Ohio gubernatorial election, 2006
From dKosopedia
It looks like the $ 1.3 million that Jim Petro has dumped into an extraordinarily early round of TV ads has in fact helped him narrow the gap between him and front-runner Ken Blackwell, at least according to this recent internal poll showing the race at 30% for Blackwell, 25% for Petro, and 12% for Betty Montgomery. Blackwell is very tight with religious fundamentalist groups, and he is banking on his TABOR constitutional amendment (like the one that has been a disaster in Colorado) to get conservative voters to the polls next November. Petro supports a somewhat less drastic constitutional amendment to limit government expenditure. Petro opposed the anti-gay-marriage amendment and was pro-choice as recently as 2002, but his TV ads portray him as an anti-choice, anti-gay wingnut. Montgomery has this weird tough-on-crime image from her days as Attorney General, but she also opposed the gay-marriage-amendment and that may hurt her. Petro could suffer for his slow response as Attorney General to Coingate (see Thomas Noe).
Ted Strickland is the front-runner on the Democratic side. His background as a minister gives him crossover appeal. He is a popular and well-known legislator and an excellent campaigner. Fingerhut didn't express interest until Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman dropped out of the race. I've heard a rumor that perhaps what he is really after may be the Lieutenant Governor slot. He ran a dogged campaign against Voinovich in 2004 but after some early success his campaign flagged and he lost convincingly (not that he was much more than a long shot in that race).
Ohio Governor Bob Taft II (R) is not Eligible to seek reelection in 2006.
- Democratic Candidates:
- Ted Strickland (D) - Congressman, Psychologist, Ex-Minister & Ex-College Professor & Lee Fisher (D) - Ex-Attorney General, Ex-State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & '98 Governor Nominee
- Republican Candidates:
- Ken Blackwell (R) - Secretary of State, Ex-State Treasurer, Ex-Cincinnati Mayor & Ex-US Ambassador & Tom Raga (R) - State Rep., Ex-Deerfield Township Trustee & Agricultural Economist
- Libertarian Candidate:
- Bill Peirce (Libertarian) - Retired College Professor & Economist & Mark Noble (Libertarian) - Website Designer & Engineering Student
- Green Candidate:
- Bob Fitrakis (Green) - Attorney, College Professor, Newspaper Editor & Progressive Activist & Anita Rios (Green) - Ex-Green Party National Co-Chair & Liberal Activist
General election results
*Strickland 2,307,420 60% *Blackwell 1,406,792 37% *Peirce 67,596 2% *Fitrakis 38,987 1%
External links
- Smyth, Julie Carr. Strickland releases tax returns, Blackwell declines Star-Telegram.com, August 1, 2006.
- Hopkins, Andrea. In Ohio, Republican incumbent faces tough fight Boston.com, August 1, 2006.
- Daily Kos=> OH-gov
