Democrats aim for Ohio’s seats in U.S. Congress

Democrats gained one seat in Ohio in 2006. It was left empty by Republican Bob Ney, now in prison.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Democrats, buoyed by a near sweep of statewide offices last year, are looking to take over Ohio’s congressional delegation in 2008.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting five Republican-held districts where they see a good chance to gain ground: the seats of Reps. Steve Chabot of Cincinnati, Jean Schmidt of Loveland, Rep. Deborah Pryce of Columbus, Ralph Regula of Navarre and Steve LaTourette of Madison.

Those districts, held by Republicans for at least a decade, proved vulnerable last year, when Democrats regained control of the House and the Senate. Regula was the biggest winner among those five with 58 percent of the vote, while Pryce was in the closest race, winning by 1,055 votes out of more than 220,000 cast.

Pryce has announced she won’t seek re-election next year and there is speculation that Regula, 82, is considering retirement. He hasn’t announced his plans.

Republicans hold a 12-6 edge in the Ohio delegation.

The search is on

Republicans are searching for a candidate to run in Pryce’s place. So far, no one has emerged as a favorite — state Sen. Steve Stivers and former Attorney General Jim Petro have turned party officials down. Democrats are going again with Mary Jo Kilroy, Pryce’s opponent in the 2006 squeaker.

Republican state Sen. Kirk Schuring of Canton says he’s in if Regula is out. The leading Democrat for the seat is state Sen. John Bocceiri of New Middletown, who is running no matter what Regula decides.

The three other incumbents are all expected to run.

Democrats picked up one seat in Ohio in 2006 — the one vacated by Republican Bob Ney, now serving a federal prison term for bribery-related crimes — but came close in several others. Look for the party to pour its resources into the five seats, perhaps others.

“What we saw in the last campaign is that more seats came into play,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the DCCC’s chairman. “We have opportunities across the board. I’m not going to pick and chose.”

The party will run its 2008 campaign on the same platform as 2006 — playing into President Bush’s unpopularity and painting congressional Republicans with the same brush, Van Hollen said. In addition to highlighting Republican support for the war in Iraq, Democrats will cite their support for lower college costs and expanding a program to provide health insurance for children of the poor, he said.

“We think the domestic policies we’ve been fighting for ... are very much in tune with the will of the voters in those districts,” Van Hollen said.

GOP plans fight

Republicans not only will fight to keep those seats, they will be looking to take some back, especially Ney’s old seat, now held by Zack Space of Dover, who is already a target of the GOP and Republican-leaning outside groups, said Mark Weaver, a GOP campaign consultant in Columbus. However, no Republican has emerged to challenge Space.

“Zack Space is going to have a barn-burner of a race,” Weaver said.

One race the Democrats won’t be pursuing is the seat that was held by Rep. Paul Gillmor, who died Wednesday. Under Ohio law, Gov. Ted Strickland must call for a special election to replace him. No Democrat has held the seat since the 1930s.

GOP officials, out of respect for Gillmor and his family, won’t speculate on a replacement, but possibilities include Gillmor’s wife Karen, a former state senator; state Rep. Bob Latta of Bowling Green, who lost to Gillmor in a 1988 primary by 27 votes; and state Sen. Randy Gardner, also of Bowling Green.