Thursday, June 07, 2007

Schuring Looking to Run in the 16th


Jerid at BSB caught this in the Repository:

    State Sen. Kirk Schuring said today he is exploring a run for Congress should long-time U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula decide not to seek re-election.

    The Jackson Township Republican said he has registered with the Federal Election Commission to establish an exploratory committee for Ohio’s 16th district. The committee, called Citizens for Schuring Congressional Exploratory Committee, includes 124 names, most from Stark County, but also from Wayne and Medina counties, which are part of the district.
What follows is mostly what I just posted as a comment on BSB with a few extra tidbits and some links.

Schuring is a strong candidate in Stark. His Senate district is the entire county. He had a challenge last year from Canton City Councilman Thomas West and won by over ten points. He's a moderate R who avoids social issues and is friendly to public education. He has much of the Stark Co. ed. community behind him.

He's been making noises about proposing his school funding fix again. Given the problems districts in Stark and Medina are experiencing, it will play well.

Jerid mentions in comments that the Timkens are behind Schuring's run. That's strong evidence that Regula is retiring, or at least that the Repubs are nudging him to.

Shuring will play better in Medina County than Regula would. He's probably less strong in Wayne than Ralph just based on name rec., but you would take Medina if you had the choice. He's certainly a stronger choice for the Repubs than the other rumored challenger, Ron Amstutz.

3 comments:

Ben said...

I dont know why R's would want Regula out - he isnt going to lose as long as he runs. This guy seems like a solid choice though if he does step aside.

Scott Piepho said...

Mostly I covered this in my first post about Boccieri. Most important point: if I'm R-trip I worry about Ralph's ability to keep up with an energetic young candidate.

And you can read the signs. ODP and presumably D-trip are putting serious muscle behind Boccieri. The county Republicans are lining up behind Schuring. None of this would happen without either indication from Ralph that he's not running or polls showing that he is vulnerable.

Ben said...

I understand....but if he runs I dont think he would lose anways, old age or no.