Remember back when I teased about someone entering the clerk of courts race? Remember back when I teased about someone with history getting back into politics? Well, it became official last night at the Brown County GOP Christmas party. But, more on that in a minute. First, some play by play.
I entered the scene, said a few hellos, and calmly sat down at the exclusive bloggers table (OK, so there wasn't an exclusive bloggers table, but I was sitting there first so that is what I am calling it :P) Anyway, I say some hellos, mingle a bit. As I sit down at my table, a nice lady comes over and asks if I am Scott Twp. Trustee Dean McKee's nephew. I reply in the affirmative, and she introduces herself as...can't remember the first name, but her last name was Meranda. We proceeded to chat and talk about my uncle and my family, then she moved on.
Later, County Treasurer Gail DeClaire entered the party, and I noticed she was making her way around the room with purpose. Then, she found my table. She asked if I would sign a petition. Oh, and what might that be for, I asked. She told me it was for Clerk of Courts, and that she had thought long and hard about it, but she felt she had to run. I signed her petition and wished her luck. This is the "ringer" candidate I had mentioned in the past. Rumors had been flying since this past election a few weeks ago that Gail might enter the race, and last night she made it official.
A little later, as I was sitting down to eat the lovely catered meal, Tina Meranda, current Clerk of Courts, came over and sat down at the table. She noticed I was eating alone and said, "I know you don't think much of me, but I was wondering if you wanted to join us at my table." Let me say this...Yes, I have picked on Ms. Meranda for supporting Jim Petro, and yes, I did use the phrase tongue kiss, I believe. I am sincerely sorry for that. I never meant Ms. Meranda and I to be enemies or to make things personal. I am very sorry about that. I thank Ms. Meranda here publicly for not keeping a grudge. I declined, because quite frankly, I really am a shy guy at heart, and I don't like to eat in front of strangers. So we talked a little bit about church (we are both Methodists, and know some of the same preachers), and I thanked her for coming over, and she returned to her table.. OK, so now I have been visited by Tina and Mrs. Meranda, who I am assuming is her mother in law or some relative.
I was joined at my table by Gary Frye, who represents one of the northern townships on the Central Comittee. We talked for a bit. But then, as we were signing petitions for two state Supreme Court candidates, Tina Meranda's father, Mr. Nixon, came over to talk. He introduced himself, and started to converse, but I guess he was distracted by the petition signing. He left his drink after signing the petitions. I want to thank Tina for being so nice as to not let me feel all alone at the gathering. I am truly sorry for any hurt I may have inflicted on her, her family, or her friends. She has two great young children who walked past a few times.
The time came and we installed some new club officers. Tom Cunningham replaced Mariah Votel as club President, with Michelle Jowers returning as Vice President. Pam Layman and Bev Lamphier were sworn in as secretary and treasurer.
Then came time for the candidates to speak. In the 2nd Congressional District, Peter Schmidt, husband of Rep. Jean Schmidt, spoke on her behalf. One member of her staff, Mr. Steven Caraway, came to the party fresh from his honeymoon with his lovely bride. Congrats!!! No one from the Heimlich campaign thought us worthy to hear from him. Not a good move, Phil....not a good move at all. Mr. Schmidt informed us that Jean was flying over our heads on her way home, as Bullwhip Pelosi held them up some more. Mr. Schmidt is a nice fellow, and Scott is a down to earth guy. Where was Mr. Manuever? Who knows?
Next, we talked about the 88th district rep. in the state house. Col. Danny Bubp is in deployment to Iraq and was unable to attend, but he is running again upon his return. In the state Senate, Tom Niehaus is running for one final term, as he is term limited, and showed up late as two other counties in his area had parties as well. He gave a great talk,despite a touch of laryngitis. Tom was recently voted one of Ohio's most influential people and one of the best listeners in the statehouse. Congrats!
The 12th District Court of Appeals race came up. With us was Judge Hendrickson, whom Matt has covered out of Butler County, as well as judge Robert Ringland, who is running for a seat on the court as well. Many people in our party have had experience working with Judge Ringland, and say he is a stand up fellow. Lots of praise was heaped on Judge Ringland, as well as some good natured ribbing for having a bald pate. For Judge Hendrickson, who I did not have the chance to talk to, let me say that his fine pantomiming during the 12 days of Christmas by the candidates was a great laugh and really warmed him up to the crowd and this reporter. In the County race for Common Pleas Judge, Scott Gusweiler spoke up as being a candidate and talked about judge Ringland as well. Scott ran previously and narrowly missed victory against a democrat incumbent. He hopes to fair better the
2nd time around.
In the race for County Prosecutor, Jessica Little is a candidate. She is a central committee member as well as counsel for the party. She works in Danny Bubp's West Union office currently and is a fine lawyer. She was working and was unable to attend.
In the county commissioners race, two friends from Ripley will be going after 1 of two seats. Larry Fulton of Ripley will be taking on Rick Eagan, who ran a great campaign in 2006, eventually succumbing to multiple office seeker Margery Paeltz, whose husband, Wade, frequently attended Republican meetings and claimed to be a Republican. He even showed up tonight with Madame Commissioner in tow, which I thought to be rather lame. Typical Wade, though...he doesn't care about class. Anyway, back to Eagan vs. Fulton. Eagan has a wealth of experience earned fighting Paeltz last time, and it will be interesting.
