20th Ohio Senate District Update

When State Senator Jimmy Stewart decided to step down, it opened up the seat to a large group of Republicans seeking to fill it.

Most notable among the names of those who will be visiting the Senate caucus panel tomorrow are St. Rep. Troy Balderson and perennial candidate Jeanette Moll.

Balderson has scored a perfect 100 on the WMD Ohio Legislator Scorecard.

Moll has run for Congress. Twice. Lost in the primary both times. It wouldn't surprise me if she has run for other offices, but the congressional runs are what put her on WMD's radar.

The Also Rans... for this appointment: Athens County Auditor Jill Thompson, Meigs County Commissioner Mike Bartum and a Guernsey County trustee, Donald Warnock.

Of the Also Rans..., Jill Thompson is a name you might recall as being particularly obnoxious during the primary for State Auditor in the last cycle.

Niehaus Announces Application Process for 20th District Seat

Release:

(Columbus) - Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond) announced today the process to fill a pending vacancy in Ohio's 20th District Senate seat.

The Senate Republican Caucus will accept applications through close of business on Friday, July 1. Applications should be sent or hand-delivered to the following address:

Senate President Thomas E. Niehaus
The Ohio Statehouse
1 Capitol Square, Room 201
Columbus, OH 43215

Please send an identical copy of the application to the Senate chief of staff:

Matt Schuler, Chief of Staff
The Ohio Statehouse
1 Capitol Square, Room 205
Columbus, OH 43215

Senator Niehaus also announced that the following Senators will serve on a screening committee which will interview the applicants and make a recommendation to the entire 23-member Senate Republican caucus:

* Senator Tom Niehaus, President (R-New Richmond)
* Senator Keith Faber, President Pro Tempore (R-Celina)
* Senator Shannon Jones, Majority Whip (R-Springboro)
* Senator Chris Widener (R-Springfield)
* Senator David Daniels (R-Greenfield)
* Senator Larry Obhof (R-Montville Township)
* Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster)

Incumbent Senator Jimmy Stewart submitted a letter of resignation from the 20th District seat to pursue an opportunity in the private sector.

20th Ohio Senate: Rick Shriver is Crazy

In yesterday's WMD Blast, we noted a new website about 20th Ohio Senate District candidate Rick Shriver (D). Today, we note this Zanesville Times-Recorder story about Shriver's actions since the release of an ad criticizing Shriver for...something. I'm not really sure what his beef is. Apparently, voters aren't supposed to care that Shriver likes to tell stories that don't reflect the values of the constituency.

A few items to note:

1) Shriver is taking this before Brunner rather than the Elections Commission because then he would have to testify under oath.

2) Shriver just doesn't understand campaigning, or else he would realize that he would want this thing to go away as quick as possible, rather than hold press conferences on it.

3) Shriver claims to be running on "values" on his own website, yet doesn't like people looking at his own personal life.

4) Shriver must be really scared of this thing to be going to these sort of lengths.

WMD Blast

LINKS:

Ohio Senate - 20th District: Rick Shriver: Not Our Values

PolitickerOH: "Rudy blasts conservative doubters of Palin as 'jerks'" -- Yup.

The word missing from this PolitickerOH story on Driehaus' bloviating on jobs is "Strickland." Ohio Democrats -- like their national counterparts -- are incapable of accepting any responsibility whatsoever.

NEWS:

Mike Crites, Republican candidate for Attorney General, will announce a major legal action that will affect the race for Ohio Attorney General.

Crites was originally scheduled to unveil a new television ad at the 10 a.m. news conference, but changed the subject after major breaking news in the race this weekend involving potentially illegal contributions to opponent Richard Cordray.

The Dayton Daily News has the story here.

OPEN THREAD IN COMMENTS...

WMD Blast: Second Strike

VIDEO: Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate voted "Present"...or something...



Well, I'm convinced.....

VIDEO: Boehner Releases Web Video After House Democrats Reject Vote on the American Energy Act



Republican Leader, my Congressman and a Great American -- John Boehner:

“The Democrats in charge of Congress made clear today that they intend to run out the clock until the next election and block America’s path toward clean, alternative energy by keeping our most valuable energy sources under lock and key. By refusing to even debate our ‘all of the above’ strategy, rank-and-file Democrats have proven true the reports that Speaker Pelosi told them to say one thing about American energy production in their districts, while doing something completely different here on Capitol Hill. It’s no wonder that Americans want to shake up Washington. This town is broken, and the Majority’s refusal to schedule a real debate and a real vote on the American Energy Act is the clearest proof yet that Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues in the Democratic leadership have no intention of fixing it.”

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.

More from 20th District - Ohio Senate: another article on Shriver porn scam -- We wrote about this earlier on WMD here.

"It's Time to Win!" -- Republicans all over this great land are energized and excited about McCain/Palin. How can I tell? Because of posts like this one from a Tennessee blogger:

Tennessee is solid for McCain.We can talk all we want but this state is in the bag. Think outside of the box. Direct your money and time where it will make a difference. Got relatives in Ohio? Call them. Write a check to the Ohio GOP.

It is going to take a team effort, folks...

Culture of Carousing Update: 20th Senate District Edition

This is different... From the Columbus Dispatch blog Daily Briefing:

If Rick Shriver asks you to switch airline seats, you may want to do it and avoid having your e-mail box filled with sexually explicit spam.

As part of a his former website – rickshriver.net, which has since been turned into his campaign site – Shriver, a Democrat from McConnelsville running in southeast Ohio’s competitive 20th Senate District, included some podcasts where he told personal stories -- stories his campaign says were fictional and didn't really happen. Senate Republican campaign officials found one particularly interesting: “How I got even with Howard Kochs.”

You have to read the whole thing to believe it...

Now, this is Joy Padgett's district... I really can't imagine this sort of thing will be going over real well out there.....