Ohio Megathread

[LeBron]

It's also been reported that State Dems are taking challenges in SD-09 and SD-11 very seriously. In SD-09 the most popular Cincinatti Republican, Councilman Charlie Winburn, is running and plans to raise a huge amount of funds; Cecil Thomas is unfortunately raising nothing. The deep blue lean of the district should be enough to thankfully save Thomas, who has been endorsed by Pro Life and Christian organisations.

In SD-11, Democratic Toledo councilman, former Toledo Mayor and former State Rep. Jack Ford is running as an independent against Edna Brown, and Dems fear that he may be able to split the vote far enough to allow the Republican candidate to win the district.

What do you guys make of this?

Well, although Thomas isn't raising money like Winburn is, he still has a lot of familiarity and relationships with the African Americans he visits in the district on a very regular basis plus Thomas also benefits of course from the D+22 PVI there. However, I wouldn't count out a win for Winburn when he'll do well among GOP suburban voters and maybe even a little boost of support within the city with the help of Cranley on his side. Plus when only 2% of registered Dem voters in the district vote in your primary as was the case with Thomas, he better hope they turnout from those embarrassing numbers in the general.

As for SD-11, Edna Brown should definitely be able to hold on. Ford's candidacy is illegal now after a huge mistake he made during the primary, so I'm not even sure if he'll get ballot access if the ODP is successful in their lawsuit. Besides, if Brown wasn't favored already, Ford has a history of serious health problems which might mean he'll only be able to campaign and fundraise in moderation. McCarthy's chances are very, very slim to with the county party being in a trainwreck now and he'd need close to a 50/50 Dem split, which won't happen.

I don't see why Lou Gentile would be a stronger candidate than Jennifer Garrison; he's more liberal and represents bluer territory. Garrison has way more political experience than him and held a very red district during her term in the House. She has a track record of being able to gain conservative votes (see her run against Nancy Johnson a decade ago).
Despite what the loons on twitter and dailykos like to believe, consolidating progressive support isn't going to help you win a district like OH-06.

He is more liberal, yes, but Gentile is also your very common pro-gun and pro-coal Democrat around the area (he also has an A from the NRA). Unlike Garrison, Gentile would get crucial support from the ODP and national Dems and himself has proven he can win over the voters he needs to flip the district. That isn't even mentioning the benefit he has from Johnson being a weakened incumbent. Before Johnson won, he didn't even live in the district and he's made major blunders in wasting taxpayers money.

Will Schiavoni stay on as Senate Minority Leader? I would like to see Cecil Thomas or Lou Gentile in a leadership position soon.

Gentile is actually already in the leadership (he's Asst. Minority Whip). Schiavoni will stay on though. Republicans couldn't even find anyone to face him even though it's not a completely safe district, so unless he runs for statewide office in the near future, he'll stay in there until his term's up in 2018; in which case his strongest replacement who wouldn't be term-limited would be Williams or maybe Yuko.

[Hifly]

If Jennifer Garrison is so unpopular, then why the f**k did her colleagues in the ODP give her the huge responsibility of being House Majority Leader

How has Lou Gentile proven that he can win OH-06??

[LeBron]

If Jennifer Garrison is so unpopular, then why the f**k did her colleagues in the ODP give her the huge responsibility of being House Majority Leader

How has Lou Gentile proven that he can win OH-06??

Well for one thing, Governor Strickland wanted to see Garrison move high up in Democratic leadership plus, the outgoing House Democratic leader was Joyce Beatty and as we know, the party has always strived to have female leaders within the party. Obviously, it proved a disaster since the bigot tried to stop the passage of EHEA at all costs by attempting to delay it so she could avoid controversy in her Secy. of State run. To her demise, the bill did pass the House in 2009. She couldn't be trusted to begin with after her horrible, smear campaign against the "too gay friendly" Hollister or once helping kill a bill that would have prohibited bullying in schools against LGBT kids because it created a "special class."

