Butler County Courts Update

Let's start with two posts from intrepid reporter Josh. The first details the entirely expected partisan move on the part of T-Shirt Ted in appointing the two candidates that the local Democrats have put up for election on the bench before the people have their say.

Governor Ted Strickland today announced the appointment of Glenda Smith to the Butler County Municipal Court Area III and the appointment of Kathleen Romans to the Butler County Common Pleas Court, Juvenile Division.

All you really need to know about these two is that they will be losing in November.

The second is the response from Butler County GOP to these partisan appointments. Chairman Tom Ellis gets down to business:

“The governor has politicized the election process, but we are confident that the conservative voters of Butler County will see through this and elect our conservative team of Tim Evans for Juvenile Court and Dan Haughey for Area Court. Both are highly qualified and both will keep the same conservative, common sense approach of their two predecessors,” said Ellis.

Here in Butler County, our citizens are going to send the Governor a strong message in November; keep your liberal politics in Columbus, and let us select our own judges.”

It is absolutely shocking -- SHOCKING -- to discover that one of T-Shirt Ted's appointees, Glenda Smith, was not only the former chair of the Democratic Party in Butler County but worked for T-Shirt Ted's campaign. In the last administration some guy named Marc Dann called that sort of thing "pay to play" and we all know what an upstanding citizen he was.

Now, let's learn a little something about the guy who is going to make T-Shirt Ted wish he had left his liberal politics in Columbus.

The Butler County GOP is throwing its support behind an Oxford attorney for Butler County Area III Court judgeship based in West Chester Twp.

The party's executive committee unanimously voted via secret ballot Wednesday, Sept. 3 to endorse Republican Dan Haughey, according to Tom Ellis, chairman for the Butler County GOP.

"It's unusual that someone gets 100 percent," Ellis said. "I thought it was quite a ringing endorsement."

Having participated in a few of these votes myself, a unanimous decision on a position like this is indicative of party unity standing solidly behind a candidate. T-Shirt Ted's flunky isn't going to know what hit her come election day. Until then, she's a lame duck in a robe.