Petro's Out
Northeast Ohio native and former Attorney General Jim Petro has ruled out a run for Congress, setting his sights instead on Ohio's next Supreme Court chief justice.
Party leaders, including House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio, had urged Petro, a moderate Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006, to run next year for a seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce of suburban Columbus.
"I have had strong experience as a manager, a lawyer, and advocate in courts across the country, so I really do lean toward running for the Supreme Court in Ohio," he said. "If I run for Congress, win or lose, it would be really difficult to come back and run for chief justice."
Petro, 58, said he'll continue doing what he's doing -- practicing law, including death-penalty pro-bono work and playing handyman around his Columbus home- until he begins a campaign in earnest in 2010.
So counting the GOP's losses again, that's a no on Stivers, their #1 pick, and a no on Petro their #2 pick. If they're not careful, pretty soon they'll be recruiting from the Ohio State University's College Republican club for candidates to replace DeBOARah. The only other name on their list that isn't entirely laughable is former Cbus Mayor Lashutka...who's been out of politics for about 8 years! I mean seriously, stick a fork in it, cause the Franklin County Republican Party seems to be toast on this one.
