OHIO Election leaves Democrats looking for life of the party

After the Election Day debacle for Democrats, the Mahoning County party leader says Ohio is no longer a two-party state.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- How poorly did statewide Democratic candidates do Election Day? Consider this:
Leigh Herington, the party's attorney general candidate, won only two of the state's 88 counties, and one of his victories was in his home county of Portage.
Helen Knipe Smith, the party's auditor candidate, captured three of the state's 88 counties, winning her home county of Cuyahoga by fewer than 400 votes.
Tim Black, one of the Democrats' two Ohio Supreme Court candidates, won in only two counties. He lost by almost 45,000 votes in his home county of Hamilton.
Governor candidate Tim Hagan won in only six Ohio counties.
The best Democratic candidates were Mary Boyle, who ran for treasurer and won in 16 of the state's 88 counties, and Janet Burnside, the other Supreme Court candidate, who won in 19 counties.
Mahoning and Trumbull counties, two Democratic strongholds, crossed party lines in several races, with three Republicans winning in Mahoning and two Republicans winning in Trumbull.
Local political observers say last week's election was the worst showing in recent history for statewide Democratic candidates in the Mahoning Valley.
Lisa Antonini, Mahoning County Democratic chairwoman, called the Election Day results a "disaster." When asked if Ohio is still a two-party state in light of last week's results, she said, "You have to say no. In 1994, '98 and now, we've not had any success. Republicans are in cruise-control mode."
Christ Michelakis, Trumbull County Democratic chairman, said he was shocked with the election results.
"We're discouraged now, but we want to rebound the next time," he said.
Reasons
Why Democrats fared so poorly Election Day is a multiple choice question.
Some say it was because the Democratic slate was filled with weak candidates running against well-established Republicans, several who were incumbents.
Others say Republicans won because they significantly outspent Democratic candidates.
Others say there was a feeling nationwide to support Republican candidates as a reflection of support for President Bush, and Ohio's Democratic candidates fell victim to that movement.
Some say the Democratic slate was too liberal and out of touch with the typical Ohioan.
Whether it was some or all of those factors, Ohio Democrats continued to regress as they have during the past 12 years.
Republicans continue to control all statewide executive office positions, they increased their control over the state Legislature, they now have ideological control over the Ohio Supreme Court and they increased their membership in the Ohio congressional delegation.
Not over
Even though the future looks bleak for Democrats in Ohio, political experts say the party shouldn't be dismissed as a future threat to Republicans.
"Because the Democrats had such a weak candidate at the top of the ticket [Hagan], it drove down the rest of the ticket," said Paul Sracic, a Youngstown State University political science professor. "But the results don't mean we've become a Republican state. This slate had poor name recognition. The state isn't solidly Republican."
William Binning, YSU political science department chairman and a former Mahoning County Republican chairman, said Ohio politics is competitive. For years, Democrats controlled Ohio, and during the past 12 years, Republicans have run the state, he said.
"Parties stay in for a period of time, and then people get sick of them," Binning said. "Republicans have been in power for so long. I thought Republicans would do worse than they did on Election Day because things in the state are so bad."
A key problem, Binning said, was Hagan was too liberal for the state, and he made a critical mistake by not only failing to air television commercials, but announcing he wasn't going to use TV in his campaign.
"That gave people pause to think that he's not a serious candidate," Binning said. "It was incredibly damaging and he dragged the rest of the ticket down. The governor pulls the wagon."
Rebuilding
As for what can Democrats do to be competitive in the 2006 statewide election, there are a few suggestions. Antonini says the party needs to be less liberal and more middle-of-the-road so it appeals to the typical Ohioan.
"Democrats have to start rebuilding the party now; we can't wait eight months until the election to get candidates," which is what happened this year, Antonini said. "We have to start formulating a plan and determining who we are. We need to organize now and discuss the issues."
Democrats have to hope a wealthy businessman or a prominent Ohio celebrity wants to run for office if the party is to return to power in the state, Binning said. But that is a long-shot at best, he said.
"It will take a political genius with a lot of luck to get it done," Binning said.
The most pressing problem is Democrats do not have many people waiting in the wings to run for statewide office. Democrats serve as mayor in every big city in the state, but some may not be willing to seek statewide office while others don't have the name recognition needed to run statewide, Sracic and Binning said.
Internal competition
One benefit for Democrats is the Republicans are so powerful that several of them may fight it out in four years for the gubernatorial seat, thus dividing their party, said Binning, Sracic and Antonini.
Among the potential Republican gubernatorial candidates in 2006 are U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, Attorney General-elect Jim Petro and Auditor-elect Betty Montgomery. If all insist on running for governor, it will create a lot of vacancies in other statewide offices.
"The only thing that could destroy the Republican Party is the Republican Party," Sracic said. "When you have everything, you have infighting. They have so many Republican gubernatorial candidates."
"The Republicans could have a train wreck, and people may not want to wait their turn," added Binning. "The Republicans have a lot of problems to address regarding too much power."
That infighting may help Democrats in four years, Antonini said.
"That's why it's so important to have a plan in place, because the Republicans may self-destruct," she said.
skolnick@vindy.com