Ohio Megathread

[Deus Naturae]

-_____-

Portune will regret this. Not only will he not get by FitzGerald, but Kasich's already large financial advantage will put him even closer to re-election. He's going after FitzGerald for a mistake that Kearney himself made. Sorry, but if Portune would rather have another term of John Kasich rather than get FitzGerald in there, then he's not a real Democrat.

My impression is that Portune is probably running because he thinks FitzGerald is toast and he wants to give the Democrats another option than letting Kasich coast to re-election. That's really the only reason people start a campaign this late, well either that or because they're mad at the other candidate about some issue, but that doesn't seem to have happened here.

Kasich v. FitzGerald may actually be a lot closer than Kasich v. Portune. Even for me, if Portune does win the primary, I will just end up voting for the Green candidate, Dennis Spisak, and I could see a lot of other liberals, union members, and environmentalists would want to do the same given Portune's moderate and unappealing nature. FitzGerald on the other hand already got the state party's endorsement as well as other huge ones from Senator Sherrod Brown, former Governor Ted Strickland, Reps Marcy Kaptur and Marcia Fudge, and tons of unions. FitzGerald also has the money advantage against Portune and he's been to all 88 counties. Portune hasn't and has a lot of groundwork to make up in just 4 months.

Besides, Portune suffers from the same problem FitzGerald does, name recognition and money. The fact that Portune is from Hamilton County would make it competitive there against Kasich, but he would just end up losing for the same reason Strickland lost with the North not coming in big for him. FitzGerald won't get by him easily which is unfortunate, but once PPP polls the primary, I think he will have a nice advantage over Portune.

I like Fitzgerald a lot and think he's a decent guy who'd make a good Governor.  That being said, I haven't been too impressed by him as a candidate.  If Portune beats him in the primary after joining this late in the game, it means that Fitzgerald was easily the weaker candidate.  I'd much perfer Fitzgerald, but the more important thing is running the stronger candidate.  If Portune wins the primary, despite all of Fitzgerald's advantages, so be it.  BTW, how could it be that you'd prefer four more years of Kasich to four years of Portune? 

From a voting perspective, not really. I wouldn't even vote for Kasich if it was only him and Charlie Earl on the ballot, but my vote will normally go to whoever I think is the most progressive/liberal, is someone who I agree with on some of the most important issues, and would seem like an effective, bipartisan leader. Portune would never meet those requirements for me because even if he did get elected, I doubt he would stand against the legislature on any economic issues. So I'll vote for FitzGerald in the primary/general (assuming he beats Portune), but in some miraculous, well-funded, popular campaign where Portune somehow beats FitzGerald, I'll vote for Spisak, the Green candidate in protest.

I also tried finding out some of this Portune's issues and while he's yet to make a stance on many of them, his position as Commissioner gives us a chance of what to expect in his campaign. He cut 25% of the functions of the county government, would decrease unemployment (is totally lying there because Cincinnati's unemployment is higher than the overall state's), would strive for transportation reform (I'll agree there at least), and would pretty much continue most of Kasich's failed policies as a fiscal conservative. It's a lot harder to find his views on social issues, but it would seem likely that he's pro-gun as opposed to FitzGerald who's pro-gun control. I also don't see why he wouldn't be pro-same-sex marriage, but I found this gem that he stated before: "Gay marriage is not a matter the commissioners need weigh in on." So he's not against it, but he certainly won't advocate for it like FitzGerald will. As for other Ohio social issues like abortion or the death penalty, I wouldn't see him being very liberal on either and VoteSmart has nothing on this guy on the issues.

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.oh_cincinnati_msa.htm
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST39000003

[LeBron]

-_____-

Portune will regret this. Not only will he not get by FitzGerald, but Kasich's already large financial advantage will put him even closer to re-election. He's going after FitzGerald for a mistake that Kearney himself made. Sorry, but if Portune would rather have another term of John Kasich rather than get FitzGerald in there, then he's not a real Democrat.

My impression is that Portune is probably running because he thinks FitzGerald is toast and he wants to give the Democrats another option than letting Kasich coast to re-election. That's really the only reason people start a campaign this late, well either that or because they're mad at the other candidate about some issue, but that doesn't seem to have happened here.

