24 state legislators endorse Strickland

The candidate has received support from more than half of House Democrats.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland picked up endorsements Tuesday from 19 Ohio House Democrats and five Ohio Senate Democrats.
The state lawmakers said they thought Strickland, a congressman from Lisbon, was the best choice among the announced Democratic candidates for governor.
Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman and former Cleveland-area state Rep. Bryan Flannery also are seeking the party's gubernatorial nomination.
"He understands what the people need," state Rep. Kenneth Carano, an Austintown Democrat, said of Strickland, 64.
"He can connect with people in the middle and bring them over to our side," added state Rep. John Boccieri, a New Middletown Democrat.
Boccieri said that he thought the other announced candidates were qualified but that Strickland stood apart.
State Sen. Kimberly Zurz, an Akron-area Democrat, said she thinks Strickland is the one best positioned to bring change to Ohio.
"I really believe we need someone with a vision for Ohio that's honest, straightforward and no-nonsense," Zurz said.
Supporters for Strickland among House Democrats now number 22. Three Democratic state representatives have previously announced their support for Strickland. There are 39 Democrats in the House and 11 in the Senate.
Calls for change
Strickland, who is in his sixth two-year term in Congress, said he thinks Republicans who have a stranglehold on state government are taking Ohio in the wrong direction.
"We need a significant change in the leadership of this state," Strickland told a gathering at the Statehouse.
He said Ohio needs living-wage jobs and needs to reform its educational system, improve access to higher education for Ohioans and help more Ohioans obtain health insurance.
Reactions
Greg Haas, an adviser to the Coleman campaign, downplayed Strickland's endorsements.
"We quite frankly think the No. 1 priority is reaching the public," Haas said. "When you're running for governor, people will be making up their own minds."
Flannery, a former state representative who lives in Strongsville, labeled the endorsements "inside baseball. It's just part of the game. They're important to some extent, but it's not at the top of my radar. My focus is on what the problems our state is facing and how we're going to change."
Commenting on endorsements by politicians, John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said, "If they're willing to work hard, this could be very important."
A trio of GOP statewide officials -- Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, state Auditor Betty D. Montgomery and state Attorney General Jim Petro -- have announced their intentions to run for governor next year.