State auditor Montgomery to announce campaign decision

COLUMBUS (AP) -- State Auditor Betty Montgomery, one of three GOP hopefuls running for governor, will announce today whether she's staying in the race or will choose another seat to campaign for.
Montgomery, a former prosecutor from Bowling Green, will explain her decision at a morning event at the Wood County Courthouse.
She will announce whether she will run for another race or introduce a lieutenant governor candidate, her spokesman and campaign strategist Mark Weaver said Monday.
"She's received encouragement for both of those strategies and she spent the weekend mulling them over," Weaver said.
Montgomery has trailed in recent internal polls put out by Republican and Democratic candidates for governor and speculation has focused on her trying to regain her old job as attorney general, which she held from 1994 to 2002 when she left because of term limits.
Messages were left for Montgomery seeking comment.
Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and Attorney General Jim Petro also are running for governor. The two have introduced rival ballot issues to limit state spending and taxes in the hope of winning over conservative voters.
Montgomery has dismissed those proposals as gimmicks.
U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland from Lisbon in eastern Ohio and state Sen. Eric Fingerhut of Cleveland are among Democrats running for governor.