Sources say that the first person that Kevin DeWine talked to about running for Attorney General was none other than Cincinnati's own Rob Portman. This means two things: 1) DeWine is on top of this one; and 2) Portman's profile has been sufficiently raised in other parts of the state that he becomes a viable candidate for "other things" down the road.Portman seems bent on running for Governor in 2010, but I still think that Kasich has the lock on that particular race. I've been saying all along that I thought Portman should gear up for a run against Marc Dann, so you can put me down as being "in favor" of Portman running now.
UPDATE 1: My source has heard from Speaker Husted on this subject today...
[Husted] mentioned both DeWine and Portman as potential candidates.These two appear to be the lead GOP candidates. On the Dem side, I've mostly heard Cordray...but I wouldn't be surprised to see Chandra, Hackett or Espy get some consideration.
