Free Republic

Republican sources confirmed Thursday that 18-term Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) will announce his retirement imminently, perhaps as soon as Friday. A Regula spokesman would not confirm the retirement announcement.

CANTON — Congressional candidate Jeff Seemann is looking for a new campaign manager and finance director. Seemann also has told police that $320 in campaign funds and a Palm Pilot have been stolen. The shakeup in Seemann’s campaign staff began less than three weeks before the Nov. 2 general election. Seemann is trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Bethlehem Township, who has held the post since 1973. A poll by The Repository shows Regula with a commanding lead. Seemann said he fired finance director Mia Phifer, who was from Chicago, on Oct. 6. The firing of Phifer prompted the...

The House Republican leadership has endorsed an effort by Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), an appropriations cardinal, to punish Democrats en masse for their blanket opposition to the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending package. Regula’s plan to redirect all potential Democratic earmarks to vulnerable Republicans would breathe new life into a principle that Republican leaders have long wanted their more accommodating appropriators to enforce: If Democrats vote against appropriations bills, they shouldn’t expect special projects earmarked for their districts. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested that the potential punishment might be “criminal.” “This could be — this...