GOP plans to spare no expense for victory

Charles Wilson Jr. said he'd spend whatever it takes to win the primary.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
The National Republican Congressional Committee spent about $4 million each in 2004 to win its top two targeted open U.S. House seats, one in Washington and the other in Colorado.
The NRCC's top open House seat target in the country is Ohio's 6th District, and the committee will spend whatever is necessary to win that race, said Ed Patru, its spokesman, who wouldn't give a dollar figure. The 12-county district includes Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning County.
The Republican committee is already targeting state Sen. Charles A. Wilson Jr., running as a Democratic write-in candidate for the 6th. Wilson of St. Clairsville failed to get the required 50 valid signatures from registered voters on his nominating petitions to be on the May Democratic ballot.
Democrats on ballot
Two Democrats will have their names appear on the ballot with Wilson, who is supported by the Ohio Democratic Party and the Ohio House and Senate Democratic caucuses. Wilson says he'll spend whatever amount of money is needed to win as a write-in. Adrienne Elrod, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, declined to say how much the committee would spend on this race.
State Rep. Charles Blasdel of East Liverpool, R-1st and the House speaker pro-tempore, is considered the top Republican in the primary and has the endorsement of the state party.
In a Monday article in The Vindicator, Patru said that when Wilson served as president of the Eastern Ohio Regional Wastewater Authority in Belmont County in the mid-1990s, he knew the agency was dumping raw sewage into the Ohio River.
When the authority's superintendent urged Wilson to address the problem in 1995, Wilson told him in a recorded conversation, "I can't have my future on the line over the sewer authority."
Democrats' response
The DCCC isn't surprised national Republicans don't want Wilson on the ballot because he is a strong candidate, Elrod said.
"All of the negative attacks out of national Republicans are already beginning to backfire against Chuck Blasdel," she said. "In a Democratic primary, national Republicans should know better than to try to interfere with what should be a debate about Charlie Wilson and his record of service."
Jessica Towhey, Blasdel's campaign spokeswoman, declined to comment on the NRCC efforts, which must be separate from the candidate's campaign under federal elections law.
Also, the White House confirmed Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney will attend a March 20 fundraiser for Blasdel at the Spread Eagle Tavern and Inn in Hanoverton.
skolnick@vindy.com