43
Strickland’s in Senate race
On the side
Did you hear the one ...: The attorneys for the defendants in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal corruption case have made a few attempts at humor in their court filings though it does nothing to help their clients.
Some of them are amusing. John B. Juhasz, Mahoning County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino’s attorney, made me laugh by repeatedly putting quotation marks around the word newspaper when describing The Vindicator.
Some of the attempts fall flat. One recently came from Mark Lavelle, attorney for Martin Yavorcik, in a filing that was rejected by the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge overseeing this case because he failed to follow local court rules.
In that filing, Lavelle described a guy who prosecutors said threatened a confidential informant as the “leisure suit enforcer.” The man in question was described as white, heavy-set, between 65 and 68 years old, about 5 feet 11 inches tall with thinning dark hair, wearing dress pants, a shirt and tie, and dress shoes. You need a jacket to make a leisure suit.
All that’s left for former Gov. Ted Strickland is to officially announce he’s a candidate for the 2016 U.S. Senate race.
He’s done everything else.
I first reported Jan. 30 on Vindy.com, The Vindicator’s website, that sources close to Strickland said the Democrat spent that day talking to high-level national donors and to political allies the day prior talking about his Senate bid.
I was told by numerous sources to watch for specific key pieces to fall in place.
Two of them happened Friday — Strickland quit his job as president of the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund, and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, a political ally, said he wouldn’t run for Senate next year.
Then the big one: Strickland started raising money Monday. He received about $125,000 to $150,000 in financial commitments that day. Since then, that figure has probably doubled or tripled.
Strickland has said he’ll have an official announcement by the end of this month so expect that next week.
So the next question is: can Strickland beat incumbent U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area serving his first term?
I looked back on a Nov. 12, 2004, column I wrote about Strickland considering a run for governor in 2006. I wrote that he was the best candidate for the job among Democrats because of his political success in southeast Ohio, a conservative part of the state, as well as his record of supporting coal, gun rights, fair trade, seniors and veterans. Strickland initially said in January 2005 that he wouldn’t run and changed his mind in May of that year.
Strickland easily defeated Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell in the 2006 election, and lost by 2 percentage points to Republican John Kasich in 2010, a terrible year for Democrats in Ohio and nationally. While the economy was turning around during his last year in office, Strickland led the state during the national recession making a re-election bid extremely difficult. However, the race was very close.
Republicans are obviously very concerned about a Strickland challenge to Portman. I and other Ohio journalists have been bombarded with emails daily from state and national Republicans attacking Strickland. Buckeye Firearms says Strickland has abandoned his gun-rights beliefs and the Ohio Coal Association say he’s now anti-coal. Both groups backed Strickland in the past.
Some are concerned about Strickland’s age. He is 73. But the U.S. Senate is filled with older members. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee seven years ago, is 78, and there are seven current members older than him. Also, the Democratic frontrunner for president next year, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is 67.
Portman’s campaign is sitting on $5.8 million and will raise considerably more, and he has numerous Republican endorsements. Barry Bennett, a former Portman adviser, has created Fighting for Ohio Fund, a Super PAC that he says will raise about $5 million to $10 million independently to support Portman’s re-election.
A recent Quinnipiac University Poll showed 37 percent of voters say Portman deserves to be re-elected and 28 percent don’t. He also has a 40 percent job approval rating with 21 percent saying he’s not doing a good job. The takeaway is Portman needs to spend a lot of money because a lot of Ohioans don’t know him despite his 20 years in government service.
It’s tough to say if Strickland can beat Portman. But just as he was in the 2006 gubernatorial race, Strickland is the best Democrat for the 2016 Senate race.