Today we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King. It is fitting that we do so as his work changed America. 
I have preached the importance of social media networking like Twitter and Facebook to our party faithful for over a year. Tomorrow, John Kasich's campaign is doing the same thing by making a major campaign announcement via Twitter. The Kasich Campaign will have a major press event at 3:o0 p.m, but the announcement from the campaign will come via Twitter a little sooner--at 1:30 p.m.
It might surprise you to know that I am not so sure that buying Kindle's for all of city council is such a mistake. The mistake was to not properly communicate the idea to members of council before springing the idea on them. Even more improper was the tin political ear that such a purchase demonstrates. Nevertheless, I'm not so sure it couldn't amount to a cost savings. I have a personal Kindle and I think it is tremendous. Should the taxpayers foot the bill (for the most expensive model)? Not without a better explanation and more buy-in from members. Poor communication and an inability to work cooperatively by the Chairwoman of the Finance Committee seems to have hurt an otherwise, possibly, good idea.
The Hamilton County Republican Party is pleased to announce that United States Representative Michele Bachmann has agreed to be our keynote speaker at the 2010 Lincoln-Reagan Dinner.
The Democrats passed a budget fix in Columbus yesterday that raises your taxes. Most disappointing is that they did this with the help of a few Republicans. Only a few, though. EVERY single Democrat in both chambers of the legislature voted for this "fix" which is hardly a "fix" of anything other than continuing the tax and spend policies of the Democratic Party. I am proud of the strong majority of Republicans who voted to protect taxpayers."As I have traveled the state over the past three years, it has been clear to me that the people of Ohio understand that raising taxes is counter-productive to job creation and economic growth. The most prosperous states are the ones that are constantly reforming and restructuring, and not raising taxes.
"Today’s agreement is strictly stopgap, and turns a blind eye to the massive shortfalls we will face during the next budget cycle. We better have new leadership and new ideas in place by then. Our state’s future depends on it."
"For far too long Ohio has been stuck in a cycle of tax and spend. Hard choices continue to be pushed off to another day. And today, with this agreement between the Governor and the legislature, we are continuing the cycle and culture of tax and spend. It is a cycle I intend to break."
Governing during a period of economic downturn is difficult. Elected officials everywhere face the challenge of funding the basic operations of government while not asking the beleaguered taxpayers for more money. It is a significant challenge.
We've been ignoring the blog some lately. Sorry to my two loyal readers. I was out of action last week, but ready to get back to things this week.
President Obama sounded like President Bush last night. The President is advocating a "surge" of troops in Afghanistan much like President Bush did in Iraq. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has decided to seriously escalate the conflict in Afghanistan and grow our troop presence to over 100,000.
Commissioner Pepper, a Democrat running for a statewide position, has tried to sell himself to the voters as a conservative Democrat who is fiscally responsible. He needs to try harder.
Democratic Commissioners Portune and Pepper have authorized the creation of a new position of an "Energy Czar" in Hamilton County. They authorized a salary of $100,000.00 for this new position. Democrats growing the size of government and wasting your money is not new. Will they raise your taxes to pay for this kind of ridiculous waste of money? Stay tuned.
The two Democrats who run the County Commission are at it again. They are wasting your money.
John Kasich is the Republican endorsed candidate for Governor of Ohio. We are lucky to have a candidate of his caliber on our ticket. John has a history of proven leadership on balancing budgets and getting government out of our lives to spur economic growth. To read more about John Kasich, click here. Since John entered this race, I have been impressed with his intellect and his ability to talk about government in ways that most politicians do not. John understands that economic development and job growth come from the private sector and that government ought to create the environment for businesses to thrive and create wealth for everyone. His plan is one that will create jobs and keep people and businesses in Ohio. John Kasich has an excellent chance at defeating failed Governor Ted Strickland in 2010 and Hamilton County will be a big part of that.
Take a moment to appreciate the work of our veterans today. I will do so by attending the dedication of a new memorial in Green Township. It is an important day to celebrate those who serve to protect us.
Our prayers are with the families of those soldiers massacred at Ft. Hood yesterday by an obviously deranged and sick man. It is hard not to jump to conclusions about this based on the limited facts, but we should try not to until there is more complete information. Nevertheless, Michelle Malkin wrote an interesting blog post worth reading. Read it here.
Congratulations to all the candidates who won races last night. Regardless of political party, public service is noble and people who subject themselves to the rigors of a campaign should be commended for putting themselves into the arena and working hard to serve the public.
We had a good night last night. Of course, there were some disappointments and that is to be expected with the number of races on the ballot. But overall there is reason for Republicans to celebrate and for us to be optimistic about the future.
I am pleased to say that for the first time in nearly a decade, the Republican Party elected three endorsed Republicans to the Cincinnati City Council. We did so during a period where the city is certainly trending against the GOP. This accomplishment can be credited to having two strong incumbents, Leslie Ghiz and Chris Monzel, and three great non-incumbent candidates including our newest member, Charlie Winburn. Leslie Ghiz and Chris Monzel have governed responsibly and have been taxpayer watchdogs on the council. The voters rewarded both of them by comfortably returning them to the city council.
Charlie Winburn returns to the council after a period out of politics. I am proud of Charlie Winburn. He is a dogged campaigner and fundraiser. His targeted campaign was exactly the right strategy and I am pleased that he will return to City Hall.
Our party was lucky to have George Zamary and Amy Murray on the ticket. Both Amy and George are tremendous people--and tremendous candidates. It is important to remember that Ghiz and Monzel both lost in their first campaigns for city council. I will work hard to be sure that we have not heard the last of George and Amy. They deserve the party’s special “thank you” for their campaigns and for their commitment to the city.
