Franklin County GOP endorses candidates for state legislature, two possible primaries remain

This endorsement process started a few weeks ago, and was finalized by the FCRP Central Committee. The GOP has endorsed candidates for State House Districts 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24. Apparently no Republican wants to run against Rep. Dan Stewart in the 25th. There are potential primaries in the 19th and 23rd, as the candidates who did not receive the endorsements have not yet announced their intentions. I will go down the line and give a comment on each race. If anyone has anything to add, please do it in the comments.

19th-The GOP endorsed Dr. Bradley Lewis, the current Franklin County Coroner, over former legislative staffer Nathan Burd to fill what will be an open seat in 2008. This district stretches north/south along the eastern edge of Franklin County. The Democratic candidates in 2006, Marian Harris, has announced that she will again seek the seat. Harris won 45% of the vote against a 3 term incumbent. If the Republicans do end up having a primary, Burd is likely easier to beat as he is less experienced and extremely right wing (he advertises on RAB if that gives you a better picture of his views), however a Democratic win is not out of the question against either candidate. After all, an open seat changes everything.

20th-This district should be competitive. In 2006, challenger Bev Campbell survived a nasty campaign and came with 100 or so votes of unseating incumbent Jim McGregor. McGregor is running for his final term in 2008, but Campbell did not file a finance report in July. I don't know whether she is planning on running again. This seat can be taken by a strong Democrat. It covers east of Columbus neighborhoods like Bexley and Reynoldsburg.

21st-This district is currently held by freshman Rep. Kevin Bacon. Besides the boost he gets every time Footloose is played on TNT, I'm told that Bacon will be hard to unseat this time around. Our best shot at the seat was likely in 2006, when Dean Hernandez scored 48% of the vote. There is some bitterness in this district, situated in the northern part of the county, due to the Democratic primary that occurred in 2006. It was close, within 100 votes. This will be tough to take, but not impossible with $$ and a good candidate.

22nd-John Carney, a health care lawyer here in Columbus, scored 47% against incredibly popular incumbent Jim Hughes in 2006. With Hughes term limited out of the House, Carney will have a clear shot at an open seat in 2008. He will face a former state rep, Bill Shuck. Shuck lost a Franklin County Commission seat to Mary Jo Kilroy in 2000 by about 5000 votes. He will give Carney a run for his money, but Carney's $50,000 in the bank and experience running this race before should give him an advantage.

23rd-We come to contested potential primary number two. The GOP endorsed Grove City Mayor Cheryl Grossman over Hilliard City Councilman Brett Sciotto in what the Dispatch reports was a very close vote. The vote was close despite the fact that Grossman had the backing of Deborah Pryce and current Rep. Larry Wolpert. (BTW I'd like to take a minute to point out that Jim Siegel of the Dispatch spelled Pryce's name as Debra. Apparently blog entries do not get edited over there. She's only been around for 16+ years...) This may show signs of a genuine split in the GOP and may encourage Sciotto to stay in the race. This district, which covers western Franklin, is likely impossible for a Democrat to win. Our only chance at an opening is an incredibly bloody Republican primary.

24th-Tim Rankin, an Upper Arlington City Councilman, scored the Republican endorsement for this race. From what I'm hearing, he is already unenthusiastic considering that incumbent Ted Celeste raised $122,000 as of July 30th and has $100,000 cash on hand. And you better believe there is a hell of a lot more where that came from. Rankin is a right wing rabble rouser in Upper Arlington. He made a name for himself when he and the other puritans tried to pressure the local library into removing gay newspapers. More recently, he was the author of an unenforceable sex offender that was obviously designed to further his political career. He'll likely run on that, but it won't play will in the urban Hilltop since the bill would force sex offenders into urban neighborhoods of Columbus. But hey, who cares if they are living with the black people, right? Celeste will have money, name recognition and through the roof likability, and a well oiled volunteer operation, and could probably survive a challenge from Jesus Christ himself.

25th-No Republican emerged to take on Rep. Dan Stewart. Apparently that time they spent $1 million to beat him and still lost convinced them that 25th was not a wise investment. Oh well.

26th-Held by Freshman Rep. Tracy Heard, one of the nicest women in the legislature, this is a safe Dem district.

27th-Held by outgoing Minority Leader Joyce Beatty, this is another district where the Democratic primary will be the election. I've heard a few names mentioned but I can't remember them off the top of my head.

Thoughts, reactions, questions, am I wrong or right? Comment away! Oh, and if anyone has any legislative news from anywhere else in the state, let us know about that too.