Kasich v. FitzGerald may actually be a lot closer than Kasich v. Portune. Even for me, if Portune does win the primary, I will just end up voting for the Green candidate, Dennis Spisak, and I could see a lot of other liberals, union members, and environmentalists would want to do the same given Portune's moderate and unappealing nature. FitzGerald on the other hand already got the state party's endorsement as well as other huge ones from Senator Sherrod Brown, former Governor Ted Strickland, Reps Marcy Kaptur and Marcia Fudge, and tons of unions. FitzGerald also has the money advantage against Portune and he's been to all 88 counties. Portune hasn't and has a lot of groundwork to make up in just 4 months.

Besides, Portune suffers from the same problem FitzGerald does, name recognition and money. The fact that Portune is from Hamilton County would make it competitive there against Kasich, but he would just end up losing for the same reason Strickland lost with the North not coming in big for him. FitzGerald won't get by him easily which is unfortunate, but once PPP polls the primary, I think he will have a nice advantage over Portune.

I like Fitzgerald a lot and think he's a decent guy who'd make a good Governor.  That being said, I haven't been too impressed by him as a candidate.  If Portune beats him in the primary after joining this late in the game, it means that Fitzgerald was easily the weaker candidate.  I'd much perfer Fitzgerald, but the more important thing is running the stronger candidate.  If Portune wins the primary, despite all of Fitzgerald's advantages, so be it.  BTW, how could it be that you'd prefer four more years of Kasich to four years of Portune?  

From a voting perspective, not really. I wouldn't even vote for Kasich if it was only him and Charlie Earl on the ballot, but my vote will normally go to whoever I think is the most progressive/liberal, is someone who I agree with on some of the most important issues, and would seem like an effective, bipartisan leader. Portune would never meet those requirements for me because even if he did get elected, I doubt he would stand against the legislature on any economic issues. So I'll vote for FitzGerald in the primary/general (assuming he beats Portune), but in some miraculous, well-funded, popular campaign where Portune somehow beats FitzGerald, I'll vote for Spisak, the Green candidate in protest.

I also tried finding out some of this Portune's issues and while he's yet to make a stance on many of them, his position as Commissioner gives us a chance of what to expect in his campaign. He cut 25% of the functions of the county government, would decrease unemployment (is totally lying there because Cincinnati's unemployment is higher than the overall state's), would strive for transportation reform (I'll agree there at least), and would pretty much continue most of Kasich's failed policies as a fiscal conservative. It's a lot harder to find his views on social issues, but it would seem likely that he's pro-gun as opposed to FitzGerald who's pro-gun control. I also don't see why he wouldn't be pro-same-sex marriage, but I found this gem that he stated before: "Gay marriage is not a matter the commissioners need weigh in on." So he's not against it, but he certainly won't advocate for it like FitzGerald will. As for other Ohio social issues like abortion or the death penalty, I wouldn't see him being very liberal on either and VoteSmart has nothing on this guy on the issues.

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.oh_cincinnati_msa.htm
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST39000003

That sounds great and all, but Middletown, Ohio isn't even in Hamilton County. It's a city north of there so that's negligible. I'm just referring to Cincinnati which is the county's largest city and according to these BLS graphs which is the only data I can find without Middletown's unemployment being averaged with Cincinnati, it hasn't been updated for awhile, but at one point in the summer Cincinnati itself had an unemployment rate 1.1% higher than Ohio.

Cincinnati Unemployment Rate as of August 2013

Middletown Unemployment Rate as of August 2013

[Deus Naturae]

-_____-

Portune will regret this. Not only will he not get by FitzGerald, but Kasich's already large financial advantage will put him even closer to re-election. He's going after FitzGerald for a mistake that Kearney himself made. Sorry, but if Portune would rather have another term of John Kasich rather than get FitzGerald in there, then he's not a real Democrat.

My impression is that Portune is probably running because he thinks FitzGerald is toast and he wants to give the Democrats another option than letting Kasich coast to re-election. That's really the only reason people start a campaign this late, well either that or because they're mad at the other candidate about some issue, but that doesn't seem to have happened here.

Kasich v. FitzGerald may actually be a lot closer than Kasich v. Portune. Even for me, if Portune does win the primary, I will just end up voting for the Green candidate, Dennis Spisak, and I could see a lot of other liberals, union members, and environmentalists would want to do the same given Portune's moderate and unappealing nature. FitzGerald on the other hand already got the state party's endorsement as well as other huge ones from Senator Sherrod Brown, former Governor Ted Strickland, Reps Marcy Kaptur and Marcia Fudge, and tons of unions. FitzGerald also has the money advantage against Portune and he's been to all 88 counties. Portune hasn't and has a lot of groundwork to make up in just 4 months.