Our efforts also defeated appointed incumbent Democrat Greg Harris. Democratic member Laketa Cole also slid to 9th in the unofficial tally of votes. The defeat of the Democrats' hand-picked successor to Mr. Cranley and the severe slide by Ms. Cole is a real sign that the Democrats have failed the voters in the city and the voters noticed.
I am overwhelmingly proud of what we did in the Mayor's race. President Obama won election in Cincinnati with 76% of the vote. Dr. Brad Wenstrup, a person who has never before held elected office, nearly shocked the world last night. As I write today, Brad Wenstrup came to within 5500 votes of beating an incumbent city chief executive with a golden political name in a city full of Democrats. Brad Wenstrup garnered 46% of the vote by bringing together unions, disaffected African-American voters, moderates, and conservatives. His close finish demonstrates that the GOP is hardly "in the wildnerness" in the city of Cincinnati. We all now know who Brad Wenstrup is and what he is capable of doing. We have not heard the last of Brad.
In general, our strategy to field a short slate of five candidates and to run a strong candidate at the top of the ticket resulted in growing our numbers on the city council and having our two incumbents finish high in the order. By running a qualified and highly capable candidate for the high profile race of Mayor, we have a potential candidate for public office who now has the notoriety and political base to win into the future. We also have two experienced and energized new faces to the GOP in Zamary and Murray.
We also had two fine men running for the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education. The GOP has not fielded candidates in those races for a long time and it was my strong belief that we should challenge in those races. Although not successful, Chris McDowell and John Banner changed the tone and the debate in those races and this should have a positive impact on how the CPS conducts business.
All things considered, we had a very good night in the city of Cincinnati.
I am most pleased to report that we did very well in the suburban communities that are such an important piece of the Hamilton County GOP. Our successes there were overwhelming.
In Colerain Township, first-time GOP candidate Dennis Deters finished first in the balloting and joins incumbent Jeff Ritter to round out our Republican majority. The Colerain Township election was highly competitive with a well financed and highly organized Democrat challenging for the open seat being vacated by Trustee Fiedeldey. We were able to maintain our majority by adding a new face to our elected ranks in Dennis Deters.
In Green Township, Tracy Winkler and David Linnenberg won reelection easily. The newest Trustee, David Linnenberg joins Tracy Winkler as an up-and-coming candidate with unlimited potential for the GOP into the future.
In Springfield Township, a place not as friendly to Republicans as it once was, Joe Honerlaw and Tom Bryan continue our Republican majority there. Tom and Joe denied a strong Democrat challenge in a difficult place for us.
In Symmes Township, we continue to keep a Republican majority with Jodie Leis George returning to the Board of Trustees.
In Norwood, the GOP now has a majority of city council having won critical races to return Norwood to Republican governance for the first time in many years. Our strong slate of candidates in Norwood included Jane Grote, Jim Stith, Michael Gabbard, Victor Schneider, Steve Thornbury, and Donna Laake.
In Cheviot, the GOP did not lose a race.
In Blue Ash, we did not lose a race.
We did very well in Deer Park, Reading, Mt. Healthy, North College Hill, Sharonville, Greenhills, Montgomery, Madeira, Evendale, Sycamore Township and other places that I may have failed to mention here.
In the end, we had a very strong election night locally and nationally. We held on to most of our seats and made a few gains along the way.
The future of the GOP will be defined by our ability to find, recruit, retain, and promote great candidates for public office. I want to lead a Republican Party that fields the best candidates in every race. I believe we lived up to that in 2009.
Thank you to all of our volunteers, candidates, donors and supporters who made Election Night 2009 go well. Now is the time to continue the momentum and continue the GOP comeback for 2010.
| Polling Locations Have Changed! Check your polling location today The Hamilton County Board of Elections has consolidated many polling locations. Your polling location may have changed. To find out where you vote on Election Day, go to www.votehamiltoncounty.org and click on "Where Do I Vote?" Questions about polling locations should be directed to the Hamilton County Board of Elections at 513-632-7000. |
| Vote for Republican Candidates! Who are they? To find out who your Republican candidates are in this election, click here. |
| Suburban Elections Crucial to GOP Success Many great Republicans running across Hamilton County To find candidates running in great places like Norwood, Colerain Township, Anderson Township, Springfield Township, Blue Ash, and other great suburban communities, click here. Albert PeterThere are many critical races, but let us highlight just a few: Colerain Township Jeff Ritter Dennis Deters Green Township Tracyl Winkler David Linnenberg Anderson Township Peggy Reis Symmes Township Kathy Wagner Jodie Leis Delhi Township Mary Brigham Mike Davis Springfield Township Tom Bryan Joe Honerlaw Miami Township Dan Blanton City of Norwood City of Blue Ash Click here for the Republicans. City of Cheviot Click here for the Republicans. To learn more specific information about who is the endorsed Republican, click here or call Republican HQ at 513-381-5454 with specific questions. |
Vote 5 + Wenstrup to Change City Hall! When voting for Cincinnati City Council, we urge you to vote for "Five and Stop." We have Five tremendous candidates running for city council. By restricting your votes to these 5, you give them "super-votes" by not helping other non-GOP candidates on the ballot. So, after you vote for Brad Wenstrup for Mayor, go to the city council part of the ballot and VOTE FIVE AND STOP! The Five and Stop Ballot is: Leslie Ghiz Chris Monzel Amy Murray Charlie Winburn George Zamary |