X and I pretty much already explained why Gentile is a far better candidate than Garrison. Gentile isn't a radical, self-serving homophobe whose been shunned by party voters for one. The last time Garrison ever got elected in the district was during the 2008 wave while Gentile was as recent as 2012; winning by 5 points in a district only 5 points less Republican than OH-6. Bare in mind, to, in 2010, Garrison could have ran for re-election, but chose not to. Gentile can practically guarantee help from Strickland if he runs, to - Gentile is a good friend of his and formerly worked on his campaigns for Governor. Then there's the fact that Garrison is a hilariously bad fundraiser since the ODP wants nothing to do with her and no Democrat in this state in their right mind would donate to her while Gentile is popular among moderates and liberals alike. He's received plenty of donations and while he is a gun touter, he has consistently voted against Kasich like on JobsOhio SB5, SB310 or the voting restrictions while we have Garrison who opposes something Republicans and Democrats alike support, a raise in the minimum wage. One is not like the other, Hifly.

[Hifly]

If Garrison actually opposes raising the minimum wage then that's quite alarming. However, if she was so unpopular and incompetent she wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the position of Majority Leader regardless of what Strickland had to say.

Her attitude towards Gay Rights and Abortion does not matter in the race for OH-06; it is a socially conservative district and Gay Marriage and Abortion are probably not very popular therein. Garrison is a fantastic candidate in this respect because she needs conservative voters to win and she held a much redder seat than Gentile.

The fools on Twitter and Dailykos are deluded.

[LeBron]

If Garrison actually opposes raising the minimum wage then that's quite alarming. However, if she was so unpopular and incompetent she wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the position of Majority Leader regardless of what Strickland had to say.

Her attitude towards Gay Rights and Abortion does not matter in the race for OH-06; it is a socially conservative district and Gay Marriage and Abortion are probably not very popular therein. Garrison is a fantastic candidate in this respect because she needs conservative voters to win and she held a much redder seat than Gentile.

The fools on Twitter and Dailykos are deluded.

They were at least wise enough not to make her Speaker. And no matter what Garrison wanted, she didn't have the kind of power Budish had. Budish had the power to determine what got a vote on the floor and what didn't and what the policy matters would be, plus Budish had committee control, to. For example, Strickland and Garrison are both very pro-gun, but Speaker Budish, who supports gun control, managed to block a vote on the conceal carry Senate Bill 239. Keep in mind to, after 2008, Democrats had a narrow majority and giving a Bluedog Democrat like Garrison a position in leadership helped solidify the support Budish needed from conservatives and moderates in his caucus on crucial votes.

She's not doing herself any favors polarizing Democrats outside the district and don't think the ODP forgot either how Garrison was an embarrassment to the party during her short tenure as leader, how she used the Majority Leader spot as a stepping stone for higher office right away or how she helped give the Republicans HD-93 in 2010. She's able to rally around the moderates in the district just as well as Gentile can, but Gentile has a much bigger donor benefactor and that matters.

[free my dawg]

If Garrison actually opposes raising the minimum wage then that's quite alarming. However, if she was so unpopular and incompetent she wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the position of Majority Leader regardless of what Strickland had to say.

Her attitude towards Gay Rights and Abortion does not matter in the race for OH-06; it is a socially conservative district and Gay Marriage and Abortion are probably not very popular therein. Garrison is a fantastic candidate in this respect because she needs conservative voters to win and she held a much redder seat than Gentile.

The fools on Twitter and Dailykos are deluded.

She certainly had no problem with voting against it in 2006.

I hope she loses. Say what you want about FitzGerald, but at least he's a real Democrat.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/08/01/fitzgerald-cancels-campaign-events-calls-press-conference.html

This doesn't sound good...

[JerryArkansas]

Looks like he may have gotten caught like David Vitter.  If he did, Likely R.  Imploding, wonder what Adam thinks if true.

[NHLiberal]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/08/01/fitzgerald-cancels-campaign-events-calls-press-conference.html

This doesn't sound good...

Wow. Lots of challengers imploding this week.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/08/01/fitzgerald-cancels-campaign-events-calls-press-conference.html

This doesn't sound good...

Wow. Lots of challengers imploding this week.

Refresh my memory, who imploded besides FitzGerald (if this is what it looks like).  Was Walsh this week?

