Petro Picks Gubernatorial Running Mate (Ohio)

CINCINNATI -- Republican Jim Petro on Tuesday picked a Hamilton County commissioner to be his lieutenant-governor running mate in the campaign for the GOP's nomination for governor next year.

Phil Heimlich, a commissioner since 2003, will appear with Petro, Ohio's attorney general, on the ballot in the May 2, 2006, Republican primary. Heimlich also served as a Cincinnati City Council member from 1993-2002 and as an assistant county prosecutor from 1984-1992.

On council, Heimlich favored proposals restricting panhandling, ending a free-condom program at the Health Department and publishing the names of people convicted of soliciting for prostitution.

He also was the author of a city ordinance that banned drug and prostitution offenders from certain areas of the city. However, a federal court struck it down and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the city's appeal in 2002.

Heimlich, 52, is the son of Dr. Henry Heimlich, whose anti-choking maneuver bears his name.

Heimlich's candidacy gives Petro, a suburban Cleveland moderate, a conservative voice with high name recognition in GOP-dominant Hamilton County.

Other Republicans seeking the nomination include state Auditor Betty Montgomery of Perrysburg and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, also of Cincinnati.

Petro picks archconservative running mate
Commissioner from Hamilton County may aid Clevelander
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Joe Hallett and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
CINCINNATI — This epicenter of Ohio Republicanism roiled last night when Attorney General Jim Petro and Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich formed an alliance bound to transform the 2006 GOP race for governor.

Petro announced Heimlich as his running mate in a move that analysts said is aimed at improving Petro’s chances of winning the party’s nomination in May 2006 over state Auditor Betty D. Montgomery and Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell.

By persuading Heimlich, an archconservative, to join the ticket, Petro sought to wipe out the geographical and political advantage with conservative Republicans ascribed to Blackwell, a former Cincinnati mayor.

Petro is from Cleveland.

"It’s a coup," said Gene Beaupre, political science instructor at Xavier University in Cincinnati. "From a strategy point of view, it will draw Blackwell’s time and resources back down to this part of the state more than otherwise."

Heimlich, son of the doctor credited with inventing the famous life-saving maneuver, also is a strong fund-raiser. He has enjoyed support from Cincinnati business magnates such as Carl Lindner, Richard Farmer and Mercer Reynolds, potentially extending Petro’s funding advantage over Montgomery.

Petro campaign aides said Heimlich has $400,000 on hand that he can transfer to Petro’s gubernatorial campaign fund, already at more than $2.2 million. At the end of January, Montgomery reported $1.1 million raised and Blackwell $224,000.

"Phil has been a terrific fundraiser and really a darling of the conservatives in Hamilton County," said Republican Joseph T. Deters, who resigned as state treasurer this year to become Hamilton County prosecutor.

"He provides a geographical balance for Jim and, when you’re facing a Republican primary, there are not many people who will get to the right of Phil. But I still believe people vote for the top of the ticket."

Petro and Heimlich, who appeared together last night at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, officially will kick off their campaign April 26 with a tour of Ohio.

Petro said he and Heimlich, friends for the past five years, sealed their alliance during a Sunday-night phone conversation and decided to announce it early "to show that we have a decisive team in place."

Heimlich will help in Republican-rich southwestern Ohio, Petro acknowledged, "because I’m least known there."

But he said he selected Heimlich "because I wanted someone who was willing to take risks and who shares my bold ideas for this state."

Although the lieutenant governor has few official duties, Petro said Heimlich would play a significant role in his administration "as director of policy and strategic planning for the state."

Heimlich said he had considered as late as Friday running for the seat in Congress vacated by Rep. Rob Portman, a Cincinnati Republican appointed last week as U.S. trade representative.

"I always had my eye on that congressional seat, but I know in my heart this was the right decision," he said.

As father of a little boy and a baby due in August, Heimlich said serving in Congress would have required him to spend too much time away from home.

"I don’t want to be an absentee dad," he said.

Heimlich, son of Dr. Henry J. Heimlich, who developed the Heimlich maneuver to aid people who are choking, was elected county commissioner in 2001 after serving on the Cincinnati City Council since 1993.

By running for lieutenant governor with Petro, Heimlich will be forced to give up his seat as commissioner in 2006.

Heimlich, 51, is a fiscal and social conservative who as a councilman voted to roll back Cincinnati’s property taxes. He and Petro oppose abortion rights; Petro switched his position on the issue in 2000.

Last year, Heimlich waged an unsuccessful battle to retain Cincinnati’s 11-year-old ban on gayrights laws. City voters repealed the law, which opponents said painted Cincinnati as intolerant, to stem a loss of convention business.

Petro and Heimlich took opposite positions last year on State Issue 1, the successful constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and woman. Heimlich supported Issue 1, Petro opposed it on the basis that it could have a negative effect on unmarried heterosexual couples.

Petro, stressing that he thinks marriage should be between a man and woman, said he and Heimlich resolved that "sometimes you agree to disagree."

"We believe 100 percent in the sanctity of marriage, 100 percent in being pro-life, and that’s going to be part of our campaign and part of our administration," Heimlich said.

Phil Burress, leader of the coalition to pass Issue 1, said he opposes Petro and is "personally devastated" by Heimlich’s decision.

Burress said Heimlich worked for him for a year at the conservative Cincinnati organization Citizens for Community Values, but that his group cannot support Petro because of his opposition to Issue 1.

"Our supporters are just distraught," he said. "They feel like Phil sold us out."

By selecting Heimlich, Petro sought to cripple Blackwell’s candidacy and, perhaps, eventually transform the race into a head-tohead battle against Montgomery, the most-moderate candidate in the GOP gubernatorial field. But Montgomery is far from unnerved, said spokesman Mark R. Weaver.

"This Heimlich maneuver will not save Jim Petro’s last-place campaign from choking," Weaver said, adding "it’s far too early" to be talking about lieutenant-governor candidates. Montgomery won’t be making any decisions about that for months, he said.

Blackwell’s campaign said Petro is making "a feeble attempt at identity theft" by aligning himself with a conservative.

"Jim seems to be trying to acquire through merger what he lacks in his personal philosophy and political capacity," Blackwell said, adding that he served as mentor for Heimlich in years past on tax and fiscal policy.

When asked if he thinks Petro’s selection was aimed at him, Blackwell only would say, "It’s fun being the front-runner."

The Ohio Republican Party declined comment on Petro’s move.

Democrats said that although Petro might have strengthened his hand with hard-right conservatives, the choice of Heimlich could hurt Petro in the general election.

"You can’t get much further to the right in the Hamilton County Republican Party than Phil, and that’s pretty damn far right for the citizens of Ohio," said Tim Burke, Hamilton County Democratic chairman.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.