OH Senate 28: Keiper Is Out.

As most of you know, Sen. Zurz was tapped by Strickland to head up the Department of Commerce. From the ABJ:

Portage County Commissioner Chuck Keiper withdrew his name from consideration to replace Kimberly Zurz in the Ohio Senate on Wednesday, stating he wants to devote more time to his ailing mother.

Keiper was considered a front-runner for the appointment, but the Portage County Democratic Party voted Wednesday evening instead to recommend state Rep. Kathleen Chandler, D-Kent.

The Senate District covers all of Portage County, southern Summit County and the east side of Akron.

So who, besides Chandler, is in the running?

The party is expected to consider a number of experienced politicians, including State Board of Education member Tom Sawyer, a former Akron mayor and state and federal lawmaker, as well as state Rep. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron.

County Councilwoman Paula Prentice is also on the list along with Eric Mansfield, a WKYC-TV reporter.

Russ Pry, the Summit County Democratic Party chairman, said Sawyer, Sykes and Prentice have expressed interest in the appointment, and Sykes would give him a final decision today.

What about the speculation that it was Portage County’s turn to pick a nominee?

Pry said the agreement between the two counties is not a certainty because the decision will be based on fielding the candidate with the highest name recognition who can raise the most money.

* * *

Wayne Jones, former state representative and Summit County Democratic Party chairman, said there was an agreement to defer to Portage County while Keiper was seeking the appointment, but that is no longer the case.

A couple notes on this that I’ve posted in comments on Psychobilly as this story unfolded. During the redistricting of 2000, the district got slanted more toward Summit Co. In 2000 about 48% of the votes came from Portage; in 2004 it was down to 44%.

I had a conversation with Sen. Kim Zurz at a fundraiser. She said the Reapportionment Board had attempted to make the 28th more of a swing district. Among other things they pulled in more of the independent-heavy precincts from South Akron, not knowing that Zurz is a native Akronite.

All that gives more juice to those pushing for a SummitCo. candidate, though many of the parts of Summit in the district are among those most like Portage Co.

Finally, you may not know it, but Sen. Zurz briefly tried her hand at blogging, which may make her the first Ohio legislator to do so.

Return of the SMH

She's baaaack. Jill first told us that Shopping Mall Heiress Capri Cafaro is in the mix for succeeding State Senator Marc Dann who was elected Attorney General. The party chairs for the two districts that comprise the district – Trumbull and Ashtabula – will turn in names to the Senate Dem Caucus which will make the ultimate decision.

Dann has endorsed Cafaro giving her the inside track. Interesting because as recently as two days ago he was quoted in the Ashtabula paper as saying he would stay out of the fray. A rival for the post, Rep. Sandra Stabile Harwood, says that Dann promised his endorsement would go to whoever helped his campaign the most. Um, Ms. Harwood, that would fall under the category of Statements Everyone Knows to Be True but Nobody Wants Said Out Loud.

Apparently I’m supposed to be annoyed by this. I’m not. First off, it would be pretty dickheaded of me to condemn Cafaro getting to the Statehouse since my position in the 13th Primary was that Cafaro should get her feet wet in the Statehouse before making a run at Congress. Avoiding dickheadedness is never a sufficient reason for me to hew to a position, but it’ll do for a makeweight.

Mostly I’m good with it because I think Capri would make a good legislator. She is smart, hard working and has a fair swatch of varied experience. Her flame burns too brightly to imagine her toiling as a researcher at a think tank or serving as a Legislative Assistant somewhere. If, as she says, she really desires a career in public service, it’s time to give her the chance.

The question remains whether this is a good move electorally. Only a fool would predict the climate in 2008, but safe to say it will not be the skating party for Democrats that the past election season was. Rivals are making dark noises about her father’s corruption conviction and association with Traficant. That’s not good, and probably is worse in Trumbull and Ashtabula than it would be in Mahoning where Traficant was more beloved and tolerated, and worse than in Lorain where he was just a guy people read about.

In addition, some of her comments in the paper suggest that Capri is not past the combative prickliness that turned so many around here off. No, she hasn’t threatened to sue anyone yet but her responses to charges that money plays a part in the decision have been shrill and petulant.

The district collectively went 59.4% for Kerry in ’04. It should be a safe seat. Cafaro is absolutely done if she gets appointed and loses it. She’ll have to work hard to keep it. If she’s smart, she’ll start a permanent campaign as soon as she’s appointed.

My guess: This is already wired. The Warren paper has a good rundown of the Family Cafaro’s generosity toward the various individuals and entities that will be making the decision. Capri may object to charges that the seat is being bought for her, but the seat is being bought for her. It just happens that she brings real talent to the job. Appointments going to contributors is a longstanding fact of politics. We’re big boys and girls; we can handle that. We're just happy when a patronage appointment goes to someone with actual ability.

The only remaining question – if the seat goes to Stabile Harwood instead of Cafaro, will Cafaro get the resulting vacant House seat?