[NHLiberal]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/08/01/fitzgerald-cancels-campaign-events-calls-press-conference.html

This doesn't sound good...

Wow. Lots of challengers imploding this week.

Refresh my memory, who imploded besides FitzGerald (if this is what it looks like).  Was Walsh this week?

I was referring to Malloy but obviously this was a lot worse.

[free my dawg]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/08/01/fitzgerald-cancels-campaign-events-calls-press-conference.html

This doesn't sound good...

Wow. Lots of challengers imploding this week.

Refresh my memory, who imploded besides FitzGerald (if this is what it looks like).  Was Walsh this week?

Foley had a bad gaffe.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/08/01/fitzgerald-cancels-campaign-events-calls-press-conference.html

This doesn't sound good...

Wow. Lots of challengers imploding this week.

Refresh my memory, who imploded besides FitzGerald (if this is what it looks like).  Was Walsh this week?

Foley had a bad gaffe.

What'd he say?

[IceSpear]

Because as we all know, being in a car with a woman who isn't your wife automatically makes her a prostitute or a mistress.

This is stupid and a nonstory. Feel free to rub it in my face if I'm proven wrong and a smoking gun emerges.

[LeBron]

That caller had nothing better to do than stalk FitzGerald and accuse him of cheating on his wife of 23 years? Really? He has kids about to go into college and a family to support. Come on.....just really? Whoever that caller is should be completely ashamed of himself for even insinuating that.

I would take nothing of this because something the Dispatch fails to note is that it was just a talk he was having with a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel and even an officer noticed it right on the spot. He wasn't charged with a crime or anything. There's nothing scandalous out of this and just because it happened at night doesn't automatically mean he's up to something. FitzGerald's personal life shouldn't even be any of Ohio's damn business.

If the ORP use Fitzy's personal life as their next assault line, that's just low on their part, but it will be their loss. They've already tried to sabotage his campaign with a fake site comparing FitzGerald to Jimmy Dimorra, so I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Kasich is involved in plenty of scandals himself and he's somehow still above water, so I don't expect this to make an impact on the actual race, and Republicans who helped leak this "dirt" on FitzGerald will just look like disrespectful savages in the long run if they do go after this.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

That caller had nothing better to do than stalk FitzGerald and accuse him of cheating on his wife of 23 years? Really? He has kids about to go into college and a family to support. Come on.....just really? Whoever that caller is should be completely ashamed of himself for even insinuating that.

I would take nothing of this because something the Dispatch fails to note is that it was just a talk he was having with a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel and even an officer noticed it right on the spot. He wasn't charged with a crime or anything. There's nothing scandalous out of this and just because it happened at night doesn't automatically mean he's up to something. FitzGerald's personal life shouldn't even be any of Ohio's damn business.

If the ORP use Fitzy's personal life as their next assault line, that's just low on their part, but it will be their loss. They've already tried to sabotage his campaign with a fake site comparing FitzGerald to Jimmy Dimorra, so I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Kasich is involved in plenty of scandals himself and he's somehow still above water, so I don't expect this to make an impact on the actual race, and Republicans who helped leak this "dirt" on FitzGerald will just look like disrespectful savages in the long run if they do go after this.

Republicans didn't leak this story, I did. This is all a part of my master plan to undercut your support of Fitzgerald. Mwahahahahahaaaa.

[Lief 🗽]

Finally, the name recognition boost Fitzgerald has been waiting for!

[moderatevoter]

Finally, the name recognition boost Fitzgerald has been waiting for!

Hahaha, this is an excellent point.

[Potus]

Fitzgerald's done. R Hold. Next question.

[Flake]

That caller had nothing better to do than stalk FitzGerald and accuse him of cheating on his wife of 23 years? Really? He has kids about to go into college and a family to support. Come on.....just really? Whoever that caller is should be completely ashamed of himself for even insinuating that.

He didn't "stalk" FitzGerald. He found FitzGerald cheating in a parking lot. So the caller should be ashamed about that?

