Buckeye State Blog - OH-15: Lashutka takes a pass, Republicans left with no obvious candidate - Comments

stick to the facts, Doc

Nick D — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:28:59 -0700

Paul, you're right I should have just stuck to the facts and said that Wolpert's 23rd district has the lowest DPI of any Franklin County district instead of saying "safest" as I don't think there are any safe R's in Franklin Co anymore. However, in a district that is basically Hillard and Grove City connected via some very rural areas of the county, I think a D will be hard pressed to win, but it isn't impossible with a little fundraising.

Wolpert Run

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:17:37 -0700

Wolpert would be a strong candidate for the 15th District. He has been a pretty policy wonkish state legislator during his time in the House, and is not viewed as a hardcore partisan. In addition, he was responsible for getting rid of New Rome, which is instant credibility with basically the entire district.

Matt Naugle is looking more

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:19:42 -0700

Matt Naugle is looking more and more viable... can you think of his attack ads? Maybe something to the effect of MJK slept with lesbian space aliens?

Naugle for Congress...

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:38:45 -0700

The field is wide open for him...

Wolpert

Paul — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:39:34 -0700

First, Larry is term limited and cannot run again in the State House. He's probably hoping Steve Stivers will run for OH-15 so he can run for the State Senate. And saying "safest Republican seat in Franklin County" is damning with faint praise. He pulled a challenger in 2006 for the first time since 2000 and this very underfunded candidate raised a total of $1,461.51. The results? The challenger pulled 43.53% of the vote.

The tide keeps rising

Woodguy — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:11:08 -0700

Consider, 1. The Ohio GOP is in shambles after 2006 and Coingate.
2. They won't have Tom Noe's millions to play with
3. In fact, the DCCC has TONS more cash than the RNCC
4. The DCCC has staffers with Ohio experience and has clearly focused on the Buckeye State
5. Overall, the Dem challengers are the best crop in years.

Oh, they'll come up with a candidate eventually.

But how many GOPers are up for a suicide mission?

O'Brien or Testa?

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:09:27 -0700

Has anyone heard the Republicans mentioning anything about Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien or Franklin County Auditor Joe Testa? Both would seem to have strong name recognition and backgrounds. (Though for all I know, they may live in the 12th district instead of the 15th).

larry wolpert?

Nick D — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:18:22 -0700

I'm surprsied no one is mentioning State Rep. Larry Wolpert (R-Hilliard) as a potential candidate. His district is the safest republican seat in Franklin County (the DPI is like 37 last I checked) so they wouldn't have to risk losing the seat in the state house. It looks like they'll be scrapping the bottom of the bucket here shortly. Not a surprise. What republican wants to run in a swing district in an environment like this?

OH-15: Lashutka takes a pass, Republicans left with no obvious candidate

2010 Buckeye — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:24:07 -0700

Dispatch is reporting that shortly after Petro ruled out running for the 15th, Lashutka decided to skip the race as well:

Former Mayor Greg Lashutka said today he will not seek the GOP nomination in 2008 for the 15th Congressional District seat being vacated at the end of next year by retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce, an Upper Arlington Republican.

Lashutka ruled out a run about an hour after former Attorney General Jim Petro said he will not seek the congressional seat, leaving local GOP officials scrambling for a candidate against Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy, the favoried Democrat who narrowly lost to Pryce in 2006.

Lashutka, 63, is in his eighth year as senior vice president of corporate relations for Nationwide Insurance and he said he is neither interested in the congressional seat nor any other elected position at this point.

Frankly, I'm not that surprised. He's got a great job at Nationwide, and I would imagine that there is little at his age that could convince him to leave. Certainly becoming a freshman in the minority party in the House wouldn't do it. The Republicans will now likely begin looking at younger candidates on local city councils and such. I would imagine that the Republican judges in the area will be screened as well. Pryce was a judge when she first ran for Congress in '92. The bench is not a bad place to find yourself a candidate who can avoid being associated with the current crop of Republicans. Anyways, more good news for the Kilroy campaign, but we're not out of the woods yet.