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Sunday, October 30, 2005

OH-15: DCCC Lands Big Time Dem. Challenger

Posted by Tim Tagaris

Point person for the corporatization of Social Security in the House, Republican Deborah Pryce, will face her toughest re-election campaign ever in 2006. I don't know how the DCCC did it, and they deserve a lot of credit I am sure, but Franklin County Commissioner (home of Columbus, the state capitol), Mary Joe Kilroy (no site yet) has decided to run for the seat. This isn't the freshest of news, but here's a bit of information about the district and the candidate.

Kilroy had long been rumored to be considering a run for Secretary of State in Ohio. However, Democrats already have a tremendous candidate whose campaign is running full steam ahead, Jennifer Brunner. Apparently Kilroy was convinced to abandon a bid for SoS and focus on heading to Washington as a member of Congress. The most interesting tidbit of information about Kilroy for many blog readers might be her early endorsement of Howard Dean. To the best of my knowledge, Kilroy was the first elected official in Ohio to throw her considerable political weight behind the good doctor and could be seen on the stump and at rallies for Governor Dean as early as the summer of 2003. Incidentally, the Dean for Ohio Communications Director, Dr. Stephanie Studabaker has declared her intention to run for congress in OH-3.

OH-15 was literally 50/50 between Bush and Kerry in 2004. The fifteenth district is largely urban, 91% according to The Almanac of American Politics and contains the vast majority of the state capitol, Columbus. The district also includes portions all of Madison and Union counties. Along with the support Kilroy should receive from the national party and Democracy for America, there is a terrific grassroots organization inside the district that will help tremendously on-the-ground in 2006: Upper Arlington Proressive Action.

It is also important to note that OH-15 already has one Democrat in the race, Mark Losey, who has made a commitment to reach out to both the national and Ohio blogging community. And not that it's all about money, but Losey's last quarterly report showed $2,914 cash on hand. However, he is building a solid grassroots community on-the-ground. What happens to his candidacy remains to be seen.

Posted at 04:41 PM in Ohio | Technorati

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Comments

thanks for the info, Tim. I'm moving from NYC to Columbus so I think I'll try to hook up with Kilroy's campaign when I get there.

Posted by: dirtgirl at October 30, 2005 08:51 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It is so nice to see the blogosphere discard a candidate so quickly as they have of Mark Losey. He jumped into this race when no one else thought it was winnable. After much hard work and a lot of long hours, he has now been tossed aside for the soup du jour.

Mary Jo Kilroy cannot win in the 15th district. Her views on most issues do not coincide with the rural/suburban mix that is District 15. You mention that this district is largely urban. It is not. You also mentioned that it contains the vast majority of "the state capital, Columbus." It does not. You also said that the district includes "portions of Madision and Union counties." This would be correct if you considered the word portion as meaning the entire county.

Sad is the day when hopeful, new candidates are discarded for the same old political hacks.

A few other things to note: Kilroy did worse than John Kerry in her bid for county commissioner in 2004. So much for the myth of the wildly popular Mary Jo Kilroy. As to Ms. Kilroy's considerable political weight: I am sure that a county commissioner's endorsement of a presidential candidate didn't even register on the Richter scale of politics, especially considering that Howard Dean didn't make it out of the Iowa caucuses.

One other thing: Why is the DCCC getting into the middle of a primary? I thought they didn't do that. If they are responsible for this disgusting manuever, they should be ashamed of themselves. They have damaged the chances of a great new candidate like Mark Losey.

"The boy stood on the burning deck whence all but he had fled."

Posted by: Columbus Donkey at October 30, 2005 10:14 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I am not at all dismissing Mark Losey, I just don't think he's going to stay in the race, to be honest. I think if you ask Ryan or Paul, I have been very supportive of Mark's campaign since the very beginning.

Tim

Posted by: Tim Tagaris at October 30, 2005 11:35 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Correct me if I'm wrong, CD, but I recall from my time living in Columbus that Franklin County was split between the 15th and 12th Districts. IIRC, the district line was drawn east of the Columbus city limits. So Columbus does lie within the district.

Now, it's true that Madison & Union Counties are in the district as well, but if you can carry Franklin, then you need only make it close in the other two in order to win.