I would take nothing of this because something the Dispatch fails to note is that it was just a talk he was having with a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel and even an officer noticed it right on the spot. He wasn't charged with a crime or anything. There's nothing scandalous out of this and just because it happened at night doesn't automatically mean he's up to something. FitzGerald's personal life shouldn't even be any of Ohio's damn business.

It's just a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel. At 4:30 in the morning. And there were some "back and forth" activities.

If the ORP use Fitzy's personal life as their next assault line, that's just low on their part, but it will be their loss. They've already tried to sabotage his campaign with a fake site comparing FitzGerald to Jimmy Dimorra, so I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Kasich is involved in plenty of scandals himself and he's somehow still above water, so I don't expect this to make an impact on the actual race, and Republicans who helped leak this "dirt" on FitzGerald will just look like disrespectful savages in the long run if they do go after this.

You do realize many other campaigns have done this? It's not news. This is one from Carter campaign supporters. Politicians have attacked other politicians for cheating before. The Republicans are pretty happy they've been able to get this information because their chances of winning has gone up.

[IceSpear]

That caller had nothing better to do than stalk FitzGerald and accuse him of cheating on his wife of 23 years? Really? He has kids about to go into college and a family to support. Come on.....just really? Whoever that caller is should be completely ashamed of himself for even insinuating that.

He didn't "stalk" FitzGerald. He found FitzGerald cheating in a parking lot. So the caller should be ashamed about that?

I would take nothing of this because something the Dispatch fails to note is that it was just a talk he was having with a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel and even an officer noticed it right on the spot. He wasn't charged with a crime or anything. There's nothing scandalous out of this and just because it happened at night doesn't automatically mean he's up to something. FitzGerald's personal life shouldn't even be any of Ohio's damn business.

It's just a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel. At 4:30 in the morning. And there were some "back and forth" activities.

If the ORP use Fitzy's personal life as their next assault line, that's just low on their part, but it will be their loss. They've already tried to sabotage his campaign with a fake site comparing FitzGerald to Jimmy Dimorra, so I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Kasich is involved in plenty of scandals himself and he's somehow still above water, so I don't expect this to make an impact on the actual race, and Republicans who helped leak this "dirt" on FitzGerald will just look like disrespectful savages in the long run if they do go after this.

You do realize many other campaigns have done this? It's not news. This is one from Carter campaign supporters. Politicians have attacked other politicians for cheating before. The Republicans are pretty happy they've been able to get this information because their chances of winning has gone up.

"He found FitzGerald cheating in a parking lot"?

Is there any ACTUAL proof of this, other than the ramblings of the 911 caller? FitzGerald was not charged with any crime, and the official police report says they were just talking. For all we know the guy is a prude who could've just automatically assumed guy + girl + car + 4:30 AM = OMG SECX.

FitzGerald has literally never even drank alcohol or smoked weed, verified via polygraph. Perhaps we should wait for actual evidence before assuming he had an affair. I doubt any will emerge, and this will be forgotten in a week.

Not that it matters, since his chances to win were pretty slim anyway.

[Mechaman]

That caller had nothing better to do than stalk FitzGerald and accuse him of cheating on his wife of 23 years? Really? He has kids about to go into college and a family to support. Come on.....just really? Whoever that caller is should be completely ashamed of himself for even insinuating that.

He didn't "stalk" FitzGerald. He found FitzGerald cheating in a parking lot. So the caller should be ashamed about that?

I would take nothing of this because something the Dispatch fails to note is that it was just a talk he was having with a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel and even an officer noticed it right on the spot. He wasn't charged with a crime or anything. There's nothing scandalous out of this and just because it happened at night doesn't automatically mean he's up to something. FitzGerald's personal life shouldn't even be any of Ohio's damn business.

It's just a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel. At 4:30 in the morning. And there were some "back and forth" activities.

If the ORP use Fitzy's personal life as their next assault line, that's just low on their part, but it will be their loss. They've already tried to sabotage his campaign with a fake site comparing FitzGerald to Jimmy Dimorra, so I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Kasich is involved in plenty of scandals himself and he's somehow still above water, so I don't expect this to make an impact on the actual race, and Republicans who helped leak this "dirt" on FitzGerald will just look like disrespectful savages in the long run if they do go after this.

