DAVID SKOLNICK / Politics LaTourette shouldn't count Cafaro out

U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette seems almost put off that he must run an aggressive campaign and raise money to fend off the challenge of Capri Cafaro, his Democratic opponent, in the November general election for the 14th Congressional District seat.
Cafaro is 26 years old, isn't from the congressional district, has spent about one-third of her life living outside of Ohio, and as LaTourette said, "I can't find that she has any experience at any job that wasn't delivered by her family." Cafaro recently moved into the district and is renting a place in Hunting Valley, one of the richest communities in the state.
Also, Cafaro has never held public office. Actually, she's never run for public office. This is LaTourette's fourth consecutive re-election bid against a Democrat who's never held office.
Ohio Republicans redrew the congressional district in 2001 to make it easier for LaTourette to retain the seat; his old district was 47 percent Republican, and now it is 55 percent Republican.
When told of Cafaro's position on various issues and what she wants to accomplish if elected, LaTourette rattled off some of his classic zingers.
"She doesn't understand the legislative process very well," "I don't know where that comes from," and "She doesn't know what the hell she's talking about."
Based on all of that, LaTourette, a Concord Republican seeking his sixth term in the U.S. House, shouldn't need to waste his time campaigning. He's already said Cafaro is hardly his most formidable challenger.
Yet most political experts say this may be the only competitive congressional race in Ohio this year. One other House race in the state is seen as potentially interesting. That is the 9th District race between U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the Democratic incumbent, against Lucas County Auditor Larry Kaczala, a Republican.
So why is Cafaro seen as a credible challenger to LaTourette, a well-established Republican?
One word, five letters: m-o-n-e-y. And Cafaro's got plenty of it.
As Cyndi Lauper sang about 20 years ago: "Money changes everything." [As a side note, I'm pretty embarrassed to use a Lauper reference. But money songs by personal favorites -- Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the O'Jays and Abba -- just don't work in this case.]
Cafaro used $211,560 of her own money to easily win a five-person Democratic primary in March. Cafaro is a member of one of Mahoning Valley's wealthiest and politically active families.
State Rep. Ed Jerse, by far the most politically experienced candidate in the primary, raised $61,251, and finished a distant second.
Cafaro can rightfully argue that she and her campaign outworked the other candidates. But except for Herb Hammer, none of the primary election candidates had the financial resources to compete with her.
The 14th District contains a sliver of the Mahoning Valley: seven northern townships in Trumbull County. Most of the district is in the Cleveland television market, so it takes big bucks to get commercials on the air.
Only Cafaro and Hammer, even more of a political novice than Cafaro, had the bucks to spend on saturating the Cleveland TV market with commercials during the primary. Hammer's ads were considered by political insiders to be poor and ineffective. He finished third in the primary.
LaTourette said he is aggressively running against Cafaro, and he plans to hold fund-raisers to obtain the needed cash to compete against the Democrat. He's off to a pretty good start.
The next federal campaign finance report filing deadline is July 15, for the period between April 1 and June 30. As of March 31, LaTourette had about $700,000 in his campaign fund.
Cafaro won't say how much money she plans to give her general election campaign, but I'm sure she'll spend a lot.
Cafaro's money allows her to get her message out to voters. The big win in the primary gives her the credibility to obtain political action committee money, union endorsements and the help of fellow Democrats.
While her father, J.J., urged her not to run, he's organizing a fundraiser for her Wednesday at the Squaw Creek Country Club in Vienna. J.J., and his wife, Janet, invite people to the event with tickets for "friends" costing $500, tickets for "really good friends" going for $1,000, and if you're "almost family" you're expected to give $2,000.
Even with her many drawbacks, Cafaro represents a huge challenge to LaTourette.