From the Cincinnati Post

Weaver, who represents Brunner's opponent, Hamilton Co. Clerk Greg Hartmann, said Brunner clearly wanted to distract attention from missing the endorsement.

"It's a pivotal endorsement to get, and she worked very hard for it. It's the one union that has credibility across the board, with Republicans, independents and Democrats. And they picked Greg Hartmann."

Brunner campaign spokesman Patrick Gallaway conceded that losing the endorsement was a disappointment. However, the timing of the announcement was coincidental, he said. "That's the way they choose to interpret it. But we had that plan in the works for a while and felt it was time to announce it."

and

Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo said Blackwell, like Brunner, was disappointed not to get the support of the influential police union.

"We certainly interviewed for it and filled out the questionnaire, but my understanding is they made their decision on collective bargaining issues, and it's their decision to make," he said.

From the Beacon Journal

The Republican and Democratic candidates for state auditor have little in common except both are women, both are state legislators and both are from the Akron area.

Otherwise, the differences are dramatic.

Republican Mary Taylor is white and a resident of suburban Green, and has been in public office since 2001.

Barbara Sykes is black and from Akron, and has been in public positions for more than 20 years.

But in spite of Taylor's shorter tenure, her campaign fundraising outstripped Sykes by more than $2 for every $1 in the April-June reporting period, according to campaign reports filed after the May primary.

A good overview of the race.

From the PD

The Ohio Turnpike Commission is considering toll changes that look like increases but are being called reductions.

The proposed rates, which would go into effect next year, are higher than most of the current tolls.

Gary Suhadolnik, the turnpike's executive director, said the current rates are temporary and will expire at year's end. The old rates, which are generally higher, would go back into effect without action by the commission, he said.

Huh?

From The Plain Dealer (last paragraph):

It goes to the Senate, where Republican leaders are expected to have a hard time gathering the 60 votes needed to end debate on controversial bills. Ohio Sen. George Voinovich, who has opposed sharp cuts in estate taxes because of his concern about rising deficits, plans to oppose the House bill, an aide said.

Horseradish!

Despite his "maverick, deficit hawk persona," Sen. George "Pop-Tax" Voinovich is a well-known opponent of letting hard-working Americans keep their own money and a master pork barrel spender.

I suppose that I should not be surprised that Sen. Voinovich hates rich people more than he loves poor people (not that the minimum wage actually helps poor people, but that's another story), but still -- he's done such a poor job of hiding his RINOness lately...

From the AP:

At his Tienda La Raza grocery store and restaurant, Jose Bravo sells Spanish-language DVDs and Mexico soccer jerseys, chorizo sausage and chopped cactus. Lately, there has been another hot seller — one-way bus tickets out of here.

"People that had been in the United States for a while, who were planning to stay, now they feel scared," Bravo said. He said he has sold at least 10 tickets in recent weeks to people who are moving to Michigan or other parts of Ohio, or who have decided to go back to Mexico.

Tough talk on immigration over the past year in Butler County has alarmed some of the area's immigrants, many of whom work in construction in this booming area midway between Cincinnati and Dayton.

The community has been roiled by debate over the county's resolve to crack down on employers of illegal immigrants, calls for a new law allowing local authorities to expel illegal immigrants, a state legislator's bill to make English Ohio's official language, and protests from civil rights activists after county authorities detained 18 undocumented immigrants.

As I stated in my mini-treatise on immigration, just the fear of being arrested causes many immigrants to get the point and leave on their own.

Something to remember the next time that an open borders advocate tells you that "you can't deport them all!"

From an editorial by The (Toledo) Blade:

JUDGING from the Ohio Republican Party's early descent into gutter politics, the race for governor could be wearisome for voters hoping to hear some actual discussion of the important issues that face the Buckeye State.

Sad to say, the recent scurrilous e-mail attack on Democratic candidate Ted Strickland and his wife by a GOP operative was almost to be expected, given the depressing trend toward - and success of - negative campaigning, not just in Ohio but in political races around the country.

Even sadder, the fact that it took state Republican chairman Bob Bennett a week to announce the firing of the individual supposedly responsible for defaming Mr. Strickland suggests that the whole episode was part of an elaborate dirty trick rather than simply an egregious case of mudslinging.

Gary Lankford sent out the offending trashy e-mail, not the Ohio Republican Party (ORP). If The Blade is going to make the accusation that the ORP itself endorsed the "Strickland is Gay" charge, they damn well had better have some better evidence than "it took a week to fire Gary Lankford." The e-mail has been criticized on this page and I am unaware of any wide-spread support for such nasty campaigning from Ohio Republicans.

I am sad to report, but nowhere in The Blade's editorial is a call for Ohio Democrats or Teddy Strickland to disavow the racist attacks on Ken Blackwell in Cleveland. I for one will not stand by and allow a good man to be subjected to racist and hateful rhetoric.

A note to liberals in and outside The Blade editorial room: The Ohio blogosphere is watching!

UPDATE: Joe Hallett, senior editor at The Columbus Dispatch, trumps The Blade in nastiness, but uses the same poor logic. Is there a liberal out there who has a unique idea that's not a product of groupthink? Also, no mention of the Democrat racism -- typical.

UPDATE 2: The Plain Dealer resorts to nasty innuendo, bearing a little false witness itself by insinuating that the ORP knew all along about the e-mail. You guessed it -- no mention of the racist campaign lit. More of this and the Democrat media will loose what little credibility it has left. How about a little backbone from the ORP?

From his press release

Columbus - Gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell today blasted the Ohio Turnpike Commission’s move to increase tolls by 14.5 percent simply to maintain current operations. The commission’s decision to seek additional funding while refusing to examine internal cost-saving measures makes it ripe for a market-centered reform.

