Posted on 11/06/2007 4:39:20 AM PST by Loyal Buckeye
Steve Stivers will announce his candidacy for the 15th Congressional District seat.
The Republicans finally got their man.
State Sen. Steve Stivers of Upper Arlington today will announce his candidacy for the 15th Congressional District seat, likely setting up a showdown with Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in what could be the nation's premier congressional race in 2008.
"I've decided to run for Congress because I think we really need change in Washington," Stivers told The Dispatch yesterday. "There is way too much bickering and not enough working together to get things done."
Stivers is scheduled to hold a news conference today at 2:30 p.m. at Ohio Republican Party headquarters.
Doug Preisse, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, said late yesterday that he is delighted Stivers has changed his mind about running in the 15th District, which includes most of Columbus, western Franklin County and all of Union and Madison counties.
"The complexion of the campaign has just changed overnight," Preisse said.
Stivers, 42, a member of the state Senate for five years, was the first potential candidate whom U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner of West Chester called after GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce of Upper Arlington unexpectedly announced in August that she would not seek a ninth two-year term.
Pryce defeated Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner, by a percentage point after a recount in 2006.
Kilroy said last night that she always expected to have an opponent and was "surprised it took as long as it did" for the GOP to find one.
"My heart is in this race, because the country is ready for change ...and I represent that change," Kilroy said. "I'm very confident about the outcome of this race."
For more than two months, Stivers resisted continual overtures from Boehner, Preisse and others in Ohio and Washington as other potentially strong GOP candidates, including former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and former Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka, declined to run.
Stivers, who is getting married Nov. 24, had said he was reluctant to be away from home as much as the congressional job requires and that he might prefer to make his way up the Ohio Senate leadership ranks, with a goal of becoming Senate president.
But Stivers said yesterday he changed his mind after analyzing where he could best serve and after talking with his fiancee, Karen Tabor, spokeswoman for Ohio House Republicans.
"I'm lucky to be marrying somebody who has the same kind of commitment to public service as I do," Stivers said. "She is completely in sync with this decision."
In 2006, Kilroy repeatedly attacked Pryce for voting to authorize the war in Iraq and, as the No. 4 Republican leader, for being part of a hard-right House leadership team that was out step with the more moderate 15th District.
But Stivers offers a new challenge, because as a lieutenant colonel in the Ohio Army National Guard, he has led troops in the Iraq war. Stivers and other members of the Columbus-based 237th Personnel Services Battalion returned from a 12-month tour of duty in the Middle East and Africa in December 2005.
"Oddly enough, it's almost like Mary Jo Kilroy is the incumbent this time," Stivers said. "It will be a very different race than in 2006. The voters know her and they need to get to know me."
Almost all of Stivers' 16th state Senate district, except for the city of Dublin, lies within the 15th Congressional District.
Stivers will start the race at a significant financial disadvantage. At the end of third-quarter fundraising last month, Kilroy reported $383,000 on hand, and campaign aides have said she probably will have $500,000 or more by year's end.
Also, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a significant money advantage over its GOP counterpart. As of Sept. 1, the DCCC had $22 million on hand and listed debts of $3 million, while the National Republican Congressional Committee was $4 million in debt with only $1.6 million on hand.
Stivers, who was a lobbyist for the former Bank One, said he is not intimidated by Kilroy's fundraising lead.
"As of today, I have zero dollars in the bank, but let's talk in another two weeks or so. Fundraising has never been my shortcoming."
I met him @ the Dublin Irish Festival this past year.
Kilroy is a socialist.
OH-15
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