I'm Jeff Coryell, editor of the Ohio Daily Blog until just after the 2008 election. Now I'm volunteering my time and donating what I can to support Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in the Democratic primary for the open U.S. Senate seat of retiring incumbent Senator George Voinovich (R-OH). I'm publishing this diary to explain why I'm dedicating myself to this cause, and why I believe that netroots progressives around the country should join me in supporting Jennifer Brunner.

We're seeing in dramatic fashion the consequences of having a Democratic majority in the Senate that is stocked with "moderates" who are overly anxious to kowtow to the GOP and careers pols who are too concerned with their political fortunes to make tough votes in support of progressive positions. I'm backing Jennifer Brunner because she is an unabashed progressive and she's not afraid to put her progressive principles into action. At an event at the City Club of Cleveland today she said flat-out that if she were in Congress today she'd push the Democrats to move ahead unilaterally on health care reform with a strong public option, and that she will never hesitate to do what is right out of concern about her own re-election. This is someone in the mold of our other Senator, Sherrod Brown, for whom Jennifer worked when he was Secretary of State. Imagine how great it would be to have two real progressive leaders in the Senate from the formerly purple state of Ohio, and two who already have a great working relationship at that.

To put it plainly, progressives across the country should support Jennifer Brunner in this critical primary because she is a progressive champion with a record of success in public service, and because she is clearly the best choice to defeat the likely Republican candidate in the general election. Details after the break.

From the diaries. OH-05 represents a real opportunity to expand out majority now, before 08. Glad to see there's some momentum building on the ground as we approach the special election on December 11. Let's help General Clark build the warchest Robin Weirauch will need to go up against Bob Latta by donating to her campaign over at ActBlue today. - Todd

Former Democratic presidential contender Gen. Wesley Clark has a post up on his WesPAC blog, praising Robin Weirauch (D-Napoleon) and calling for donations for the special election that is now only twelve days away. Clark describes Weirauch as:

the daughter of a retired Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force, [who] will do more than simply repeat slogans like "Support the Troops." She will fight to bring a responsible end to the war in Iraq and make sure our veterans receive the health care they deserve.

This is just the latest of many signs I am seeing that the Weirauch campaign is really taking off (examples after the break).

As reported by Joe Hallett in the Columbus Dispatch and noted on Ohio 15th and Plunderbund this morning, State Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Upper Arlington) of the 16th Ohio Senate District has changed his mind and will jump into the contest to replace retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Upper Arlington) in the 15th Ohio Congressional District. Stivers is an Iraq War vet and a state senator for five years. In short, he is a relatively high-profile adversary for Franklin County Commissioner and well-funded repeat candidate Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus).

More after the flip.

Today I was terminated from my engagement as a freelance blogger at the Cleveland.com blog "Wide Open" as a direct result of intervention by Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Bainbridge Township) of the 14th Ohio Congressional District, in retaliation for my previous blogging about his re-election campaign and my financial support for two of his election opponents.

In August, the Cleveland Plain Dealer hired four Ohio political bloggers to contribute to a daily political group blog called "Wide Open". In order to assure balance, two bloggers with liberal leanings were chosen, and two with conservative leanings. The other participants are Jill Miller Zimon of Writes Like She Talks, Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog, and Dave of Nixguy.

My participation in the project soon came to the attention of Rep. LaTourette. More after the flip.

The first reporting deadline for the special election to replace deceased Rep. Paul Gilmor (R) was yesterday, and the big story is that ideological extremist State Sen. Steve Buehrer (R-Delta) has a large Club for Growth-generated cash advantage over the conservative but more pragmatic State Rep. Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green), whose father preceded Gillmor and who is leading in the GOP primary according to the limited polling data available. On the Democratic side, third-time candidate Robin Weirauch (D-Napoleon) is far back in fund-raising but has received a recent boost from unions, and she faces no serious primary opposition to deplete her war chest. The primary is set for regular general election day, November 6th.

Details after the flip. And come visit Ohio Daily Blog for continuing coverage!

Just announced. "I'm in and I'm in to win," she says on her web site:

The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008.    

As a senator, I will spend two years doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush's mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.

Only a new president can renew the promise of America -- the idea that if you work hard you can count on the health care, education, and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day.

   

And only a new president can regain America's position as a respected leader in the world.

She will be hosting a series of live web chats over the next several days to solicit input and support. "Starting Monday, January 22, at 7 p.m. EST for three nights in a row, I'll sit down to answer your questions about how we can work together for a better future. And you can participate live at my website."

Editor at Ohio 2nd Blog reports that Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) has conceded the race to Rep. "Mean Jean" Schmidt (R-Loveland).

Wulsin ran a fantastic campaign. None of the "experts" liked her chances at the outset, and she wound up coming even closer than Paul Hackett in the 2005 special election. With a little more help from the national Democratic establishment she could have won this race handily.

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that incumbent Deborah Pryce (R-Upper Arlington, OH) has eked out a 1,054 vote victory over challenger Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Coumbus, OH), according to final results announced this morning. Pryce had led by about 3,500 votes before the final count, which included about 20,000 votes not previously tallied, mostly absentee and provisional ballots.

Ohio law provides for an automatic recount when the margin of victory is less than one-half of one percent of votes cast, and this margin qualifies. The party requesting the recount must pay the cost, expected to be about $21,000 in this instance. The Kilroy campaign has made no announcement, but I expect them to pony up and ask for the recount.

Update [2006-11-27 11:6:4 by Jeff Coryell]: My mistake -- an automatic recount requires no payment by the losing party. The recount definitely will happen. More here.