Monday 25 May 2015

GOP-dominated Ohio county attracts key Democrats for dinner

— Ohio’s Democratic U.S senator and two candidates trying to join him in Washington will venture into a Republican-dominated county for a party fundraiser.

The Warren County Democratic Party says Sen. Sherrod Brown, former Gov. Ted Strickland and Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld are scheduled to speak at its event in Mason on Sunday. Strickland and Sittenfeld are running to be the Democratic nominee for Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s seat in the 2016 general election.

The county’s Democratic chairwoman, Bethe Goldenfield, said the dinner lineup underscores the importance of paying attention to the outnumbered Democratic partisans in the county northeast of Cincinnati.

“We have a large population, even though it’s a 70-30 county (some 70 percent Republican),” Goldenfield said. “If we can change our margins, we can change the outcome of the election.”

Nearly 109,000 votes were cast in Warren County in the 2012 Senate race, with state Treasurer Josh Mandel winning about two-thirds. Brown had nearly 34,000 votes in the county as he won re-election statewide.

Goldenfield said the county party has been organizing and building up its structure. She said sales of the $75 tickets have been strong so far.

The 30-year-old Sittenfeld has resisted calls by top Democrats to unite behind Strickland, 73, a former congressman. The battle to unseat Portman, a veteran congressman and former White House budget chief from the Cincinnati area, is expected to be a hotly contested, high-spending race.

Meanwhile, both state parties have lined up speakers for their June dinners: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst for the June 20 GOP dinner in Columbus and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm for the Democrats in Columbus on June 27.

Portman campaigned for Ernst last year, and he will be the featured guest at the state party dinner. The Republican Party announcement says she and Portman have “common-sense conservative” values.

The state Democrats say Granholm has highlighted the importance of the auto industry recovery efforts under President Barack Obama to saving jobs in Michigan and Ohio.

View the original content and more from this author here: http://ift.tt/1GyHt4i


from democratic dojo http://ift.tt/1Etq72U
via IFTTT

No comments:

Post a Comment