The Cincinnati Enquirer reports a number of moves being made by the Hamilton County GOP:- Commissioner Pat DeWine said he will not seek a second term. Instead he will run for the Common Pleas judge seat expected to be vacated by fellow Republican Judge David Davis. DeWine said he made the decision for personal and professional reasons. Davis has not yet confirmed that he is retiring.None of these moves are all that surprising to me... DeWine is incapable of staying in a position for too long; Hartmann has run for "bigger and better" things before as well; and Clancy seems to be going for the bank...
- Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann, who also would have been up for re-election, will instead run for DeWine’s county commission seat. Hartmann said Thursday he is ready to take his experience to a “bigger platform” in order to better serve county residents. Hartmann said his priorities as commissioner would be “making the government live efficiently” and improving public safety.
- Patricia Clancy, a Republican and former state senator, is running for Hartmann’s Clerk of Courts seat. Clancy currently is assistant chief probation officer for Common Pleas Court.
3PM UPDATE: Now the Enquirer is reporting that the HamCo GOP and Dems have struck a deal:
Republican sources say that Democrat county commissioner Todd Portune will have no Republican-endorsed opponent this fall; and that the Republicans’ choice to replace Pat DeWine as county commissioner, current clerk of courts Greg Hartmann, will be given a free pass by the Democrats.Get the full story here. Shades of Summit County here???