I will grant you that Kilroy ran behind Kerry in the district. But, as it stands right now, Kilroy's one of the few candidates that could give Pryce a serious run for her money--the first serious threat to her hold on the seat since Pryce first ran in 1992, when she won 44%-37%-19% (the third was an independent right-to-life candidate, Linda Reidelbach, who's since become a state rep).

In contrast, while Tim was being charitable towards Mark Losey, I'm not so much. To have less than $3,000 on hand after running for a few months is simply ridiculous. This is the time of year when you need to be fundraising 24/7. Tim notes that Losey's building a grassroots operation, but even grassroots campaigns need fertilizer (read: money). To take on a sitting Congresswoman, you'll need at least 10 times that amount on hand. Kilroy, having run for office before, would have greater access to those kinds of funds than Losey would.

I commend Losey for taking on a campaign and a candidate when no one else was stepping up. But this is a winnable seat, and I'd rather not take a chance on this one.

Posted by: Rafael Noboa at October 31, 2005 03:17 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

This is "Paul" of the aforementioned "Ryan and Paul" and I will vouch for Tim's statement that he has been supportive of Mark's campaign.

The problem is that he's about the only one who has. Rafael Noboa comments, correctly, abou the cash on hand of the Losey for Congress campaign, but I would point him to the case of Chicken v Egg.

I have learned a lot during this process and one lesson learned is not to trust politicians when then make promises. It's expected that you shouldn't trust your opponents, but it is surprising and a little disheartening to find that you cannot trust those on your own side.

I know that I won't forget that lesson and I won't forget those who taught it to me.

Posted by: bringohiohome at October 31, 2005 08:10 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Stop crying, stop apologizing, and for the love of God, quit acting like this whole process all of a sudden turned into a cynical, backstabbing power-grab. I'm sure Mark Losey is a good guy. Great, I think we should all support him to run against one of the GOP schmucks who represents his state rep./senate district. I'm also not sold on Mary Jo Kilroy. I don't think she is god's gift to OH-15, the DCCC, or the U.S. House of Reps. However, this is a competition. Democrats must get over the notion that just because they are right on the issues, they warrant being elected. Being right is not a prerequisite to being elected. That is a fact sorely lost on the blogs, because according to them, they haven't been wrong once. I'm not a Hackett guy, and I think he should shut up, but when he said "Dems. are addicted to losing," there was some truth to that statement. There is going to come a time, and hopefully it will be soon, that Dems. will stop getting in races to "fight the good fight", and get in the fucking race to win. In terms of this debate about OH-15, is Mary Jo Kilroy that person? it remains to be seen, could Mark Losey be that person if he was well funded enough, I'm sure he could be, but judging by his embarassing fundraising stats, for now, he seems like another Eric Fingerhut. And say what you will about the DCCC, but you cannot deny the fact that Rham Emanuel plays to win. His ego won't allow him to do anything less. This thing is moving in the right direction. Actions speak louder than words, and Mark Losey's actions in terms of fundraising overshadow any ideas he may be able to bring to the table at this time.

Posted by: andre2006 at October 31, 2005 10:54 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

hackett should shut up...that was cute.

Posted by: ericv at October 31, 2005 11:22 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I'm a big Mary Jo fan (not associated in any way with her campaign). She's really good people with very progressive politics. I have nothing against Losey, but this is good, good news.

By the way, Pryce is vulnerable. Money R's are not wild about her. The word I've heard is that she does a piss poor job of bringing home the bacon.

Posted by: Cuchulainn at October 31, 2005 11:37 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

"Stop crying, stop apologizing, and for the love of God, quit acting like this whole process all of a sudden turned into a cynical, backstabbing power-grab."

If this comment is directed towards me, and I assume it is, I assure you I am neither crying nor apologizing.

What I am doing is noting who has integrity and who does not. My eyes were opened wide during this process and I won't forget.

Posted by: bringohiohome at October 31, 2005 11:42 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

That comment wasn't directed to anyone other than those who may harbor the opinions expressed within the comment. So if you (bringohiohome) don't feel that way, or have not acted in such a way, then by no means were they directed at you.

I do take issue with the comment "What I am doing is noting who has integrity, and who does not." Are you implying the only people with integrity are small town, unknown candidates who can't raise a dime? And anyone who has ever been a higher profile member of the party lacks integrity? That is what it sounds like.