In the race for County Treasurer, being vacated by Gail DeClaire, we have Connie Patrick, currently employed in the Treasurer's office, and Warren Wagner (sorry for the misspell last time), central committee member and fiscal officer of Jackson Township. Connie brings experience and lessons learned from Gail DeClaire, while Warren brings experience gained in several civic organizations including: the Ohio Republican Party, the Heritage Foundation, the NRCC and NRSC, as well as the NRA and the County farm bureau. Both I think are good candidates and we are blessed to have such kind and caring people running. Both gave good accounts of themselves during their one minute of alloted time. Connie mentioned to me that she went to school with my aunt Dot, and knew my family. She also admitted to a dirty habit: checking in on WMD!!! :) She thanked us for covering the race and for saying nice things.
In the race for County Recorder, we have outgoing president of the Republican Club Mariah Votel, who was the first to file for the position being vacated by Gary Himes, and Amy Jo DeClaire, daughter-in-law of Gail DeClaire. Mariah has recently updated her campaign website, and is continuing to work with it. Amy Jo sent out her resume and qualifications to central committee members and I will post it when I can. See previous posts for qualifications. Ms. Votel, I want to point out, reads our blog and said she is willing to be grilled in an interview with the staff. I didn't have the chance to ask Amy Jo DeClaire about it, but I will send an invitation as well. Amy Jo went to the same high school that I did. Both of these women feel called to serve, and it should make for a good race for the nomination.
For Sheriff, we have incumbent Dwayne Wenninger, vs. Don Neumann, of Ripley. Sheriff Wenninger couldn't make it as last night was the Sheriff's office Christmas party. His wife spoke on his behalf. Don was presented and talked about his 30+ years experience in law enforcement and his dedication and desire to serve. Again, a tough choice as both are good people and candidates.
Finally, the fireworks. When Paul Hall asked for candidates for clerk of courts, everyone's eyes darted back and forth between Gail and Tina. Who would jump first? Gail DeClaire jumped up and started. She talked about her 30 years of service, from working in the Board of Elections, to running for Treasurer in 1987, and her five terms since. She talked of feeling the same call to serve as when she ran for treasurer, of not wanting to see the office go to the D slate. She talked of her love for the county and the two campaign promises she makes: work hard and do things right. Gail spoke for about a minute and 35 seconds, a little over her limit. Next came incumbent Tina Meranda. Tina spoke of her love for the county, she spoke of her dad getting her involved in politics, knocking on doors, and getting out to the grass roots. She talked about having a drug free workplace, of getting the Clerk's office onto the internet. She mentioned nothing about the financial scandal that the state auditor got involved in this past summer. She then, 2 minutes into her presentation, pulled an interesting ploy. She thanked all the veterans and asked all veterans to stand and anyone who had family currently serving to stand and get applause. All told, the spectacle took over 3 minutes, at least two over her alloted time. However, it was a heartfelt appeal. This race has the potential to get nasty. There are things boiling between the two candidates that are beneath the surface. I have heard things from 3rd parties, but I will not print them until I have more substantiation, unlike other websites that engage in tabloid reporting and harassing of people just for political points and scorched earth politics. I know Ms. Meranda has checked out WMD before, but I found out that Gail DeClaire has as well! Nice!
In a side note, 83 year old Jim Ferguson, who has held lots of offices in the past in Brown County, filed papers for Recorder. However, please Jim...your time is gone. We need new blood in office and the party, not people just hanging on. Please Jim, stay home this time.
Our inspirational leader, Bill Herdmann, was on hand working petitions to get Fred Thompson on the ballot in Ohio. Depending on the weather, Bill will be travelling to Columbus today to meet with Fred.
All told, it was an interesting night, with lots of fun and laughing, and a little bit of heat and fireworks in the cold of winter. Stay tuned, folks, the Jan. 3rd Central Committee Endorsement procedures just got a little more interesting. I will be there, and I might need to bring Matt along with the fire extinguisher. Thanks for reading, and if you are a candidate, contact me through the email address Matt lists if you would like to be interviewed or have a website I haven't linked to. I want to be as fairhanded as possible, while still reserving the right to express whom I support. At this point, in most of the races, it is still too early. Help us make your case by giving us some info, eh? Thank you in advance. This goes for Butler County Candidates, as well as any other Statewide offices or such. We want to help get your case out so the voters can decide.
1:22 am update
Don't think Tina Meranda's camp is nervous about Gail DeClaire? Go to this comment filed at 12:37am by someone named kevin. In this comment, Kevin, who I am assuming is a Meranda supporter and was at the Christmas Party or knows someone who was, reports before any official announcement about Gail being officially in the race. He goes on to engage in mudslinging, bringing Gail's daughter into the fray and talking about a drug habit. If you are going to bring that crap on here, you damn well better be able to substantiate it. If not, go to the "most influential" places and engage in tabloid reporting with those types. To me, this shows both fear and miscalculation on the part of the Meranda campaign, for who else could it be? Matt, please run a search of the users who logged in at this time and give us who it might be, or at least their location. If this is not associated with Ms. Meranda or her campaign, I would like to see it denounced. But, I warn you, go negative and try to pick a fight with Gail DeClaire. You might not like what you unleash.
