Is Sykes becoming a burden for Ohio Democrats?
Ohio Democratic leaders may end up regretting their decision to convince state Rep. Barbara Sykes to be the party's state auditor candidate.
Sykes of Akron was prepared earlier this year to retire from politics when her Ohio House term expires Dec. 31. Her husband, Vernon, who left the Ohio House in 2000 because of the state term limits law, is running for the seat in November to succeed his wife. And you thought that stuff only occurred in the Mahoning Valley.
Desperate to have diversity on the statewide ticket, Ohio Democratic leaders recruited Sykes, a black woman, to run for auditor.
Before Sykes agreed to run, the supposed political party of diversity and inclusion had a statewide slate filled with a bunch of white guys, one woman and a man of Indian decent.
There was a black man who planned to run for governor in the Democratic primary. But the party establishment wanted U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland as its gubernatorial candidate, and not Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman, who is black.
Strickland and party leaders worked overtime to gain support and raise money. That led Coleman to quit the race.
A few weeks after Sykes decided to run, Ben Espy, a black Democrat, filed to run for an Ohio Supreme Court seat.
While Democrats searched for candidates who would bring diversity to the ticket, Republicans had five women candidates, including one who was black, and a black male gubernatorial candidate in its primary.
With Coingate and the other political scandals in the state it was also important to have Democratic candidates with squeeky-clean reputations. Sykes has that reputation.
She's going to need that and more. Sykes' Republican opponent in the November general election is state Rep. Mary Taylor of Green.
Taylor's rise in politics has been a quick one.
She was appointed to a city council seat in Green in Summit County in August 2001 and elected to council that November. She was elected in 2002 to the Ohio House.
In her second term as a House member, she is running for state auditor.
Taylor raised about $650,000 for this race through June 2. That's more than twice the amount raised by Sykes.
Also, Taylor had $402,806 in her campaign fund as of June 2 compared to $237,585 for Sykes.
This is supposed to be one of the more competitive down-ticket statewide races on the November ballot.
It's also an important position because the auditor is among the five people to sit on the Ohio Apportionment Board. The board draws state Legislature and congressional districts every 10 years after the U.S. Census Bureau releases its population report.
A couple of incidents occurred since Sykes' declaration of candidacy that should concern Democrats.
Sykes voted in the wrong precinct twice in 2005 after she moved from one house in Akron to another. The Summit County Board of Elections had considered launching a criminal investigation, but opted to not pursue it.
The second incident was this past Sunday when her husband was charged with driving under the influence in Akron. The Akron Beacon Journal reported that Vernon Sykes submitted to an eye exam and a roadside walk, but his wife, who was in the car, advised him not to take a breath test to check his blood alcohol content.
By not taking the breath test, Sykes automatically had his driver's license suspended.
Vernon Sykes, who admitted he had a couple of drinks, apologized for the incident in a strange and contradictory statement to the Beacon Journal "that drinking and driving to any extent is problematic...I do not believe, however, I was beyond the legal limits."
If he wasn't drunk, why did his wife tell him not to take a breath test? If he's already apologized, typically indicating he won't contest the charge, why did his wife advise him not to take the test?
Every questionable move made by statewide candidates this year is going to be scrutinized and exploited by the opposition. Sykes has certainly given Republicans some ammunition.