When Rep. Deb Pryce surprised everybody with her announcement that she was planning to retire, the first candidate that Republican Leader, my Congressman and a Great American -- John Boehner -- called was State Senator Steve Stivers. Stivers had been resisting because he is about to get married to Ohio House Republican spokeswoman Karen Tabor later this month. Apparently, the happy couple have talked it over because Stivers is in...(Columbus Dispatch)The Republicans finally got their man.Over at RightAngle, where Matt Naugle teased this development last night, Matt brings up one key point in the comments:
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.
He needs to run an excellent campaign. He hardly has a perfectly conservative record in the Ohio legislature, but Mary Jo alone is enough to make me a 100% Stivers supporter. Mary is absolutely repulsive.I know of at least one more potential Republican candidate in this race who is making that exact same argument. More on that as it develops...
The timing of this announcement is perfect. As the political reporters are gearing up for elections tomorrow, the news cycle for today is going to be all Stivers all the time. It is exactly the sort of publicity that an announcement should have... Of course, tomorrow and Wednesday is going to be about winners and losers; but today belongs to Stivers. Simply brilliant...
