Congressional Races: News and Notes

There's always something new in Ohio's Congressional races:

Senate: There is a good diary on DailyKos today about the joint appearance in Columbus by Michael J. Fox and Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Avon). UPDATE: There's also a very nice report by Renee in Ohio at Howard Empowered People.

1st District: According to the campaign of John Cranley (D-Cincinnati), the Cincinnati Enquirer and Census Bureau statistics contradict the claim by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Cincinnati) in a debate that Cincinnati has lost population while Cranley has been a councilman. According to the newspaper report, the City of Cincinnati has gained in population since Cranley has been on the council.

5th District: The suddenly frantic Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Old Fort) is attacking favorable poll results released last week by the campaign of Robin Weirauch (D-Naopoleon) as "false" on the basis that Weirauch campaign manager Trish Lanahan is a principal of re:organize, the outfit that conducted the poll. They also dispute the validity of a figure that Weirauch often cites, 4,000 jobs lost in the 5th Congressional District, because the source is a think tank (Policy Matters Ohio) whose principals donate more money to Democrats than to Republicans. On the basis of these arguments they claim that Weirauch is "unethical." The problem, of course, is that they haven't come forward with anything to show that the data in either case is inaccurate, only that they don't like the sources. (Gillmor's sudden interest in campaigning suggests that the polling data is quite accurate indeed.) That's a far cry from "false," or from "unethical."

14th District: Former prosecutor and now Congressman Steve LaTourette (R-Concord Township) and the Republican-controlled Congress have failed to fund the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), resulting in the closing of the only rape crisis center in the 14th Congressional District. "The switch to prevention education must not come at the expense of helping people who are already victims," stated Lew Katz (D-Chesterland). "We must make certain that the rape crisis center serving the 14th District receives the necessary funding so that they can continue the essential services they provide to victims." Cindy Vanallen, Director of the Victims of Crimes Assistance office, stated "it's a sad day for our victims of assault or rape ... . My question is about the whole shift in funding. How do you tell an 80-year-old woman who has been raped, she should have taken prevention measures?"

18th District: In an hour-long debate broadcast on WJER Radio today, Zack Space (D-Dover) and State Sen. Joy Padgett (R-Coshocton) sparred over ethics and the economy. Space told voters that he would be "the agent of change," dedicated to "restoring a people-focused agenda in Congress." Space said that "Washington is broken and in need of new leadership":

I have two kids, and I'm worried about their future because our country is headed in the wrong direction. Our government doesn't seem inclined to work for us anymore, and we need to change the way business is done in Washington. I believe our government should do the same thing we expect from our own families. This means balance our checkbook, establish pay-as-you-go standards that require us not to spend more money than we have coming in, and bring transparency to the earmarking process to eliminate wasteful spending. Our government must be more concerned with fiscal responsibility.

The forum featured calls from listeners. Among the questions was why Padgett, a 20 year educator and member of the teachers' union, failed to receive the endorsement of the Ohio Education Association and the National Education Association. Space called Padgett's casual dismissal of the endorsement an "afront to all those thousands competent hardworking teachers in the state of Ohio, and nationally who support this campaign because they understand that I get it when it comes to the need to prioritize educational funding."