MAY PRIMARY SETS STAGE FOR COMPETITIVE GENERAL ELECTION

With the May 4th primary election now history, the stage is set for a very competitive statewide General Election this November.  Here is how the statewide races look:

 Governor - Ted Strickland* (D) vs. John Kasich (R)
 U.S. Senate - Lee Fisher (D) vs. Rob Portman (R)
 Chief Justice Ohio Supreme Court - Eric Brown* (D) vs. Maureen O'Connor (R)
 Justice Ohio Supreme Court - Mary Jane Trapp (D) vs. Judith Lanzinger* (R)
 Secretary of State - Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessy (D) vs. Jon Husted (R)
 Auditor - David Pepper (D) vs. David Yost (R)
 Attorney General - Richard Cordray* (D) vs. Mike DeWine (R)
 Treasurer - Kevin Boyce* vs. Josh Mandel   
 Note: * denotes incumbent.
 
 The 2010 elections determine which party controls the State Apportionment Board, the entity that draws the Ohio Legislative district lines. Whichever party wins at least 2 of the 3 races for Governor, Secretary of State and Auditor will have a majority of the Apportionment Board members.  History has shown that whichever party draws the district lines greatly increases their chances of winning a majority of seats in the Ohio Legislature.
 
State Legislative Races
All 99 Ohio House seats and 17 of the 33 Ohio Senate seats are up for election this November. Which party controls the Ohio House of Representatives is at stake.  Democrats currently have a 53-46 majority, so a change of 4 seats from the Democrats to the Republicans would give Republicans control of the House.  In the Senate, it is anticipated that the Republicans will maintain a majority similar to its 21-12 margin.

In Tuesday's Primary Election, two Ohio House members were defeated in Democrat primaries.  In the 10th House District in Cleveland, recently appointed Representative Robin Belcher was defeated by Bill Patmon and in the 48th House District in Akron, Representative John Otterman was defeated by Zdravko Milkovich. 
 
 In the State Senate there were a few hotly contested races involving current Republican legislators.  In the 7th Senate District in the Hamilton/Warren County area, incumbent Shannon Jones defeated former State Representative Michelle Schneider; in the 17th Senate District in south/southeastern Ohio, Representative Dave Daniels narrowly defeated Representative Clyde Evans; and in the 19th Senate District in north/central Ohio, Representative Kris Jordan defeated former Representative Tom Collier.
 
Ohio Congressional Races
Democrats currently hold a 10-8 majority over Republicans in Ohio's Congressional Delegation.  Most prognosticators believe there are three Democrat incumbents that will have tough re-election campaigns.  They are Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) who will have a rematch in the 15th Congressional District against former State Senator Steve Stivers (R-Columbus); Steve Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) also in a rematch against former Congressman Steve Chabot (D-Cincinnati) in the 1st Congressional District; and John Boccieri (D-Alliance) against businessman Jim Renacci (R-Wadsworth). There are a few other races that could become competitive; only time will tell.

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