Besides, Portune suffers from the same problem FitzGerald does, name recognition and money. The fact that Portune is from Hamilton County would make it competitive there against Kasich, but he would just end up losing for the same reason Strickland lost with the North not coming in big for him. FitzGerald won't get by him easily which is unfortunate, but once PPP polls the primary, I think he will have a nice advantage over Portune.

I like Fitzgerald a lot and think he's a decent guy who'd make a good Governor.  That being said, I haven't been too impressed by him as a candidate.  If Portune beats him in the primary after joining this late in the game, it means that Fitzgerald was easily the weaker candidate.  I'd much perfer Fitzgerald, but the more important thing is running the stronger candidate.  If Portune wins the primary, despite all of Fitzgerald's advantages, so be it.  BTW, how could it be that you'd prefer four more years of Kasich to four years of Portune?  

From a voting perspective, not really. I wouldn't even vote for Kasich if it was only him and Charlie Earl on the ballot, but my vote will normally go to whoever I think is the most progressive/liberal, is someone who I agree with on some of the most important issues, and would seem like an effective, bipartisan leader. Portune would never meet those requirements for me because even if he did get elected, I doubt he would stand against the legislature on any economic issues. So I'll vote for FitzGerald in the primary/general (assuming he beats Portune), but in some miraculous, well-funded, popular campaign where Portune somehow beats FitzGerald, I'll vote for Spisak, the Green candidate in protest.

I also tried finding out some of this Portune's issues and while he's yet to make a stance on many of them, his position as Commissioner gives us a chance of what to expect in his campaign. He cut 25% of the functions of the county government, would decrease unemployment (is totally lying there because Cincinnati's unemployment is higher than the overall state's), would strive for transportation reform (I'll agree there at least), and would pretty much continue most of Kasich's failed policies as a fiscal conservative. It's a lot harder to find his views on social issues, but it would seem likely that he's pro-gun as opposed to FitzGerald who's pro-gun control. I also don't see why he wouldn't be pro-same-sex marriage, but I found this gem that he stated before: "Gay marriage is not a matter the commissioners need weigh in on." So he's not against it, but he certainly won't advocate for it like FitzGerald will. As for other Ohio social issues like abortion or the death penalty, I wouldn't see him being very liberal on either and VoteSmart has nothing on this guy on the issues.

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.oh_cincinnati_msa.htm
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST39000003

That sounds great and all, but Middletown, Ohio isn't even in Hamilton County. It's a city north of there so that's negligible. I'm just referring to Cincinnati which is the county's largest city and according to these BLS graphs which is the only data I can find without Middletown's unemployment being averaged with Cincinnati, it hasn't been updated for awhile, but at one point in the summer Cincinnati itself had an unemployment rate 1.1% higher than Ohio.

Cincinnati Unemployment Rate as of August 2013

Middletown Unemployment Rate as of August 2013

That may be the case for Cincinnati alone, but the Aug. 2013 unemployment rate for Hamilton County as a whole was 6.8%, 0.5% lower than the statewide unemployment rate of 7.3%.

[LeBron]

An awesome article I found which could possibly destroy Portune's chances and credentials

Portune is currently in the stage of forming an exploratory committee, but he's currently in a mess and will need 1,000 signatures delivered to Husted's desk by February 5th (one month) or else he won't qualify for the Democratic primary ballot. Two Democratic Cincinnati Councilmen who Portune used to serve with have refused to change their endorsement and one is saying Portune cannot win against FitzGerald. Portune is saying though that if it becomes obvious he can't beat FitzGerald, he'll drop out (so he should have dropped out by now).

Portune's campaign has failed and has no idea yet who will run with him. He claims to be deciding between 4 possible contenders for his Lt. Governor mate, but he's refused to say who they are. C. Ellen Connally, the Cuyahoga County Council President, has not only stated she won't run for re-election, but also said she would not run with Portune (I don't blame her) leaving Portune possibly high and dry for a running mate. Time is slowly running out for Portune and he should know that Husted won't cut him a break.

