I haven’t done a Blue Ohio Update for a few days. I have been busy posting over at Crooks and Liars, working and dealing with countless other problems. Well I feel bad for neglecting my Blue Ohio, so here we go.
It looks like Joy Padgett can run to be the replacement for Bob Ney:
The favored candidate to take Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record)’s spot on the ticket can legally do so under Ohio law, the state attorney general said Thursday.
Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had sought the opinion from Attorney General Jim Petro as Republicans considered how to replace Ney, who announced this week he would not seek re-election.
State Sen. Joy Padgett is the leading candidate, and would be eligible to enter a special primary or replace Ney on the November ballot, the attorney general said.
Actually, I hope she does get to be on the ballot. Remember – this is a lady who lost to Ken Blackwell in the Governor primary. They looked at Joy Padgett and said “nah – the extremist, ethically questionable and highly disliked Ken Blackwell is a better choice”.
It is also looking like people still want to screw with Democracy here in Ohio:
Franklin County’s elections director said he has turned over 500 potentially fraudulent voter registration cards to the county prosecutor for possible criminal charges.
Elections officials in two other Ohio counties also have reported problems with cards that could be bogus.
Franklin County elections workers discovered cards with signatures in the same handwriting, addresses for vacant lots and incorrect information about people already registered to vote, Director Matt Damschroder said Thursday. One card had the name of a dead man.
The cards forwarded to Prosecutor Ron O’Brien were collected between March and July by workers for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, Damschroder said.
ACORN has fired a number of workers and is cooperating with the probe, organizer Katy Gall said.
One thing is for certain; we will have to watch this year’s elections very close. Considering all the questions that get raised about elections in Ohio, why have we not been given an actual investigation? Seems like every time someone complains it is just “left wing conspiracy theorists”. When Democrats take control this fall, let’s see how many questions start getting raised by the right.
For people in Southern Ohio, here is a chance to meet a couple of our great candidates, along with John Conyers. You get to do so while supporting our movement this year (h/t ohio2006elections):
This sounds like a fabulous event. Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon) and senatorial candidate Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Avon), together with other Democratic candidates, will end their statewide bus tour at the Warren County Summer Dinner, where Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) will be the featured guest speaker. The event will take place on Saturday, August 19th, at:
Shaker Run Golf Club
4361 Greentree Road
Lebanon, Ohio 45036
A V.I.P. Reception from 6:30 to 8:00 pm will be followed by cocktails at 7:30 pm and dinner at 8:00 pm.
The V.I.P. reception and dinner is $125 per person, and dinner alone is $75 per person, but Young Democrats can attend the dinner for just $35. Send your check to the WCDP headquarters at 113B East Mulberry Street, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, or go to WarrenCountyDems.org and click on the “Contribute” link to pay by Paypal.
Shaker Run is a very nice golf course and this should be a great event.
Speaking of Ted Strickland, he has made his lead over Blackwell even more solid this week:
A SurveyUSA poll taken this past weekend shows Democrat Ted Strickland has widened his lead in his race against Republican Ken Blackwell. Strickland, currently representing Ohio’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, gets 57 percent of the vote. Blackwell, currently Ohio Secretary of State, gets 35 percent.
Compared to an identical SurveyUSA tracking poll released two months ago, Strickland is up four points, Blackwell is down two.
You can read all the poll results here.
We are in crunch time and need everyone to get to work to make sure we get a Blue Ohio this year. If you are not involved in your local party, then give them a call. Most parties meet on the third Thursday of the month (less than a week away). Call them up and head on over to their meeting so you can find out how you can help. Even if you don’t have money to contribute, manpower is just as valuable.