State Rep. Redfern elected chairman

He garnered 88 votes; his opponent received 31.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- House minority leader Chris Redfern easily won election Monday night as the state's Democratic Party chairman, defeating Dayton-area county chairman Dennis Lieberman.
Redfern will finish the term of Denny White, who had resigned Nov. 23 after four years, and will run for re-election in June to a two-year term.
The vote was delayed for more than an hour as a somewhat testy discussion developed in the party's executive committee over how the vote would proceed. But once the vote was counted, Redfern had 88 votes to Lieberman's 31.
Redfern sought to soothe the differences in his first speech as chairman, inviting Lieberman up on stage.
"We have one common objective and one common goal, and now we begin," Redfern said. "The work begins tonight."
Not a neutral race
Lieberman, in his pitch to the members of the executive committee, said the vote should not have been an endorsement of U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor. Strickland had backed Redfern for the job, but Lieberman said the race should have been neutral.
He also was critical that Redfern intends to keep his House seat, although Redfern has said he will give up his leadership position.
Proven vote-getters at the top of the ticket give Democrats hope of winning a statewide office for the first time since Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick was re-elected in 2000.
The Democrats also have been encouraged by an investment scandal in the Bureau of Workers' Compensation that's tainted the administration of Gov. Bob Taft and the state Republican Party. Losses have reached $300 million, and the investigations prompted Taft to plead no contest to misdemeanor charges of failing to report gifts.
Redfern's nomination was seen as an early test for Strickland, the Democratic front-runner for governor. Redfern, 41, supported the six-term Lisbon congressman before Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman dropped out of the race Nov. 29.
Coleman wanted an interim chairman who would have stepped down after the May 2 primary. Coleman, along with some county chairs, wanted the new state chief to remain neutral in the governor's race.
Time commitment
Lieberman, 53, lost to White in 2004. He had said he would resign his Montgomery County post and suspend his law practice to be a full-time state chairman.
Parma Mayor Dean DePiero, a former House minority leader, said Redfern's election success and fund-raising ability would make him a strong chairman. DePiero, who also is the state party secretary, said he believes Redfern can handle the House and state party jobs.