wasn’t enough for former Girard Mayor Joseph Melfi. Niles attorney Sandra Stabile Harwood bested Melfi by 511 votes. Former Niles Clerk of Courts Barry Profato was third. Harwood and Republican James Calko, Jr. of Warren will do battle in November to replace Rep. Tony Latell, who lost his bid for Congress. House District 68: (Democrats) – Portage County Commissioner Kathleen Chandler, the favorite going in, captured the Democrat nomination with a 65 percent – 35 percent win over Ravenna City Councilman Gene Brown. House District 68: (Republicans) – The House Republican caucus got its man, or rather woman. Aurora School Board member Terri Hauenstein got just over 50 percent in this three-way primary. The caucus backed Hauenstein because it is believed that a female candidate gives the GOP its best chance against Chandler in November. Brian Paul finished second with 33 percent. House District 71: (Republicans) – Rep. David Evans of Newark defeated Grover Fraley in the 1998 GOP primary for this seat and he did so again this year. Evans posted a convincing 81 percent –19 percent win. House District 78: (Republicans) – Sidney business owner John Adams couldn’t get past the primary two years ago, but he did this time. He grabbed 58 percent in a five-way race, setting the stage for what promises to be one of 2002’s best campaigns. Adams will now face freshman Rep. Derrick Seaver in this GOP-leaning district. House District 81: (Republicans) – With hard work and late help from the House GOP caucus, Seneca County Commissioner Jeff Wagner scored a resounding victory over three candidates to win the nomination. Wagner captured 57 percent of the vote. Gene Demschroder of Fremont, the 80-year old former state legislator and father of term-limited incumbent Rep. Rex Damschroder, was second. Wagner and Fremont Councilman Jim Melle will meet in the fall. House District 86: (Republicans) – By capturing 61 percent of the vote in his home county and 53 percent in Pike County, Highland County Commissioner Dave Daniels won this three-way race with 42 percent. His 1,424 vote margin in Highland offset his third-place finish and 1,300 vote loss in Clinton County. Clinton County Commissioner Rick Stanforth was second overall. Toni Barnes finished third, but managed to finish second in all three counties. House District 87: (Democrats) – Despite winning only one of the five counties in the district, Fred Deel of Vinton posted an 102 vote victory over McArthur’s Carol Porter. Deel, Gallia County’s 4-H extension agent, won because he was able to roll up a 649 vote margin in Gallia County, the district’s largest county. Ron McClintock, mayor of the Village of Athalia in Lawrence County, finished third. House District 87: (Republicans) – Whether it was because of his aggressive campaigning, fallout from a state audit, or a combination of both, Clyde Evans, a Gallia County resident and former Rio Grande Village Councilman, crushed Jackson Mayor Tom Evans 71 percent – 28 percent. Clyde Evans, Executive Assistant to the President for Public Affairs and Director of Athletics at the University of Rio Grande, never stopped working from the day he announced last summer and won each of the five counties. He even won 63 percent of the vote in Jackson County, Tom Evans’ home county. It’s impossible to know its true impact, but the recent audit conducted by State Auditor Jim Petro’s office that alleged that nearly $150,000 of public money was misspent in Jackson in 1999 and 2000 had to have hurt the candidacy of Tom Evans. House District 89: (Republicans) – Portsmouth’s Harold “Bud” Sayre, a retired high school principal, grabbed a 68 percent – 32 percent win in the GOP primary over Tom Pinkerton of Ironton. Sayre will face attorney Todd Book in November. Incumbent Rep. Bill Ogg is term-limited. House District 90: (Republicans) – The closest call for a sitting Republican incumbent wasn’t really very close at all. Rep. Thom Collier turned away a challenge from James Carroll, a township trustee in Morrow County, 65 percent – 35 percent. Lexington’s Howard Hoffman was unopposed in the Democratic primary. House District 92: (Democrats) – Only 532 votes separated first from last, making this the closest three-way race of the year. James Pancake of Nelsonville, an A.E.P. electrician, executive board member of his I.B.E.W. local, and a York Township Trustee, posted a 472 win over Athens Dr. Eric Hasemeier. Hasemeier, in turn, got only 60 votes more than Athens Councilman Dale Tampke. Pancake will face Athens City Auditor Jimmy Stewart in the General Election in this new district created by reapportionment. House District 95: (Democrats) – John Domenick, weather anchor/director for WTRF-TV 7, a Wheeling, W.V. station, easily defeated incumbent Rep. Eileen Krupinski, 66 percent – 34 percent. He not only captured 75 percent of the vote in Belmont County – new to the district – but he also got 60 percent in Jefferson County, Krupinski’s home. Republican Frank Sentich, who lost to Krupinksi in 2000 by less than 3,000 votes and to her husband, former Rep. Jerry Krupinski in 1998, awaits Domenick. House District 96: (Republicans) – Greg Erb, a former mayor of New Philadelphia, beat dairy farmer Connie Finton by 215 votes and will square off against incumbent Rep. Charlie Wilson in November. House District 97: (Republicans) – Holmes County hog farmer Bob Gibbs cruised to an easy 60 percent – 31 percent win over Wadsoworth barber Chuck Pfeister. Ashland attorney Tom Mason is all that stands in the way of Gibbs and a seat in the Ohio House in this heavily Republican district created by reapportionment.