Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has set the primary and special election dates to fill the vacancy of the late Republican Rep. Paul Gillmor. The primary will be held on November 6th, and the special election on December 11th.
Ohio’s 5th is sharply Republican turf, with a PVI of R+10. To put that into perspective, only six Democrats in the House represent districts with a redder hue. State Rep. Bob Latta, a Republican, has thrown his hat into the ring, but he may face primary competition. For the Democrats, 2004 and 2006 nominee Robin Weirauch may try again. Weirauch, a Bowling Green State University employee, scored 33% of the vote on her first attempt and 43% last year in a tough statewide environment for Ohio Republicans. I’ve also heard that Judge James Sherck, a Democrat who contested this seat four times from 1978 to 1984 (and only came close once, in ’82), and Tiffin city councillor Mike Grandillo as possible entrants.
Race Tracker: OH-05
districts in the country, and as such, the PVI somewhat overstates how Republican the district actually is;
Case in point:
Kerry won 8 rural districts, but Dems represent 27 majority-rural districts (and many of the districts which have fairly high Republican PVIs but are represented by Democrats are close to majority rural).
Democratic and friendly Republicans are trying to convince Mike Grandillo of Tiffin, Ohio to enter the race for the Fifth District of Ohio. I understand significant funds have been raised, in excess of $150,000. Their theme will be Mike is the only Democrat with a chance.
The Question is; will he decide to enter the race. Figuratively speaking, Mike Grandillo is the only Democrat in the race. We need to get this message out.
Conventional wisdom among enlightened voters is Mike Grandillo understands the values of the Fifth District and is the only Democrat that can win. What will happen to Robin if he throws his hat into the race?
Grandillo probably had great name recognition in Tiffin which is a very small part of the 5th district. Robin has name recognition in every county in the 5th district. Secondly there is no way he can raise $150,000 its just not going to happen. Robin will win a Democratic primary.
One question I have is: Why does Grandillo have so much Republican support? Does he support Bush and his war in Iraq? Is he going to continue Gillmor’s support for the Bush Administration’s policies?
Grandillo’s bipartisan support doesn’t come from him being a Republican lapdog — he’s never supported the war on terror’s detour into Iraq. He has strong support among Democrats and Republicans because people of both parties recognize sensible, strong leadership when they see it.
And I wouldn’t be so skeptical of how much money he could have pledged. Raising money is part of his job, and he was behind Tiffin U’s most successful fundraising campaign in history. If the Democrats are going to take the 5th District seat, they’re going to need someone who can 1) gain bipartisan support and 2) raise the money to win. Grandillo can do both of those things. I appreciate Weirauch’s service to the party, but she’s never been able to raise the money, and she’s never been able to win the seat. I think Grandillo can pull it off.
Frankly, Grandillo is the only democrat that has a chance. He does raise funds for a living and is a just what we need to contest this race. This choice ought to be about who can win. It most certianly will take some cross over appeal and he can do this without supporting Bush or his policies.