[LeBron]

Portune apparently wants to talk about how important it is to unite with the party as a whole and not be "negative" about it. Umm, what planet is he living on? The state party was united on endorsing one, sole Democratic candidate for Governor and Portune is the only one who wants to ruin that. A primary fight between FitzGerald and Portune will just lead to a split among Ohio Democrats between the moderate and establishment wing, so Portune fails.....again. He should stick around in the media though because I'm having fun tearing this guy apart!

[LeBron]

Stevenot states Brenda Mack's financial problems were not his reason for dropping out, State Rep. John Adams being described as a possible gubernatorial Tea Party contender in the GOP primary, Portune's other screw over of Democrats in 2008, likely fake Kucinich rumors for Governor, and FitzGerald's continued search for a running mate

Got all of that? The Plain Dealer often has their articles divided into sections, but anyways, Mack had a similar problem to Kearney, but it wasn't owing nearly $1 million to the IRS. She apparently had a rare form of cancer that she survived, but left her broke, but that wasn't Stevenot's reason for declining a run. His reasons are still unclear, but perhaps he may have been sane enough to realize unlike Portune that he would not be able to make it through a primary especially after the Ohio Tea Party organization's power in the race was questioned. Meanwhile, Zawistowski is still searching for another potential challenger who could be State Rep. John Adams. While he hasn't expressed interest, he's angry with the current state of the Kasich Administration for also not being conservative enough. If he ran, he could stand a much better chance than Stevenot as an elected politician himself who's high up in the GOP leadership in the State House of Representatives. That's only a hope though and the Ohio Tea Party is still scurrying trying to find somebody to be the bait against Kasich.

Meanwhile, there's rumors still spreading around that former U.S. Representative and current Fox News contributor, Dennis Kucinich, is a potential Democratic candidate for Governor. The problem, as highlighted in the article is he's up in DC now and even if he did come back at the last moment, he would need to pick a running mate right away and get 1,000 signatures within a month which won't happen. There's always hope for 2018 though (if Kasich wins re-election) or 2022 (if FitzGerald wins in 2014) to get a Kucinich run for Ohio Governor. And FitzGerald is still searching for running mates. The Cincinnati State University President already declined a run and a run with Betty Sutton has been described as "unlikely" because of Sutton's new federal job. Ohio House Minority Tracy Maxwell Heard is still a hopeful and potential running mate of FitzGerald, but Heard hasn't said anything on that, so the search may still be on.

With the latest on Portune, not only is he trying to screw Ohio Democrats in this gubernatorial election, but the media found out that back in 2008, he screwed over his own Hamilton County Democrats as well because he cut a deal with Republicans to give them a commissioner seat and thus the majority just so Portune could go unopposed to any challenger that year. If he's scared of Republicans, then why the hell is he running for Governor? What's he going to do if he were to beat FitzGerald? Drop out of the general election because he's afraid he can't beat Kasich? He's pathetic. He really is. Also he's now going to attempt to intimidate FitzGerald since he's "good friends" with the former Treasurer of Cuyahoga County, Jim Rokakis. FitzGerald must be shaking in his boots!



Portune continues to throw a tantrum over the Hamilton County Democratic Party refusing to endorse him and the Kearney controversy again

And since I'm mentioning the one hit wonder, here's this other gem I found of him being completely disrespectful to Ed FitzGerald. Portune says Fitz can't "connect with people" even though he's been running a people, 88 county campaign for over 7 months now while Portune hasn't done s**t, he's attacking Fitz's "commitment to African Americans" despite the fact that he's proven time and time again that he's committed to them by going off on Kasich's minority restricting voting laws, having an African American-friendly ticket, and receiving Rep. Marcia Fudge's endorsement already. Just because Kearney resigned from FitzGerald's ticket for a financial issue that was Kearney's fault, not Fitz's, doesn't mean FitzGerald is against African Americans. It's a blatant, uncalled for attack. And Portune is also saying that FitzGerald is not about "building a party" but it's rather "about Ed." Those comments are so ignorant that it doesn't even really merit response, but Portune is the one destroying the Ohio Democratic Party by trying to split it more than stabilize it. And he can't be serious about that last comment. Ever since he entered the race, the media has all gone to him which is what he wants. Portune is running out of spite and revenge against FitzGerald rather than running for the purpose of helping the state. This guy has serious issues.

