Friday, May 11, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
In an article entitled ”Renegade primary challenger muddles Republicans’ efforts to unseat Schmidt,” from Washington D.C.’s The Hill, Aaron Blake writes about the controversy Phil Heimlich has caused in the Republican Party with his announcement that he would oppose Jean Schmidt in the primary for Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District.
Some excerpts:
Schmidt Chief of Staff Barry Bennett said Heimlich is not much of a threat and cited his county commission reelection loss to a Democrat in 2006. Hamilton County is a Republican stronghold.
“That’d be great if they both ran,” Bennett said. “Phil Heimlich is just not a candidate that people will be able to unite behind. He’s unemployed and unpopular. And he wants to run. Well, we welcome him to the race.”
I also liked this one, indicating quite the quandary for COAST:
Schmidt’s plurality primary win indicates her GOP opposition would be well served to unite behind one candidate, but Heimlich’s entry appears to compromise that goal severely.
The Cincinnati-based Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) is the leading anti-Schmidt group; it vehemently opposed her in 2005 and 2006 and has been a strong supporter of Heimlich. The group declined to line up behind him yesterday, citing one of its founder’s interest in running.
State Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr. (R), who formed the group in 1999 with attorney Christopher Finney, said yesterday that he will not yield to Heimlich.
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