Free Republic

There is a shirtless–and somewhat disconcerting–trend forming in the Ohio Senate election. Senate Republicans struck first last week by using a bare-chested image of Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher in a provocative Web ad on a new site hosted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee attacking Fisher.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer died unexpectedly Friday at age 70, the Supreme Court of Ohio has announced. He’s survived by his wife, Mary, and their children. The Chief Justice had been experiencing health problems, but they were not thought to be life threatening, a media release from the Supreme Court of Ohio stated. He was admitted to Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus late Thursday morning. He was pronounced dead at approximately 4 p.m. Friday. Moyer held the distinction of being the longest-serving state chief justice in the U.S. He's also a noted Ohioan.

While the Ohio governor’s race is now a virtual tie, there’s been little movement again this month in the state’s contest for the U.S. Senate. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in Ohio finds Republican Rob Portman still slightly ahead of his two chief Democratic rivals, Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. The battle is over the seat now held by retiring GOP Senator George Voinovich. Portman leads Fisher 43% to 38%, with 14% of voters still undecided. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate. The former GOP congressman posts a 45% to...

The new survey of Ohio by Public Policy Polling (D) gives Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman a narrow lead in the race for the open seat of retiring GOP Sen. George Voinovich. But more importantly, a lot will ultimately ride on President Obama's popularity or lack thereof in November -- and as of right now, Obama is not doing too well in Ohio. The poll of registered voters finds that Portman, a former Congressman and ex-Bush administration official, leads Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher by 41%-36%, and has a statistically insignificant edge of 38%-37% over Dem Secretary of State Jennifer...

Ganley out of Senate race Republican Tom Ganley is expected to quit his race for the U.S. Senate and will run instead against Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of Akron. Sources with knowledge about Ganley's plans said he will make a statement on Thursday. The Ganley campaign declined to comment. Ganley, a millionaire Cleveland-area car dealer, had been expected to file candidacy petitions tomorrow to challenge former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of Cincinnati. But even though Ganley had vowed to use his personal wealth in a primary, he faced an uphill fight against Portman, who has $6 million on hand...

Republican candidate Rob Portman outdid Democrat Lee Fisher, as well as all other candidates, in fundraising for his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission showed Portman raising $7.6 million last year and still had $6 million in the bank at the end of the year. His closest GOP challenger was business owner Thomas Ganley with $1.3 million. Current Ohio Lt. Governor Lee Fisher reported $3.3 million in fundraising and $1.8 million on hand. His opponent, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, raised $677,658 and has just $60,859 left. Portman received contributions of $10,000 each...

Cleveland automobile dealer Tom Ganley (R) is airing a statewide television ad to introduce himself to the primary voters who will decide whether he or former Rep. Rob Portman should be the party’s nominee in a key open-seat Senate race next year. The 60-second ad touts Ganley’s business background and takes an anti-Washington tone, with a narrator saying that Ganley’s 47-year career of creating jobs and balancing budgets amounts to “hard work the Washington politicians don’t understand.” Ganley speaks only at the end of the ad, in a required disclaimer approving the commercial. “To help create jobs for Ohio, Tom...

Earlier this year, many Ohioans (especially in the northern part of the state) heard the name "Rob Portman" and said, "Who?" Now some are saying, "Rob Portman, next U.S. senator from the great state of Ohio." It is way too early to predict winners and losers in next November's election. But Portman has scored a symbolic victory by surging ahead in the latest Quinnipiac University political poll of registered voters in Ohio. If the election were held today, Portman would get 39 percent of the vote to Lee Fisher's 36 percent.

"I think it's kind of an exciting time. I mean, everyone is cutting back. It's happening in every industry - including our own.”

Next year’s U.S. Senate race in Ohio is a neck-and-neck battle for Republican Rob Portman no matter which Democratic candidate he faces, according to the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state. Portman is in a virtual tie with Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher 41% to 40%. Six percent (6%) of Ohio voters favor some other candidate, and 14% are undecided. The former GOP congressman is also essentially even with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, leading by a similarly insignificant 40% to 38% margin. Five percent (5%) prefer another candidate. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure how they...

