U.S. SENATE Voinovich set for difficult race in primary elections

The former Ohio governor is running for his second term in the U.S. Senate.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Endorsed U.S. Senate candidates, incumbent George V. Voinovich, a Republican, and state Sen. Eric Fingerhut, a Cleveland Democrat, both face primary contests in March.
Voinovich is challenged by John Mitchel of Beavercreek, and Fingerhut by Norbert G. Dennerll Jr. of Elyria in the March 2 primary election.
Voinovich, the former two-term Ohio governor and former Cleveland mayor, is running for his second six-year term as a senator from Ohio.
The 67-year-old Voinovich wasn't available to comment, but Voinovich's campaign spokesman has said the senator is preparing for a tough race.
Career path
Voinovich was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998 and is the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands and Climate Change and the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia.
Voinovich also serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Before being elected to the Senate, Voinovich served two four-year terms as Ohio's governor.
Voinovich also served as mayor of Cleveland from 1979 to 1988.
In the past, he has served as a lieutenant governor and as a commissioner and auditor in Cuyahoga County and as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives.
Future success
Fingerhut, 44, represents Ohio's 25th Senate District, which is roughly the eastern half of Cuyahoga County.
& quot;My campaign is really about one thing and that's about getting Ohio moving again, & quot; said Fingerhut.
& quot;It's about the future. The key to the future success of our state is to be able to get investment in innovation and education from which innovation comes from, & quot; Fingerhut said. & quot;What we need is for the federal government to focus on the national policies that promote that. & quot;
Fingerhut was elected to a four-year Ohio Senate term in 1998 and then re-elected in 2002.
Fingerhut serves as the ranking minority member of the Ohio Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee.
Fingerhut also serves on the state Senate Judiciary Committee for Civil Justice, the Ways and Means and Economic Development Committee and the Energy, Natural Resources & amp; Environment Committee.
Fingerhut served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1993 and 1994 and first served in the Ohio Senate back in 1991 and 1992.
Challengers
Mitchel, Voinovich's opponent in the primary, has run for public office before.
Mitchel, 56, unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1998 under the Reform Party banner and U.S. House in 2000 and 2002 as an independent and Republican, respectively.
Mitchel said he's running as a Republican because the party controls both houses of Congress and because he believes the party is going in the wrong direction.
Mitchel said he opposes the Medicaid prescription-drug bill because, & quot;I think it does help some seniors, but I think it mainly is a windfall for HMOs [health maintenance organizations], private insurance companies and drug companies."
Mitchel is a systems analyst at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in the Dayton area.
Dennerll, age unavailable, is a former three-term Cleveland city councilman. He couldn't be reached to comment.
The winners of the primaries advance to the Nov. 2 general election.