This is about winning elections, not making people feel good. It's not warm and cuddly, and it's not fair. I'm not saying that is how it should be, or how I would have it, but that is reality. You're absolutely right we should hold our candidates to a high standard, a standard in which integrity is an essential component. However, it is foolish to think the only way this can be achieved is through the triumph of the blog-driven "citizen politician". I would be the first to take issue with the Ohio Dem. Party, and the DNC. The way to go about reforming the party apparatus isn't to run a bunch of hay-seeds who are going to give it their best to get 30% and say they've run an honest and principled campaign. Instead, we need to run people who are committed to winning by using all necessary means afforded to them within the limits of the law. Nothing more, nothing less. People who are going to run to win, not run to get 40% so they can be considered when another opportunity comes up to run. Case in point is Ben Konop in OH-4. He did not win, but he sure as hell ran to win, and outperformed Kerry by 7% in a rural district, and was the closest competitor in any of the 18 Ohio CD's. He worked his ass off, went after Oxley relentlessly, and was certainly not in the race just to be able to put it on his resume. Konop's race is an example that should be followed.

Posted by: andre2006 at October 31, 2005 05:04 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I take serious issue with your last comment andre2006. First off, don't you dare call the candidate I work for a "hayseed." I don't see you jumping into any races.

Secondly, you mention Ben Konop as the ideal for other candidates to follow. So, I guess he is Congressman Konop now? I really think it is a bad idea to try and emulate a losing campaign, now matter how "successful" (and I use that term sarcastically) said campaign was.

To imply that Mark Losey is not in it to win it, or that he isn't committed is crap. He is very committed to winning. I hope that you will help him.

Posted by: bringohiohome at October 31, 2005 09:42 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

In retrospect, I regret the implication Mark Losey was a hayseed, he is nothing of the sort, and from what I can gather, is a good guy who has the honest intention of beating Deb Pryce. I'm not trying to provoke a fight with the Losey campaign, or any other lesser known candidates. I am simply saying that there are Dems. out there who simply think to be competitive is enough, and it has to stop. I'm sorry for stereotyping Mark Losey in to that category, but at the same time, do think it is the responsibility of candidates like himself to do what is right for the party, and not what is right for their ego. I'm sure this is more applicable to a guy like Paul Hackett, not Mark Losey, and I guess I should have chosen my targets a little better. My deepest apologies. We're all on the same team when the day is over, and sometimes we lose sight of that fact, especially here on the blogs.

In other news, and I hope I'm the first one to break it, big news out of the OH-4th CD tomorrow... it will become an open seat, stay tuned to what is sure to be a hell of a race to replace Mike Oxley in 2006.

Posted by: andre2006 at October 31, 2005 11:04 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Who is available to run in OH-4 now that Oxley is gone --- to me it seems like Ohio is becoming the Iowa of 2004 in that there are at least four seats which should be extremely competetive all of a sudden due to the combination of GOP implosion, aggressive recruitment and favorable issue environment.

Also, Tim, would you be able to e-mail me to talk about the PA-18 race.

Thanks,
Fester/Dave Anderson

Posted by: Fester 986 at November 1, 2005 01:19 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I know I am late to this party...

Another, "this one is a winner" candidate?

I love how when somebody actually steps up and wants to turn this country around they get no party support. But as soon as the party sniffs a chance they throw in some Approved Party Pick and we are all supposed to believe that "this one IS a winner" (with no proof submitted).

Losey gets no support but all the blame for not raising cash. I know the small amount I gave him doesn't amount to much but the Party is dropping the ball in their attempt to throw the people re-treads.

It is like baseball where the crap teams keep hiring some old dude who coached another team instead of taking a chance on some new blood.

I have nothing against Mary Joe Kilroy, but if she gave a rats ass about this congressional district I bet Mark wouldn't have stepped in to challenge her. I suppose we aren't supposed to make that a campaign issue because then the "outside world" would see it isn't about turning the country around, and it isn't about integrity and it isn't about winning. It's about maintaining the Old Democratic Party and the party apparatus.

Mondale Can Win. I remeber when they told us that. Yep. Always best to let the Party pick the candidate.

Posted by: Bill Section 147 at November 2, 2005 06:01 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment