It’s been the world’s worst-kept secret for the last three days or so, but this morning George Voinovich made it official: he’s hanging it up in 2010, leaving behind an open seat in a swing state where the recent momentum has been with the Democrats.
In a statement from his office, Voinovich emphasized that he wanted to spend his final two years in the Senate focusing on legislating instead of campaigning.
“These next two years in office, for me, will be the most important years that I have served in my entire political career,” Voinovich said in a statement. “I must devote my full time, energy and focus to the job I was elected to do, the job in front of me, which seeking a third term – with the money-raising and campaigning that it would require – would not allow me to do.”
All eyes turn to the ensuing musical chairs now; Roll Call, like most outlets, posits ex-Rep. and ex-OMB Director Rob Portman as the likeliest GOP candidate (although with no mention of John Kasich as a backup; instead it offers retread Mike DeWine and nutjob Ken Blackwell as other options). As always, we’ll keep you posted as hats get thrown into the ring.
UPDATE: Well, that was fast. Politico‘s Scorecard is already reporting that Rob Portman is getting in the race and will announce his candidacy shortly. Let’s see if that has the effect of clearing the field.
UPDATE, part deux: On the Democratic side, Politico is now reporting that Rep. Tim Ryan is making loud public noises about “certainly consider”ing the Senate race, while Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher’s surrogates are saying that he is “leaning against running.” I wonder if we could have both fields cleared within the next few days?
OH is losing 2 CDs after 2010 and it will most likely come from Eastern OH where Ryan along with Wilson, Boccieri and Sapce have seats. A primary is inevitable and at least one of these guys will lose. The new district may very well be less democratic leaning and Ryan, while the most senior of the 4, is the least conservative. He may have a better chance running statewide than running in a more conservative district in Eastern OH.
Is it really Musical Chairs if none of those mentioned above currently serve in public office?
How accurate this is, but there’s a thread on MyDD saying that Portman has made it known that he’s in for this race.
This almost makes me want Blackwell elected RNC chair just to keep him out of the race lol.
as a kind of Republican Erskine Bowles. Given his profile and the situation in Ohio today, I think he’s eminently beatable.
after the fact he was Bush’s Trade Rep and was complicit in shipping Ohio jobs abroad gets wide publicity.
I think Portman is their weakest candidate for this reason, and Kasich would be a stronger candidate for the Repubs.
We get to face a free market, free trade offshoring Bushie.
Also, great news on our candidate front, Fisher is leaning against a run and Ryan is publicly considering.
Run Ryan, Run!
Also Patrick Murphy is out of PA-Sen. (Link. Hopefully this means Schwartz is in and that she will clear the field.
A Cleveland Plain Dealer reader poll is showing Rob Portman and Lee Fisher as the reader favorites for the nomination. Last week, one of their political columnists predicted that Voinovich would retire. His favorites for a replacement seemed to be Kasich and Brunner.
Btw, the columnists reasoning was more personal. Not only would Voinovich be 74 in 2010; his wife would be 78. He felt it was time for a little enjoyable retirement before the ills and infirmities of old age really set in.
Maybe that’s part of the pull on these retirements.
I think Ryan’s the guy, if he has the guts to leave his seat and go for it. He’s young, but I don’t think he’s going to enter House leadership with so many people ahead of him already. I think he’ll gin up enormous turnout in eastern Ohio as Mahoning Valley would come out to elect one of its own. Zach Space is intriguing, as he might be able to win votes in a traditional GOP area, and he is also likely nervous about a potentially strong challenge in 2010 from a term-limited state legislator. Finally, Betty Sutton is a lightweight, and I don’t want her carrying our banner statewide.
Portman has big problems, and it is going to be comical watching him run from his work over the last few years. I bet his campaign barely mentions his time working for Bush at all. Also, I don’t buy the argument that he is that well known in Ohio. He had two obscure (albeit powerful) positions in the admin, but he is virtually unknown outside of southwest Ohio. Still, he will be able to raise a fortune with his contacts.
With Strickland on top of the ticket providing a big boast to us, and the DSCC’s cash, we should have a slight edge.
They’ll keep talking about what a strong candidate Portman is up until the day he gets waxed by 20 points. Obscure former congressman from super-red district, serves as Bush’s trade representative during which Ohio sheds jobs oversees…the campaign writes itself. Tim Ryan comes from a more evenly divided district, has the labor backing, yet will not be subject to the big city liberal attacks. The GOP just lost the seat.
http://cookpolitical.com/chart…
Umm… ya, that makes sense.
I think this is good. Ryan has the better statewide profile, and at 37, he could seve 36 years before he’s Voinovich’s age.