OH-05: HISSSS!!! Catfight

It's official, the politico has declared the OH-05 Republican primary "nasty." I think "catfight" is a better term.

From the politico:

The race to replace the late Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) is turning increasingly nasty, as the two leading Republican candidates have argued over who's more conservative on taxes and have tied each other to unpopular former GOP governor Bob Taft.

State Rep. Bob Latta just launched a new ad accusing state senator Steve Buehrer of “sponsoring the Taft gas tax,” for working at a company that was the “center of Ohio’s largest corruption scandal” and for taking money from jailed Republican fundraiser Tom Noe.

“Steve Buehrer – worked with Taft. Took money from Noe,” the ad concludes.

The ad attempts to turn the tables on Buehrer, who benefited from a recent advertising blitz from the anti-tax Club for Growth portraying Latta as a tax-hiker.

Last week, the Club for Growth aired an ad attacking "tax-and-spend Bob Latta" for voting to approve a budget advanced by Taft, whose woeful performance ratings plagued Ohio Republicans last year.

The Club for Growth, which spent $75,000 on the advertisement, is backing state senator Steve Buehrer in the primary. The ad drew a complaint from Latta’s campaign, alleging they misrepresented one of his votes in the legislature.

It really is a shame to see these two distinguished legislators get sucked into such a nasty primary. Ever since the Commissioner Brown character assassination from an anonymous commenter alleging homosexuality, I've been able to tell this one was going to be no holds barred. Regardless, I think Bob Latta has a lot to fear from upstart Steve Buehrer. Latta's in the fight for his life to prove to his traditionally loyal base that he really is conservative enough to deserve their vote. That might be a hard sell against the ultra-conservative Buehrer.