Todd Portune knocks, Ted Stevenot balks and Dennis Kucinich mocks: Ohio Politics Roundup
Updated: Jan. 06, 2014, 2:48 p.m. |
Henry J. Gomez, cleveland.com
Ted-Stevenot.JPG
Ted Stevenot, shown at a May 2013 Tea Party rally, won't challenge Gov. John Kasich in the May primary after all.
(Gary Landers, the Cincinnati Enquirer)
We have a palette of primary colors for you in the first Ohio Politics Roundup of 2014. Todd Portune has put Ed FitzGerald on notice. Ted Stevenot has pulled the plug. And the gossip mill is cranking out names like Dennis Kucinich as another possible late entry.
After a holiday lull, the race for governor came alive in the first days of 2014 and especially over the weekend. Republican incumbent John Kasich appears to have dodged a primary challenge from the right, as Cincinnati-area Tea Party leader Ted Stevenot late Saturday announced he was abandoning his bid before it ever really started.
About 72 hours earlier, Stevenot had invited reporters to a Tuesday event where he planned to formally launch a campaign with running mate Brenda Mack.
But Mack, of Canfield, has financial troubles that brought immediate reminders of FitzGerald's first running mate, State Sen. Eric Kearney. Stevenot said his decision was not based on concerns about Mack, notes Joe Vardon of the Columbus Dispatch.
Stevenot's potential impact on the race was a real question mark. Measuring the strength and organization of Ohio's Tea Party and liberty groups is difficult, and some activists we've talked to seemed less than enthusiastic about Stevenot's candidacy. But he did have support from some top Tea Party leaders, including Tom Zawistowski.
"It's tough," Zawistowski told me Saturday, after spreading word of Stevenot's decision.
Writes Chrissie Thompson of the Cincinnati Enqurier: "At the least, the race had the potential to divide the GOP further and force Kasich to spend more money on the primary. Still, party officials did not try to persuade Stevenot to abandon his plan of running, said Matt Borges, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party."
There remains angst on the right, though. Republican State Rep. John Adams expressed concerns about the Kasich administration Sunday in a Facebook conversation made public on the page of longtime Statehouse lobbyist Neil S. Clark. Adams is the assistant majority floor leader in the House and one of the caucus' most conservative members.
Portune time
The future is more uncertain for Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the long-established Democratic frontrunner to face Kasich in the November election.
Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune is considering a late entry to the race. That would make for a competitive primary that FitzGerald probably can't afford – at least not if he wants to have enough money left to have a chance of unseating Kasich.
Let's be clear: Portune has nowhere near the institutional backing FitzGerald has. Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern has held firm on the party's early endorsement of FitzGerald and has kept even Portune's hometown Democrats from jumping ship.
Portune told me late Friday that he envisions a day when he'll begin poaching supporters from FitzGerald, though he acknowledged that no elected leaders were backing him. The comments came while Portune was visiting with union and minority business leaders in Greater Cleveland, part of a two-day swing that also included Akron and Lorain County.
Who's helping Portune make connections in FitzGerald's back yard? Here's a tidbit worth filing away: Portune is longtime friends with former Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis. They attended Oberlin College about the same time, and it's well known locally that Rokakis and FitzGerald have had a frosty relationship over the years.
"Jim won't confirm or deny his help, so neither will I," Portune said Friday.
Sharon Coolidge of the Cincinnati Enquirer helps fill in some of the blanks on Portune in a career profile. One of the more interesting nuggets: "One of Portune's most widely criticized moves came in 2008 when he was part of a deal in which Democrats agreed not to challenge the open seat Republican Greg Hartmann ended up winning in exchange for Portune's not being challenged by an endorsed Republican. In hindsight, with President Barack Obama driving Democrats to the polls that year, the deal arguably cost the Democrats a commission seat and ultimately a majority on the commission."
Writing for WVXU FM/91.7 radio, longtime Cincinnati political observer Howard Wilkinson examines "how big a headache" Portune could be to FitzGerald.
Is Kucinich considering run for governor?
Here's some chatter that's been making the rounds in Cleveland since before Christmas. Friends and supporters of Dennis Kucinich, the former mayor and congressman ousted in a primary fight two years ago, reportedly are encouraging him to take on FitzGerald.
Local writer Larry Durstin predicted a run in a recent column for CoolCleveland.com
Kucinich spends much of his time in Washington these days, where he contributes to Fox News and where his wife, Elizabeth, works for the Center for Food Safety. While his supporters are legion, he can't count on any support from the Ohio Democratic Party. And he would have to return home almost immediately, pick a running mate and even then only have a few weeks to collect the needed signatures to qualify for the ballot.
In short, such a bid seems extremely unlikely. But don't take our word for it.
"News to me," Kucinich said by telephone last week. "My wife's from England. They call everyone 'governor' over there, so maybe that's where this came from."
FitzGerald's search for a running mate
Thompson of the Enquirer shakes the southwest Ohio tree for potential new running mates for FitzGerald and comes up empty. Of note: O'dell Owens, the president of Cincinnati State University, told Thompson he had been approached but is not interested in the job.
Thompson also mentions former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of Copley Township as a prospect, but many Democrats find that unlikely given her new federal post as head of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. It's also not hard to fathom Sutton uncomfortable with the idea of playing second fiddle to the less-experienced FitzGerald.
Today in 2010
A new feature this year in Ohio Politics Roundup will take a look back at meaningful happenings in the 2006 and 2010 gubernatorial campaign years. Have a suggestion? Send to hgomez@cleveland.com ...We kick things off with a look back at Jan. 6, 2010:
The Legacy Foundation announced that it would appeal an appellate court's ruling that allowed Gov. Ted Strickland to use a $258 million settlement with Big Tobacco to plug budget holes. The foundation argued that the money was to be spent on anti-smoking programs. Later in the year, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously agreed that Strickland and the legislature were allowed to spend the money however they saw fit.