Lt. governor candidate Eric Kearney steps down from Dem. ticket

[No Vested Interest]

Within days after Democratic candidate for Governor Ed FitzGerald announced Eric Kearney of Cincinnati as his running mate, reports of past and present unpaid debts surfaced in various Ohio newspapers. Among the unpaid bills are taxes due the federal government as well as the state of Ohio.

It soon became obvious that these problems, which Sen. Kearney attributes to difficulties stemming from the newspaper for African-Americans that he and his wife own and manage, would be a "distraction" from the campaign Mr. FitzGerald envisioned against governor Kasich.

There are a number of possibilities to replace Sen. Kearney on the ticket, but a new choice will likely not be announced until January. Mr. FitzGerald would prefer to have a candidate from either the Cincinnati area or the Columbus area, to balance his own strengths in Cuyahoga County.

For further details, see cincinnati.com

[BlueEye]

1. Ouch.

Well, what can we say. Vet, vet, vet! This is a failure of the vetting process from the FitzGerald campaign, plain and simple. I'm just glad this was caught so early. If Kearney's problems came out in mid-September, they're dead. On paper he was a good pick, but first glances rarely tell the full story.

I would have to think they could find another good choice in the southern half of the state. Former Cincinnati mayor and former state senator Mark Mallory? I know he got some egg on his face with the streetcar issue, but he used to be wildly popular with Cincinnati Democrats.

[No Vested Interest]

2. I personally think someone other than Mark Mallory, but that's just me.

Alicia Reece is a State Senator from the Cincinnati area and has served on city council. Not sure if she is savvy enough or esteemed enough in her community, though her father, Steve Reece, is a mover and shaker, I believe.

Ted Berry Jr. is a local judge, the son of the first black mayor of Cincinnati, the late Ted Berry, who is/was something of an icon in his community.

Perhaps there are others in Dayton or Columbus, of whom I'm not aware.

[BlueEye]

3. Good points. I'm pretty sure Alicia Reece is in the Ohio House rather than the Senate.

http://www.ohiohouse.gov/alicia-reece

But she would still be a nice addition to the ticket. I didn't realize she was President of the Legislative Black Caucus, very impressive.

I originally thought Denise Driehaus might be a good choice. She's actually a very skilled politician, she came through an intense three-way primary last year. And her brother Steve (the former Congressman) is fairly well connected in DC. However, there has been some uncertainty with Denise's positions on abortion, which would not jive in the strongly pro-choice FitzGerald campaign. I do believe she would deliver some suburban Cincinnati votes, but at what cost...

Should be interesting to see Ed's next move.

[No Vested Interest]

4. You're correct re Alicia Reece= state Rep. Thanks for the heads up.

Denise Driehaus is good, will be even better as time goes on. However, I would think they would be looking for a candidate that would connect more directly with African-American community.
Otoh, being a female, that would bring certain positives with it. Is she an effective campaigner?

[BlueEye]

5. The one time I heard Denise speak, she was attacking JobsOhio as a boondoggle.

And I thought she was very effective in doing so. Also, she's pretty good at fundraising. Last year she brought in over $70k in donations, whereas her GOP opponent could only bring in a couple grand (how often does that happen!).

I agree that it's imperative that the FitzGerald campaign reach out to the African-American community. GOTV is critical to winning. Unfortunately in Southern Ohio, Democrats are sometimes faced with the conundrum of reaching out to urban areas at the expense of white suburbia. Female candidates tend to perform very well in those suburban areas. The GOP are jerks but they're not stupid, Mary Taylor was a very strategic choice for Lt. Gov. Mindful of that, I really feel like the Democrats would be wise to choose a woman. Now, if that woman has the ties to the African-American community, that's even better. Alicia Reece might just be the ideal candidate.

At the end of the day, the #1 goal here should be beating Kasich. Whatever the best political strategy is to do that, I will support. We are fortunate to have Nick Buis managing the FitzGerald campaign. He did an outstanding job running Obama for America in Florida.

[ladym55]

6. How about Tracy Maxwell Heard?

I think at this point she is minority leader in the Ohio House. She is from the Columbus area ... a super smart woman. She is originally from Akron, and I started following her career not long ago when I saw she was one of the very vocal opponents to the Stand Your Ground legislation the Ohio House just passed. She is also a strong advocate for women's reproductive rights.

[No Vested Interest]

7. From what you say, she sounds like a good possibility.

Guess we'll let Ed FitzGerald figure it out.