News and Notes: Ohio Congressional Races UPDATED

In haste, but with all good will and a promise to update shortly, especially since I haven't done one of these since last Thursday:

OH-1 & 2 Blogger Peter Dreier published a piece on Huffington Post on Monday about the role of the mortgage foreclosure crisis in the fall congressional election, and how Republicans in areas affected by the crisis who voted against the foreclosure relief bill that recently passed in the House could be vulnerable to the charge that they put party loyalty or close ties to powerful banking interests over the needs of their constituents. His prime examples? Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood) and Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland), who both voted "nay" despite having many foreclosed homes in their districts.

OH-01 - Jill reports that on Monday challenger State Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) introduced legislation to reform funding of 9-1-1 services through the wireless 9-1-1 surcharge.

OH-02 - On Saturday at the Democratic State Convention, challenger Dr. Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) was chosen to be an elector for the state of Ohio in this year's presidential race. Dr. Wulsin, who has endorsed neither Democratic candidate at this point, won with 10 votes, beating Barbara Gould (Indian Hill) with 9 votes and Russ Arey (Clermont County) with 9 votes. *** Dr. Wulsin commented favorably on Hillary Clinton's groundbreaking campaign in a recent City Beat article about the challenges faced by women candidates for political office:

"She's blazing the trail, not only in the race she's running for but for races such as mine. I believe every woman following her can benefit from her courage, her vision, her withstanding the slings and arrows of life on the campaign trail."

OH-04 - Challenger Mike Carroll (D-Mansfield) will be speaking at the Democrats of Auglaize County meeting this Thursday (5/15) at 7:00 p.m. at Astro Lanes in Wapakoneta. *** The notice about Carroll's appearance in Wapakoneta notes that he is running to unseat unseat Rep. Jim Jordan, "arguably Ohio's most right-wing congressman." Pretty hard to argue against that, considering that Jordan is one of 30 co-sponsors of H. CON. RES. 284, which would have Congress designate a "National Year of the Bible" and "issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scriptures ..." Of all faiths. Ouch. And by the way, have they heard of the First Amendment, at all? *** Carroll will also be featured at the Wyandot County Democratic Party Meeting on Tuesday, June 27th at 7:00 p.m. at The Pour House, 130 North Sandusky Avenue, Upper Sandusky.

OH-08 - Challenger Nick von Stein (D-Hamilton) got a very nice write-up in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Monday, describing his life story and entry into politics. Rep. John Boehner (R-West Chester), has commented that he doesn't know von Stein's name, but will pay more attention to him if he moves into the district. (Actually, von Stein does live in the District, in Hamilton.) Asked why he is running for Congress, he said "I can't vote to bring the troops home from Iraq if I'm a county commissioner. I can't vote to create national health care insurance if I'm mayor of Hamilton. I could have started with something smaller, but this was an area of need and so I stepped in." But he concedes that it is a hugely uphill race. "I'm not delusional. I know that he has two-whatever-million dollars and I have - not much. But you've got to start somewhere. One step at a time."

OH-09 - Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) received the annual Joseph F. Boyle Award for Distinguished Public Service from the American College of Physicians (ACP) last night. The award is given to a government official or a physician acting in an official capacity who has provided outstanding public service toward improving the delivery of health care. When presenting the award to Rep. Kaptur, David L. Bronson, MD, FACP, chairman of the ACP board of governors, cited Rep. Kaptur's role in working with the College to propose changes to achieve universal access to health insurance. The ACP is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. *** Blogger Craig Newmark thinks Kaptur is "a strong possibility" as a running mate for Barack Obama (!).

OH-13 - Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Copley Twp) has introduced a house resolution urging the Army to end its stop-loss program. Since September 2001, nearly 45,000 members of the Armed Forces have had their service involuntarily extended by stop-loss orders, many of them since the Pentagon extended combat tours from 12 to 15 months last year. “The Army’s use of ‘stop-loss’ orders undermines the voluntary nature of military service and is unfair to our men and women in uniform and their families who have already sacrificed so much for our country,” said Sutton in a press release. "Instead of involuntarily retaining soldiers, the Army should support policies such as the new GI Bill, which will increase educational benefits for members of the military and be an effective recruitment tool."

OH-15 - The campaign of Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) is calling on voters to pressure Steve Stivers to support the payday lending rate cap bill. “We are urging voters to demand accountability from career lobbyist Steve Stivers and pressure him to switch his position and cap payday loans at 28% because, after all, he previously stuck up for payday lenders by opposing this law before he was a candidate for Congress,” said Campaign Manager Randy Borntrager. Last September, before he entered this congressional race, Stivers actually said “You can't take away people's ability to screw up their own financial situation by taking away the legal loan products, because they'll move to the illegal loans." Borntrager says that statement "shows a callous disregard for limiting the predatory behavior of an industry that seeks to trap Ohioans in a cycle of debt."

OH-15 & 16 - Today is the last day to vote for Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) or John Boccieri (D-New Middletown) in the latest Progressive Patriot promotion at Sen. Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriot PAC. The winner gets a $5,000 contribution.

OH-16 - Boccieri was not present for the vote on S.B. 3 yesterday, authorizing the investigation of the Attorney General's office by Inspector General Thomas Charles, but his campaign issued a statement supporting both the Articles of Impeachment and S.B. 3:

"I fully support the actions taken by both the Ohio House and Senate today. ... It was my hope last week that [Dann would] resign [his] office, and bring this shameful ordeal to an end. Because that has not yet happened, members of the Ohio House today brought articles of impeachment against Marc Dann, an action with which I agree completely.

"Also today, a motion was introduced to initiate an Inspector General's investigation of the Attorney General's office. I support that move also, and I would urge the Inspector General's office to be swift and judicious in their work. A lengthy investigation will benefit no one - least of all the citizens of this state.