Blackwell advocates leveraging the underperforming bureaucracy and developing a multi-billion dollar jobs and infrastructure improvement fund from the revenue obtained by leasing the 241-mile toll road to private industry.

Similar leasing deals have proven extremely profitable to state and local governments. Indiana recently leased its 157-mile turnpike for $3.8 billion. Chicago leased its 8-mile Skyway for $1.82 billion. Illinois expects to receive $14 billion from its 274-mile turnpike. Currently, 15 states and municipalities have leased or are accepting bids for their toll roads.

“States and municipalities across the nation are leveraging their toll roads for billions of dollars to fund broad infrastructure improvements and economic development,” said Blackwell. “The Turnpike Commission asks us to continue pouring taxpayer dollars and motorists’ fees into their inefficient, underperforming bureaucracy. It just doesn’t make good business sense.”

Meanwhile, Blackwell’s opponent Congressman and former prison psychologist Ted Strickland offered a tacit endorsement of the Turnpike Commission’s inefficiency-rooted fee increase. Strickland told the Toledo Blade, “It may not be the most helpful thing to do in a political sense, but if they are thinking about raising tolls, at least they're being up front and transparent about it.”

Currently, fees collected on the Ohio Turnpike are used exclusively for operations and provide no direct financial benefit to Ohio taxpayers. In addition, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) subsidized the toll road with over $23.4 million in taxpayer dollars over an 18-month period ending June 30.

Further, the Ohio Turnpike is a model of government inefficiency with:

• Twenty-three percent of Turnpike revenue used to collect tolls and full-time toll collectors earning $45,000 a year, when many states utilize automated toll collection systems;
• Twenty-six percent of Turnpike revenue used to make payments on a $709 million, 30-year debt; and
• Twenty percent of Turnpike revenue used for construction projects, even though congestion is low and design deficiencies virtually non-existent.

“The Turnpike Commission should stop talking about increasing fees without improving service,” added Blackwell.

Excellent press release.

Quick; look out the window! Are pigs flying?

From the Plain Dealer blog Openers:

Democrats are jumping all over Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell today for not allowing reporters to cover his fund-raiser with President Bush Wednesday evening at the home of businessman Ed Crawford in Kirtland Hills.

They say that Blackwell wants to avoid appearing with the president on the campaign trail because of his plummeting popularity.

But the Democrats appear to be exaggerating Blackwell’s reluctance to be seen with Bush.

White House spokesman Alex Conant said that it has been the policy in almost all cases to restrict press access at fund-raisers held at private homes. He said the decision is the policy of the White House, not Blackwell's, “regardless of poll numbers.”

Conant added that Blackwell will greet the president at the airport, a meeting that is open to the press.

OOPS!!!!

From The Cincinnati Enquirer:

Big, billowing, dark hats joined white caps and bike helmets today when more than half a dozen Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputies joined the Cincinnati Police Department bike, undercover, and regular patrol officers at role call.

From there, they fanned out across Over-the-Rhine, one of the city’s toughest neighborhoods, to battle crime.

The arrival of deputies has been long awaited for many who live here. People hung from window balconies and thanked the sheriff’s office when a deputy’s patrol car drove Vine Street about 12:30 p.m.

“This is good. This is good,” said Arlene Smith, 45, of Over-the-Rhine. “Bring some more.”

My question: What happens when the black, male killer of a black man points a gun at one of these deputies and dies from a sheriff’s bullet?

From Openers

Boone is well-versed in politics but her opponents say she lacks the street credibility of the Democratic Party’s black outreach coordinator, Arnold Pinkney, a veteran of urban politics.

Boone also doesn’t have the voter-to-voter experience of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland’s black outreach coordinator, Danni Palmore, who’s worked on the ground game for numerous politicians including Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman. She also was national deputy campaign director for Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential run.

Yeah, how did that run go Jesse? I forgot, did you win the Presidency or even the primary?

While this isn't that shocking, I thought it warranted a cross post, because we can sometimes forget the important role the Secretary of State plays for our small business community in Ohio.

Brunner's just released plan for the business side of the office doesn't help small business - it creates a sliding scale for fees and increases the size of the his SOS office. We need less red tape and fewer barriers, but as I mention in my post at Lincoln Logs Brunner can't be blamed (nor elected...) - she comes to the issue saddled with typical Democratic anti-business tendencies.

Click over to Lincoln Logs to read Bob Bennett's statement about Brunner's plan from the ORP press release.

We can argue about polls and debate over what the real margins are in the governor's race. But there is one point on which all the polls seem to be consistent: Blackwell has the momentum. Let's examine the trends, shall we?

In June, Zogby said that Strickland lead Blackwell by 5 points. A month later, that gap narrowed to 4 points.

In May, Rasmussen said Strickland lead by 16 points. In June, that narrowed to 13 points. Now, it's 11.

If Blackwell continues these trends and advances a point every month in Zogby's poll, by November he'll be one point down. That is well within a statistical tie.

If he continues to advance 2 to 3 points a month as he has in Rasmussen's polling, this November he could be down by as little as two - also a statistical tie.

That's simply assuming that the dynamics of the race remain constant. Considering how little is known of Strickland's unimpressive (and very liberal) record, that is unlikely. Blackwell is about as known and controversial as he could possibly get, so there's really not much more Strickland can do to him. With that in mind, Blackwell's gains will probably be much greater, putting him in an excellent position to take the lead by election day.

Polling data available here, courtesy NixGuy. Neither the Ohio Poll nor the Columbus Dispatch have polled this race more than once, so no trends can be established.