Ohio, a traditional bellwether state, will take center stage once again to gauge how the two major parties will fare in 2010, a year Republicans are hoping to make gains in statehouses and congressional seats across the country. Republicans are looking to defeat Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland with the help of former congressman and Fox News host John Kasich, and win an edge in congressional redistricting in the process. The Republicans are also playing defense in the state, however, hoping to hold onto the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. George Voinovich — a moderate Republican representing a state that...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's SarahPAC has donated money to the campaigns of Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah, as well as to Republican Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman, according to a Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission. The exact amounts of the contributions were not reported, but Palin had to list the names of candidates she had financially supported to make SarahPAC a bona fide political action committee. Her contributions to Arizona Sen. John McCain, for whom she served as a running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski...

Aside from a pile of money, Tom Ganley has almost nothing in common with the late Howard Metzenbaum. Yet, in his quixotic quest to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate next year against favored Rob Portman, Ganley draws inspiration from Metzenbaum. "He showed that it can be done," Ganley said in a recent interview. Ganley, 66, is a conservative Republican from the Cleveland suburb of Brecksville who has never held elective office. Metzenbaum, who died in 2008, was a liberal Democrat from Cleveland who served in the Ohio House and Senate before being elected to the U.S. Senate in...

NEW WATERFORD, Ohio – If Ohio is the nation's political weather vane (and you can make a good case that it is), then a two-election trend toward Democrats may be over. “The problems for Ohio are all created in Washington,” says Bill Watkins, owner of The Original Mario’s pizza shop on East Main Street here. “Bailouts, stimulus money, cap-and-trade have only hurt our economy, not enhanced it.” Earlier this month, President Obama and his policies took a hit in the Buckeye State. A Quinnipiac University poll showed the president’s job-approval rating dropped from 62 percent to 49 percent, and Ohio's...

A few sites have noted the Quinnipiac poll in Ohio, showing Gov. Ted Strickland with high approval ratings, way ahead in hypothetical matchups against Republicans, and the possible Democratic candidates leading next year's Senate race as well. What struck me about the poll was the astonishingly low name ID for just about all of the Republican candidates. (The good news for the GOP is that this will change in the next 18 months.) For example, 31 percent of respondents didn't know enough about Mike DeWine to have an opinion of him. He was a two-term senator, folks. Similarly, 68 percent...

Republican former Ohio Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell endorsed Rob Portman for U.S. Senate today. The former Cincinnati congressman and Bush administration official "is a principled and experienced leader with a solid conservative record," said Blackwell. "He has been a strong voice for sound fiscal policy, and we need him in the U.S. Senate in these tumultuous economic times." While most endorsements are nothing more than campaign window dressing, Blackwell's will at least be noticed. Blackwell is a conservative who still upsets some members of his party with his hard right views on certain issues. He's also...

After signing two hot dog buns for Tony Packo's Cafe in East Toledo, former Ohio congressman and White House appointee Rob Portman yesterday officially launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate election in 2010.

Former Republican congressman Rob Portman will announce that he is running for the Senate soon after Ohio Sen. George Voinovich’s retirement announcement, according to multiple Republican sources. Portman would give Senate Republicans an accomplished candidate who is likely to clear the primary field. “He’s great on both policy and politics, and you don’t often find that combination,” said Hamilton County Republican party chairman Alex Triantafilou. “His experience in government, his experience in Washington and his understanding of Ohio would make him a tremendous force in the Senate.”

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 21st, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, chair of the American Red Cross. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Paulson; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Paulson; Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.THIS WEEK (ABC): Paulson; Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.LATE EDITION (CNN) : Douglas Holtz Eakin, adviser to John McCain; Austan Goolsbee, adviser to Barack Obama; former Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.; Gene Sperling,...

John McCain is expected to reveal his vice-presidential choice on Friday at a rally in the critical battleground state of Ohio. Mr McCain is seeking to blunt Barack Obama’s hopes of a bounce in the polls after he accepts the Democratic nomination in Denver tomorrow night. The Republican nominee’s move comes after a week in which he and his Republican surrogates have had significant success in inserting themselves aggressively into what was meant to be Mr Obama’s week. Republican guerrilla tactics and attack advertisements have forced the Democrat’s campaign to respond in kind. Mr McCain will appear at a midday...