[TJ in Oregon]

There's no way Kucinich runs. He's in DC and doesn't have the time to put together an operation to get enough signatures by February 5. And if there's no thing the Democrats could do to make absolutely sure the GOP will control the Ohio Governorship for the next redistricting cycle, it would be to run Dennis Kucinich in 2018.

As for Zawistowski, his whole operation is basically irrelevant. Kasich isn't going to have to spend a dime on the Republican primary to still win it. The only thing the Ohio Tea Party can really do to hurt Kasich is to vote for the libertarian in November, which some small fraction will do, and the rest will get over it.

For FitzGerald, while Portune has swung low in attacking him, Portune's characterization of his campaign thus far sounds more accurate than the Ohio Democratic Party apparatus's response has been thus far. Granted, Portune's not going about this in any sort of way that will make him many friends. But Adam, you can keep touting Fudge's endorsement of FitzGerald all you want, we all know it was a shaky "hands-tied-behind-my-back" kind of endorsement she would have never made if she knew FitzGerald had a primary opponent. This is why FitzGerald's campaign is almost certainly going to pick an African American running mate: he knows he has a problem with that group.

[Zioneer]

I'm honestly completely satisfied with FitzGerald's candidacy, but I'm kind of amused by how big of a FitzGerald fan Adam is. I have my own fanboyism for candidates (Bernie Sanders outside of Utah, Ben McAdams inside Utah), but it's rather remarkable.

[LeBron]

I'm honestly completely satisfied with FitzGerald's candidacy, but I'm kind of amused by how big of a FitzGerald fan Adam is. I have my own fanboyism for candidates (Bernie Sanders outside of Utah, Ben McAdams inside Utah), but it's rather remarkable.

Well it will be my first Governor election that I'll be actively involved/can vote in plus not only do I respect his leftist views, but he was my Mayor, he's my current County Executive, and I had the opportunity to intern for him before since my family knows his wife from church. So it's not just because I like his political views because if it was that, I would also be hyping over Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Dennis Kucinich etc. just as much.

But yeah TJ, there's no way Kucinich will run for Governor. Those were just fake rumors and I would take nothing of it, but if Kasich does win re-election this year, I wouldn't count him out for what could be an impressive run in 2018. Usually, after 8 years of a politician as Governor who's of the same party, they'll be more open to voting for the other party especially if the economy's in a wreck or the outgoing Governor is involved in a scandal of some sort. In Kasich's case, with GOP super-majorities in both houses of the legislatures, there would be no re-election threat for him not to try passing any right-to-work laws, 6 week abortion bans, or any other extreme legislation Kasich would want to pass if he's re-elected.

With Zawistowski, I wouldn't go that far. It would be a failed campaign if the Tea Party recruits somebody at the last second, but the money they'll receive from outside groups and will fund raise throughout the state will cause Kasich to at least spend some money.

For Portune, I can't find anything nice about the guy. A last minute entree who can't find a running mate, nobody has any idea who he is and what he supports, his reason for entering is a joke, his comments about FitzGerald were awful (and Minority Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard, an African American, agreed), he's a moderate, and he's trying to screw over Ohio Democrats again just like he did in 2008 by putting himself before the party. Just to put all of that in brief. And keep in mind, assuming FitzGerald wins the primary, he'll be running against the executive Republicans and has Nina Turner, an African American State Senator, who agreed to be on the same slate back in March. She won't be running for Lt. Gov with him, but she is running nonetheless. Also, as CC Executive, FitzGerald had 4 African Americans who he had work for him in his Cabinet. Kasich had none. He sure isn't the best African American-friendly Democrat in Ohio, but when the other options are John Kasich and Charlie Earl, Rep. Fudge made the right choice and I have no doubt that the Ohio Black Legislative Caucus will endorse FitzGerald to if Portune does go through with this run.

[TJ in Oregon]

I know this has been announced for a few days now, but I'd like to remind everyone since I don't think it's been posted on here yet. So much for Ed FitzGerald trying not to make his whole campaign about abortion because he's Catholic.

[Morning in Atlas]

Yo Adam, your favorite candidate's out again.

Good news for Fitzy.

[Niemeyerite]

Yo Adam, your favorite candidate's out again.

Good news for Fitzy.

OH Oh I Hope he runs against Portman in 2016. Such a good candidate and we're stuck with Fitzgerald...

