Leave No District Behind

Howard Dean has his 50 state strategy. Chris Redfern has his 88 county strategy. Both of these, especially the 50 state strategy, are controversial but over time I believe they will both be successful.

Much has been written on this site about how the 2006 election strategy is shaping up wherein the 88 county strategy seems to be a Ted Strickland 88 county strategy and *if* we get gains elsewhere, then that’ll be a good thing.

I have personally written my views on this thinking and won’t rehash it but I want to document another example of how we need to fight every race.

To begin, let’s look at the recent Congressional polls here in Ohio. They show Vic Wulsin up 48 to 45 in the 2nd district which is simply breathtaking given the nature of the 2nd district.

Why is this happening? Lots of reasons, but I firmly believe it begins in June 2005 when coming out of the primary for the special election a lone voice pushes the race locally, as well as on the big blogs where he got ridiculed by the big boys. We all know how that turned out. It was the energy of that race that showed how important it was to contest every race. Fast forward past the special election to today where Vic Wulsin has a shot at willing this race. No one 18 months ago would have even dreamed that a Democrat could win this race.

To apply that lesson to our state legislature, I give you Shawn Allen (full disclosure … Shawn is a client). If you click on the candidate list at the top of the screen and look at house races, you will see that the 83rd district had the smallest Democratic percentage (27.28%) of any house seat that was contested in 2004 and is now contested in 2006.

A pointless exercise, I’m sure some would say. Let’s look at some facts. Stacy Roberts, who ran in 2002, raised and spent $325.00 and got 29.82% against Tony Core. Geoff Lane, who ran in 2004, raised and spent $0.00 and got the aforementioned 27.28%. I do not know either of these people, but I suspect neither did any sort of campaigning in any part of the district. The district, by the way, consists of all of Union County (county seat is Marysville), all of Logan County (county seat is Bellefontaine) and most of Marion county outside of the city of Marion itself.

In this election cycle, Shawn has raised a great deal more money than either of the previous two candidates. Of course, like most other house candidates, it has been a hard process, especially given the electoral history and all the money being funneled to the top of the ticket. There is a self-fulfilling prophecy that comes into effect. “Your district cannot be won, so we won’t give money, thereby ensuring that the district cannot be won.” That hasn't stopped Shawn from walking many precincts in his district this year.

More facts … the incumbent Tony Core is serving his 3rd full term after being appointed to fill the retired seat of his father Edward Core who served for many years. If you exclude this cycle, Tony has raised $173,427.71 and spent $160,609.74. Looking back to 2000 and the old 87th district before redistricting, that person raised $300. So that’s a total of $173,427.71 against $650.00.

Where has Tony spent that $160,609.74 with so little opposition? He certainly has spent money on the normal things like signs, literature, website maintenance, stamps, newspaper ads, radio ads, and a lot of money for “livestock auctions.” The bulk of the money, $105,000.00 went to the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee.

This pattern is repeated all across the state. Larry Flowers, a 3 term incumbent running against another client Marian Harris, has donated almost $280,000.00 to either party funds or other candidates. Larry has also faced token opponents in 2002 and 2004 that, if I remember correctly, raised absolutely nothing. You also see this phenomenon at the Congressional level. The man who ran in 2002 and 2004 against Deborah Pryce also raised and spent $0.00.

So … back to Shawn Allen. The lesson here is what happens when someone actually stands up and makes an argument and makes the effort to do so. As of the last filing, in 2005 and 2006, Tony Core hasn’t spent a dime on the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee. He did give a donation to a judge candidate in Lima, but to no one else.

And in a clear sign that actually standing up and fighting has an effect, Tony and Shawn will actually debate this coming Thursday. (See http://www.shawnforohio.com/ for details) Does anyone think he actually debated his last three opponents?

We need to recognize these people for the effort they are making and support them in any way we can. They are out there every day working to make Ohio a better state. The powers that be are not paying attention, but we should.

One last thought to remember. In 2004, the Democratic candidate in the 2nd Congressional District received 28.29%, just 1.01 percentage points better than the Democratic candidate received in the 83rd State House district.