CINCINNATI U.S. rep mentioned as possible Bush running mate

Rob Portman would be the first Ohioan on a major-party ticket since 1944.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Three of Ohio's eight presidents were elected after 1900, but two vice presidential candidates from the state saw their campaigns shattered.
Talk surfaced in recent weeks that an Ohioan could be on the Republican ticket this year -- U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of Cincinnati -- should Vice President Dick Cheney decide to step aside. Portman and his aides issued strong denials there were any such suggestions.
The last time an Ohioan was on a major-party ticket was in 1944, when then-Gov. John W. Bricker of Columbus was the vice presidential running mate of Republican New York Gov. Thomas Dewey.
Dewey and Bricker, the GOP's first three-consecutive-term governor, won Ohio narrowly but lost the election by more than 3 million votes as Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt swept to a third term during World War II.
It was one of two instances in the 20th century when Ohio didn't agree with the national results. The other was Richard Nixon's easy 1960 victory over John F. Kennedy in Ohio, while Kennedy won the election by a slim margin.
Other Ohio candidates
The other notable vice presidential candidate from Ohio was Curtis LeMay of Columbus, who was Alabama Gov. George Wallace's running mate in 1968. Running under the American Independent Party banner, Wallace and LeMay, a former Air Force chief of staff, finished a weak third in Ohio and nationally.
Ohioans Henry B. Metcalf and Aaron Sherman Watkins were vice presidential candidates for the Prohibition Party in 1900 and 1904, respectively.
The nation elected presidents William McKinley of Canton in 1900 and William Howard Taft of Cincinnati in 1908. In 1920, Marion newspaper publisher Warren G. Harding, a Republican, beat Dayton newspaper publisher James M. Cox, a Democrat.
McKinley was assassinated in 1901 and Harding died in office in 1923. Taft was defeated in 1912, even losing his home state.
Democratic then-Sen. John Glenn's presidential bid in 1984 fizzled quickly.
Portman's ties to Bush
Should Cheney step aside for health or other reasons, Portman could be an attractive candidate. He was an aide to President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, from 1989 to 1991 and is close to the current president. He represents a key swing state that Bush won in 2000 by 3.6 percentage points.
Party officials in swing states also mentioned Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who is Bush's homeland security secretary, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and that state's Gov. George Pataki.
But Cheney's still Bush's choice, and both the White House and Portman insist Cheney is their man, Portman spokesman Kyle Downey said Friday.
"There is no discussion between the White House and Congressman Portman or anybody else for that matter," Downey said.