[TJ in Oregon]

Affiliated Construction Trades Ohio, a construction workers' union in the Toledo area run by Democratic State Rep. Matt Szollosi made a maximum campaign contribution to John Kasich's campaign. They say the contribution is because Governor Kasich as made infrastructure a priority and that construction workers benefit.

This story is a bit of a bombshell considering it's a labor union run by a Democratic State Representative giving money to a Republican governor running for re-election. While ACT Ohio has not made an endorsement in the gubernatorial race, they have not contributed to FitzGerald's campaign.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Affiliated Construction Trades Ohio, a construction workers' union in the Toledo area run by Democratic State Rep. Matt Szollosi made a maximum campaign contribution to John Kasich's campaign. They say the contribution is because Governor Kasich as made infrastructure a priority and that construction workers benefit.

This story is a bit of a bombshell considering it's a labor union run by a Democratic State Representative giving money to a Republican governor running for re-election. While ACT Ohio has not made an endorsement in the gubernatorial race, they have not contributed to FitzGerald's campaign.

God damn it, knew this was gonna come out sooner or later.  This is all about trying to make nice with Kasich when he's re-elected, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[TJ in Oregon]

I know this is a little old, but since no one has posted it yet, Fitzgerald has called on Kasich to take a pledge to serve his entire second term.

[publicunofficial]

Fitzgerald won his fight regarding absentee ballots.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

This is a Dark Horse race, but other than IL, ARk, PA, ME, MI and FL, it isn't that important.

[TJ in Oregon]

This is a couple weeks old, but FitzGerald uses the Cuyahoga County's Inspector General to investigate his campaign donor list. This isn't all that bad of a scandal, but Ed FitzGerald is really starting to make an attempt at being the worst gubernatorial candidate I've ever seen.

[LeBron]

I told you guys it would happen eventually and it did! Ed FitzGerald has released his first TV ad as of yesterday called "Promise" and I love it! As opposed to his radio ad, the TV ad will get across a lot easier. It's a more positive ad than it is negative and it's narrated by and features FitzGerald himself. It's a good play against Kasich when Kasich hasn't mentioned FitzGerald in any of his ads and FitzGerald didn't, either. It will be an effective ad when he didn't attack his opponent by name, but he did attack Kasich's Tea Party policies and is stressing what FitzGerald would do as Governor - only thing it misses is FitzGerald's positive record of cleaning up corruption and creating jobs and surpluses, but that's for another ad at another time.

Oh, and he did it without an inch of help from Peter Shumlin btw; spending it with the help of the state party, several in-state fundraisers, and the help of average Ohioans and he'll keep the ad up as long as humanly possible as long as we donate to him so he can keep it on the air!

[LeBron]

I know this is a little old, but since no one has posted it yet, Fitzgerald has called on Kasich to take a pledge to serve his entire second term.

Here's the thing though. If Kasich runs for President, this will be within the first two years of being elected to a second term and like with Walker, Christie, Haley, Brownback (if he survives) and anyone else I'm forgetting, they'll be out of the state campaigning and leaving the state with no clear leader. For FitzGerald, it's different because he doesn't have to travel to 49 different states but instead only 87 counties all of which are smaller than Cuyahoga County and he's doing this at the end of his term. Basically, Kasich has a duty to serve out his full 4 year term if re-elected, but FitzGerald shouldn't be forced to run for re-election to his current position if he doesn't want to. He's doing what any young politician would do and that's pursuing higher goals in the finishing of his successful term as CC Executive and he's definitely young enough to continue to build his way up the ladder.

If Ohio Republicans really want to attack Team FitzGerald over being an opportunist, Kasich did the same thing when he abandoned Ohio once to work with a national, biased media outlet and when the time was convenient for himself, he barged back into our state, achieved most of his support from outside Tea Party groups, and now after possibly winning a second time, might be thinking of abandoning Ohio if re-elected in 2014 after now forcing us to pay a small share of the convention cost so Kasich can get his moment at the RNC. FitzGerald practically served out a full term as Lakewood Mayor and when elected Governor, will have served through the end  of his term as Cuyahoga County Executive as opposed to Kasich who will have left in the middle of it. If FitzGerald wins the Governorship, we’ll have an elected official, likely Armond Budish, succeed him right away as CC Executive whereas if Kasich goes for and were to win the Presidency, then we would have Mary Taylor, the Lieutenant Governor, take the position without even being elected to it.

Yo Adam, your favorite candidate's out again.