You do realize many other campaigns have done this? It's not news. This is one from Carter campaign supporters. Politicians have attacked other politicians for cheating before. The Republicans are pretty happy they've been able to get this information because their chances of winning has gone up.

"He found FitzGerald cheating in a parking lot"?

Is there any ACTUAL proof of this, other than the ramblings of the 911 caller? FitzGerald was not charged with any crime, and the official police report says they were just talking. For all we know the guy is a prude who could've just automatically assumed guy + girl + car + 4:30 AM = OMG SECX.

FitzGerald has literally never even drank alcohol or smoked weed, verified via polygraph. Perhaps we should wait for actual evidence before assuming he had an affair. I doubt any will emerge, and this will be forgotten in a week.

Not that it matters, since his chances to win were pretty slim anyway.

My opinion of FitGerald would go up significantly if it is found out that he really did boff the cute little colleen.  I mean seriously my god, the man is portrayed as Squared Times Infinity.

And some people seriously wonder why he is failing to connect with the average Ohioan?

[Хahar 🤔]

For all we know the guy is a prude who could've just automatically assumed guy + girl + car + 4:30 AM = OMG SECX.

This is generally accurate.

[IceSpear]

For all we know the guy is a prude who could've just automatically assumed guy + girl + car + 4:30 AM = OMG SECX.

This is generally accurate.

Who cares if it is? It's not proof of anything. I've been alone in cars really late/early with platonic female friends, no sex was involved.

The implication in this "story" that a man cannot be alone with a female friend without sex being involved is quite frankly disgusting. The only thin shred of evidence anyone has to go on is the SUSPICION of the 911 caller.

[IceSpear]

That caller had nothing better to do than stalk FitzGerald and accuse him of cheating on his wife of 23 years? Really? He has kids about to go into college and a family to support. Come on.....just really? Whoever that caller is should be completely ashamed of himself for even insinuating that.

He didn't "stalk" FitzGerald. He found FitzGerald cheating in a parking lot. So the caller should be ashamed about that?

I would take nothing of this because something the Dispatch fails to note is that it was just a talk he was having with a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel and even an officer noticed it right on the spot. He wasn't charged with a crime or anything. There's nothing scandalous out of this and just because it happened at night doesn't automatically mean he's up to something. FitzGerald's personal life shouldn't even be any of Ohio's damn business.

It's just a friend from a delegation trying to meet up with the other delegates to find the hotel. At 4:30 in the morning. And there were some "back and forth" activities.

If the ORP use Fitzy's personal life as their next assault line, that's just low on their part, but it will be their loss. They've already tried to sabotage his campaign with a fake site comparing FitzGerald to Jimmy Dimorra, so I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Kasich is involved in plenty of scandals himself and he's somehow still above water, so I don't expect this to make an impact on the actual race, and Republicans who helped leak this "dirt" on FitzGerald will just look like disrespectful savages in the long run if they do go after this.

You do realize many other campaigns have done this? It's not news. This is one from Carter campaign supporters. Politicians have attacked other politicians for cheating before. The Republicans are pretty happy they've been able to get this information because their chances of winning has gone up.

"He found FitzGerald cheating in a parking lot"?

Is there any ACTUAL proof of this, other than the ramblings of the 911 caller? FitzGerald was not charged with any crime, and the official police report says they were just talking. For all we know the guy is a prude who could've just automatically assumed guy + girl + car + 4:30 AM = OMG SECX.

FitzGerald has literally never even drank alcohol or smoked weed, verified via polygraph. Perhaps we should wait for actual evidence before assuming he had an affair. I doubt any will emerge, and this will be forgotten in a week.

Not that it matters, since his chances to win were pretty slim anyway.

My opinion of FitGerald would go up significantly if it is found out that he really did boff the cute little colleen.  I mean seriously my god, the man is portrayed as Squared Times Infinity.

And some people seriously wonder why he is failing to connect with the average Ohioan?

LOL, no arguments there...I'm just using his baffling purity for more evidence why this is probably much ado about nothing.