Things have changed. Greg Lashutka was the last Republican mayor, coming in after Rinehart and Moody. The local Republican party couldn't even field a candidate to challenge Michael Coleman the last time around. Having met and talked with him my impression is that Mike's a good guy personally, from what I've seen and heard, a family man, honest, has some measure of integrity, is a man of faith. But he's just uber-liberal on all issues, so I can't support him politically.
I am a resident off of Bethel Road. Franklin County has changed a bit in the last few years. My area up here was B-C.
There are many problems here in Franklin County affecting the Republican Party.
For many years, the Republican Party was solid in Franklin County. They became complacent and lazy. A scandal in the Franklin County Clerk of Courts office was the backbreaker in the late 1990s. Ever since then, Democrats have had the momentum in this county.
There has been a recent leadership change in the Franklin County GOP. It probably was for the better as the former chairman had some health problems. I have heard from some people that the events in Columbus for Bush (Arnold at Nationwide, the 72-hour performance) probably would not have happened if the election was one year ago. So there has been improvement. It is gut check time for the Franklin County Republican Party. There are candidates out there that can win. It is all about getting the job done. For the last few years, the Franklin County GOP has not.