Good news for Fitzy.

OH Oh I Hope he runs against Portman in 2016. Such a good candidate and we're stuck with Fitzgerald...

Portune won't run against Portman because like I said, given his condition, he can't run an effective statewide campaign and there's already a decent Democrat, Bob Hagan, in that race. There's bound to be a few bigger names to file to who think Hagan can’t beat Portman (which is probably true since Hagan is a little too socially liberal for the state). Portune really messed up big time as is with the controversy he was creating within the state Democratic Party plus he only got in the statewide race for Governor in the first place because of the Kearney debacle which he blamed FitzGerald for.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

I am feeling more and more good about Fitzgerald's chances.

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

I bet Fitzgeral will with with about 60% of the vote.

[Hifly]

Fitzgerald is now well on course for a LANDSLIDE victory against the EVIL Kasich.

I am feeling more and more good about Fitzgerald's chances.

Because you're a strange guy.

[Adam Griffin]

Oh wow, that voice...I mean, I guess it's not irritating to people in Ohio. Someone also needs to teach him what to do with his hands.

Comparing/contrasting the Ohio gubernatorial race with my home state, I'll just say this: there's a reason that the RGA (or Kasich, for that matter) isn't running negative ads in OH, but is down south.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I know this is a little old, but since no one has posted it yet, Fitzgerald has called on Kasich to take a pledge to serve his entire second term.

Here's the thing though. If Kasich runs for President, this will be within the first two years of being elected to a second term and like with Walker, Christie, Haley, Brownback (if he survives) and anyone else I'm forgetting, they'll be out of the state campaigning and leaving the state with no clear leader. For FitzGerald, it's different because he doesn't have to travel to 49 different states but instead only 87 counties all of which are smaller than Cuyahoga County and he's doing this at the end of his term. Basically, Kasich has a duty to serve out his full 4 year term if re-elected, but FitzGerald shouldn't be forced to run for re-election to his current position if he doesn't want to. He's doing what any young politician would do and that's pursuing higher goals in the finishing of his successful term as CC Executive and he's definitely young enough to continue to build his way up the ladder.

If Ohio Republicans really want to attack Team FitzGerald over being an opportunist, Kasich did the same thing when he abandoned Ohio once to work with a national, biased media outlet and when the time was convenient for himself, he barged back into our state, achieved most of his support from outside Tea Party groups, and now after possibly winning a second time, might be thinking of abandoning Ohio if re-elected in 2014 after now forcing us to pay a small share of the convention cost so Kasich can get his moment at the RNC. FitzGerald practically served out a full term as Lakewood Mayor and when elected Governor, will have served through the end  of his term as Cuyahoga County Executive as opposed to Kasich who will have left in the middle of it. If FitzGerald wins the Governorship, we’ll have an elected official, likely Armond Budish, succeed him right away as CC Executive whereas if Kasich goes for and were to win the Presidency, then we would have Mary Taylor, the Lieutenant Governor, take the position without even being elected to it.

Yo Adam, your favorite candidate's out again.

Good news for Fitzy.

OH Oh I Hope he runs against Portman in 2016. Such a good candidate and we're stuck with Fitzgerald...

Portune won't run against Portman because like I said, given his condition, he can't run an effective statewide campaign and there's already a decent Democrat, Bob Hagan, in that race. There's bound to be a few bigger names to file to who think Hagan can’t beat Portman (which is probably true since Hagan is a little too socially liberal for the state). Portune really messed up big time as is with the controversy he was creating within the state Democratic Party plus he only got in the statewide race for Governor in the first place because of the Kearney debacle which he blamed FitzGerald for.

First, Kasich isn't running for President.  He clearly wants too, but I think he's smart enough to recognize he'll always be poor man's Scott Walker.  Secondly, I like Bob Hagan and all, but seriously?  There's no way he could win statewide against an extremely weak Republican, let alone Rob Portman (who while comically anonymous is still extremely disciplined, good at getting folks to buy into the "compassionate conservative" non-sense, and hardly a weak candidate).  Even in a heavily Democratic Presidential year, Hagan vs. Portman would be safe R barring a dead girl/live boy level scandal.  We have a number of stronger potential candidates.  Tim Ryan would be the best although I am not convinced he'll run.  Anyway, too early to say much about that race, but there's no way Hagan wins a Senate race (or any other statewide general election) in Ohio.