Friday, July 25, 2008
It took about a month longer than planned, but Ohio Republican Party officials have selected their candidate for attorney general.
It’s D. Michael Crites.
Michael who? And what’s up with the “D?”
Crites is a former U.S. attorney for Ohio’s Southern District from 1986 to 1993 and is currently a managing partner at a Columbus law firm.
Republican leaders are already trying to get rid of the “D.”
In separate statements about the selection of Crites, Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett and Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine referred to him as “Mike.”
Republicans started looking for an attorney general candidate even before Democrat Marc Dann resigned from the position May 14.
Dann quit shortly after an internal investigation described the office as one filled with cronyism, an unprofessional atmosphere and essentially a Boys’ Club in which a number of women were subjected to sexism.
Dann’s term doesn’t end until January 2011.
A special election is being held this November to fill that unexpired term.
The scandal at the attorney general’s office gave Republicans an unbelievable opportunity to recapture the position. Republicans held the position for 12 years before Dann defeated Republican Betty Montgomery, the attorney general for the first eight of those dozen years, in the 2006 election. Dann had since said he was very surprised he won and unprepared to do the job leading to problems at the office.
Republicans had a number of possible candidates.
Montgomery was the logical choice, but she repeatedly said she didn’t want to seek the office.
She wasn’t alone.
Republicans had planned to select their candidate June 21, but postponed that decision when it became clear they didn’t have anyone for the position.
Meanwhile, Ohio Democrats selected state Treasurer Richard Cordray. That decision came as no surprise to anyone who followed the process. Even before Dann resigned, the talk among political insiders and observers was Cordray would be the Democratic choice for attorney general.
Democrats made Cordray their official candidate on June 21, the same date the Republicans were to do the same.
With Montgomery out of the picture, Republicans reached out to others with political name recognition.
They all said no.
Among those opting not to seek the appointment was former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine. The ex-senator is helping his longtime friend, U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. A win by McCain could mean a major federal appointment for DeWine.
While DeWine publicly said no more than once, Republican insiders said he wasn’t giving them a firm answer until a few weeks ago.
After those with name recognition declined to run, Republicans turned to lesser known candidates. A number of them also chose not to seek the job.
That resulted in another group of candidates: those with little to no name recognition. But the upside of those candidates is they couldn’t be tied to Republican scandals of the past. Of the five or six top candidates on that list, Crites was the clear choice based on his experience. No one else was directly asked to run.
But how can a virtual unknown beat Cordray?
Cordray’s run statewide before. He lost the 1998 attorney general’s race to Montgomery, and the 2000 U.S. Senate Democratic primary to Ted Celeste.
But he was easily elected treasurer in 2006. Republicans are quick to point out he defeated Sandra O’Brien, a virtual unknown who had no money or name identification. Cordray has limited name identification, rode Ted Strickland’s coattails in November, and doesn’t have Crites’ qualifications to be attorney general, Republicans say.
On the flip side, Democrats say Crites has virtually no name ID, was a third-tier candidate and his only elected experience is serving as a school board member.
In the end it will come down to money. Unless Crites and Republicans raise a lot of it, Cordray’s going to have another easy election.