Ohio Governor’s Race Heats Up as Primary Candidates Toss Allegations

The race for Ohio governor is heating up as Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell raises questions about his primary opponent Attorney General Jim Petro in a new ad campaign that raised the ire of the state party boss.

Blackwell’s ads allege that Petro removed state business from attorneys who would not contribute to his campaign. Petro has denied the charge.

Blackwell’s ads also connect Petro with with Republican Gov. Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest to ethics violations last year, as well as the scandal over investments made by the state’s insurance fund for injured workers, a recent Associated Press story revealed.

Petro, who has called for a clean campaign, responded with a statement claiming new poll numbers suggest U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, the presumptive Democratic nominee, would beat Blackwell worse than Petro in the general election.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett has criticized the ads saying they represent everything he wanted to avoid — a divisive, expensive battle between two relatively strong candidates in the May 2 primary.

Bennet criticized Blackwell saying that he should have better strategy for winning that “simply burning down the house.” Bennett commissioned a poll earlier this year and then met privately with both candidates in an attempt to convince them that one should bow out of the race.

Another candidate, Auditor Betty Montgomery, now running for attorney general, dropped out of the governor’s race last month after saying the only way she could win would be to criticize fellow Republicans, something she wasn’t willing to do. Polls consistently showed she lagged behind Blackwell and Petro.

Democratic candidate Strickland said he intends to use the investment scandal against whichever Republican emerges from the primary.

Topics Ohio