They did the same thing to Ken Blackwell in OH.
Well, Blackwell was successful in most of his races. He came very close to winning the OH-1 race in 1990 (for which he would’ve joined Gary Franks of CT, who did win his race that year). When Dem State Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow was made U.S. Treasurer by Clinton, the usually RINO Gov. Voinovich appointed him to the job, and he was able to win 3 elections in a row (for Treasurer and Sec of State). However, you’ll remember he eventually ran afoul of the RINO Establishment (they initially pressured him out of running for Governor in 1998 and yielding to RINO Bob Taft the “Turd”, who was a disaster. I wrote to him strongly urging him to run for Governor).
Of course, Taft and all the other scandals left the party badly tainted by 2006 (IIRC, Taft was THE most unpopular Governor in the country that year). Yet the party establishment anointed Jim Petro for Governor when Blackwell had more than earned the right to run unopposed in the primary, and with Blackwell getting it from the corrupt establishment, and having all the RINO scandals hung around his neck, and the unpopularity of Taft and Dubya nationally, it was no surprise what the end result was.
It’s a damn shame, too. Blackwell would’ve been a great Governor and Presidential contender had he been elected that year. Sadly, Ohio has been stuck with one execrable Governor after another for decades. Probably the last great Governor was Jim Rhodes (though during his first two terms in the ‘60s, as he was likely a bit past his prime for his last two, though clearly better than the assclowns Gilligan and Celeste).
I’ll note I supported Blackwell as a top choice for party chairman over Steele, whom I ranked as being close to incompetent (nevermind that he was Black), and later proven to be so during his short tenure, although so have most of the chairs in recent years.