OH-5: Karen Gillmor (R) and Wachtmann (R) Out - Plus GOP Poll Results

The Columbus Dispatch blog The Daily Briefing reported yesterday that Karen Gillmor (R-Dublin), widow of Rep. Paul Gillmor (R), will not run in the special election in the 5th Ohio Congressional District. However, the same item reports that State Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon) is circulating petitions, and Right Angle Blog posted an announcement from Wachtmann yesterday that he is making an announcement today in Henry County, followed by stops in five other counties in the district, so Wachtmann appears to be in. (I'm waiting for a call back from Wachtmann's spokesperson to confirm.) I was totally wrong, Matt at Right Angle Blog was right. Wachtmann is not running, and instead is endorsing State Rep. Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green).

A source in Wood County tells me that former State Rep. Rex Damschroder (R-Fremont) is also circulating petitions, so he is a good bet to enter as well. That makes the GOP field Latta, State Sen. Steve Buehrer (R-Delta), and probably Damschroder.

The following poll was taken of 300 primary voters by the Latta campaign (reportedly available to sbuscribers at Hotline.com):

Primary Election Matchups
Latta 34%
Wachtmann 20%
Buehrer 17%

Latta 30%
Wachtmann 18%
Buehrer 14%
Damschroder 12%

Favorable/Unfavorable
Latta 47%/ 3%
Wachtmann 35%/ 5%
Buehrer 30%/ 3%
Damschroder 29%/ 5%

Those are suprisingly good numbers for Wachtmann against Buehrer. I would have expected them to be tied, or for Buehrer to be ahead. The two of them have traded State Rep. and State Sen. seats due to term limits, much like Latta and State Sen. Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green) in the eastern part of the 5th Congressional District.