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Major GOP, Dem prez candidates file in Ohio
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
On Tuesday night, the Republican candidates were busy in Las Vegas during the final prime-time debate of the year.
On Wednesday, some of their campaigns were finalizing the paperwork required to qualify for the ballot in Ohio, a battleground prize critical in the selection of the next president.
They were joined by Democratic presidential candidates, plus incumbents and hopefuls for other statewide and local races who met the deadline for the March 15 primary.
The filing deadline for partisan candidates for president, U.S. Congress and other seats, marking the 90-day point before next year’s primary, was at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Nearly all the major Republican and Democratic candidates had their paperwork submitted to the secretary of state by the deadline.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich filed Wednesday. Others who made the deadline or who filed earlier were billionaire business mogul Donald Trump; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul; businesswoman Carly Fiorina; South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham; Mike Huckabee; and Rick Santorum. The only name missing from the list was former New York Gov. George Pataki.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley made their submissions.
Two lesser-known candidates also turned in petitions – Democrats Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente and Willie Wilson.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, a Republican, so far is uncontested in her race for another term, with no Republicans challenging in the primary and no Democrats filing for her seat.
But races for two other seats on the court have multiple seekers.
Appeals Court Judges Pat Fischer, 1st District. and Colleen O’Toole, 11th District, both Republicans, and Judge John P. O’Donnell of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, a Democrat, have filed for one seat.
Judge O’Donnell ran for Ohio Supreme Court last year, failing to unseat Justice Judith French.
Appeals Court Judge Pat DeWine, 1st District, a Republican who is also a son of Attorney General Mike DeWine, and Appeals Court Judge Cynthia Rice, 11th District, a Democrat, have filed for the other seat.
U.S. Sen. Republican Rob Portman, the incumbent, is seeking re-election.
Two Democrats – former Gov. Ted Strickland and Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld – also submitted their paperwork.
A handful of other candidates also add their names to the mix, including Republicans Donald Eckhart and Melissa Strzala, Democrat Kelly Prather and Green Party representative Joseph DeMare.