Congressional Races: News and Notes

What's shakin' in those Ohio Congressional races:

Senate: At the College Tour stop at Ohio State University yesterday there were a half-dozen students in the back of the room holding home-made signs that called Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Avon) a pot-head, or otherwise alluded to marijuana. It looked ridiculous, but apparently that was part of a coordinated (and utterly baseless) smear campaign (see this, that, and the other, as reported on the Cleveland Plain Dealer blog Openers.) Apparently the campaign of Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Cedarville) is desperate to change the subject from DeWine's negligence on the intel committee and his lame reaction to the Predatorgate.

1st & 2nd Districts: Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) and John Cranley (R-Cincinnati) held a joint press conference today yesterday to call for a special prosecutor to conduct an independent investigation into Predatorgate, and to say that if any House member knew about Foley's actions and failed to act they should resign. They pointed out that a growing number of Republican leaders like House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-West Chester), and NRCC head Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) continue to change their story on what they knew about Foley's actions and shift the blame around on each other. Opponents Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Cincinnati) and Rep. "Mean Jean" Schmidt (R-Loveland) would rather House leaders investigate themselves than have an independent investigation.

New video on Schmidt from the Wulsin campaign:

[NOTE: I have removed the embedded link, but the video is available here.]

12th District: The Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday that Bob Shamansky came out swinging against the personal smear ad by Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Westerville), accusing Shamansky of tax or voting fraud based on his multiple residences. "I don’t mind being attacked on the issues or on my policy ideas. I do mind having my reputation trashed and my integrity called into question," Shamansky said at a news conference.

13th District: Betty Sutton (D-Copley) has pounced on Craig Foltin (R-Lorain) for refusing to "speak publicly on the Mark Foley scandal and the Republican leadership who put the preservation of their own political power above protecting kids." From the press release:

This begs the question, does Foltin support the current Republican leadership?

In the unlikely event he is sent to Congress, Foltin's first vote would be to try to re-elect Rep. Dennis Hastert and the rest of the Republican leadership to power in the House of Representatives. Voters should know where he stands on the first vote he would cast if elected.

Craig Foltin has received more than $14,000 in contributions from Foley's political protectors in the Republican leadership, including Rep. Tom Reynolds, Rep. Dennis Hastert, and Rep. John Boehner.

Will Craig Foltin condone leaders who put preserving their personal power and protecting their own before protecting our children and the public good?

There is a new web site called "Foltin's Felons" on Foltin's penchant for keeping convicted criminals on his city payroll.

14th District: The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported yesterday that Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Painesville) erroneously sent an outdated absentee ballot request form to 30,000 voters. The outdated form did not request a date of birth or form of identification, new requirements under Ohio election law. Although the article said the recipents were registered Republicans, the campaign of Lew Katz (D-Chesterland) reports that other sources indicate the outdated form was sent to Democrats and independents as well. An outraged Katz reacts:

This is not a minor or trivial mistake that can be easily corrected. Voters are already frustrated with election irregularities. They chose to vote by mail to calm their fears that their vote would not count, but now that system is flawed. It is impossible to determine how another Republican mistake will harm the integrity of the 2006 elections. Therefore, I want full disclosure from Rep. LaTourette as to who was affected by this fiasco. We cannot trust a corrupt Republican party to fix this problem on its own. Whether voting for me or for Steve, I want that vote to count.

15th District: Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Upper Arlington) is backpeddling furiously to distance herself from her friend and disgraced child predator Mark Foley:

In an interview with WOSU Radio on Wednesday, [opponent Mary Jo] Kilroy assailed Pryce, saying, "She’s Foley’s best friend in Washington. He managed her campaign for leadership. Is it credible that she did not know? I don’t think it is."

When reporters asked Pryce on Wednesday about her friendship with Foley, she said, "Apparently I did not know Mark Foley at all. Mark Foley was a friend of mine, but he was a friend of everybody. Mark Foley is very gregarious. We spent some time together but I, just like someone you know for a long time surprises you, he surprised everyone."

In [an article in Columbus Monthly last month], Pryce listed Foley and House Republicans Shelly Moore Capito, of West Virginia; Dave Camp, of Michigan; Eric Cantor, of Virginia; and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, of Florida, as her best friends on Capitol Hill.

18th District: In a front page article today on misleading political ads, the Cleveland Plain Dealer trashes an NRCC attack which claims that Zack Space (D-Dover) is supported by a"radical" and "dangerous" group that opposes missile defense and supports defense cuts and immediate withdrawal from Iraq. In fact, the group in question (Council for a Livable World, which donated $5,000 to Space) is a centrist group with none of those positions. Although the article pans other ads as well, including one by Space, none of the others rely on such a blatant whopper of a lie.