Yalamanchili, Triantafilou, and Public Service.

This should be obvious: I will be supporting the Republican candidate in the 2nd Congressional District.

But a few words about David Krikorian and Surya Yalamanchili.

The Democratic Party is now dealing with Mr. Krikorian. There is a story in today's Enquirer about his disparaging remarks about his Democratic rival in the primary, Surya Yalamanchili. It appears Mr. Krikorian is disparaging Mr. Yalamanchili's name. To Mr. Yalamanchili, I say this: I feel your pain. On two counts. I have a name with a few extra vowels and I've dealt with Mr. Krikorian, too.

I have previously blogged about Mr. Krikorian and his candidacy.

• I blogged in September 2008 that he was not a conservative and certainly not a Republican. Given his decision to run as a Democrat in 2010, I was right.
  
  
• Later in 2008, I blogged about his ridiculous assertion that Rep. Schmidt was faking injuries she sustained after being struck by a vehicle during a jog. Read that here.
  
  
• By the end of 2008, Mr. Krikorian had gone way over-the-line and decided to attack me by emailing my priest. I blogged about that, too.

I have no doubt that Mr. Krikorian will feel vindicated about being rejected by both parties. After all, most voters are independent. He shouldn't. If he seeks a home with my fellow conservatives in the Tea Party, they should ask him why he was supportive of ultra-liberal Victoria Wulsin and take a closer look at his quest for political office at all costs.

Serving in public office, especially in the Congress of the United States of America, is a high privilege and a distinct honor. It remains the greatest democratically elected legislative body in the world. Both parties and all citizens should strive to elect people of the highest character, intelligence, and integrity--even when we disagree. Those people should be grown-ups who have a vision for making our democracy work better and improving the lives of people.

Mr. Krikorian is unfit for public office and, in a very rare moment of bi-partisan agreement, I applaud Mr. Burke and the Democrats for rejecting him as well.

Media Release: Hamilton County GOP Staying Out of Primary

**IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

"HAMILTON COUNTY GOP TAKES NO POSITION ON PRIMARY ELECTION RACES"
April 20, 2010

The Hamilton County Republican Party, through its Executive Committee, makes the following announcements:

1. The Hamilton County Republican Party chooses to make no official endorsements in any of the contested primaries at the county or state level. This includes races for elected office as well as state and county central committee. The Party intends to fully support whichever candidates emerge from the primary election of 2010.

2. The Hamilton County Republican Party did endorse the following judicial candidates who are unopposed in the primary, but who face Democratic opposition in the fall.

a. Judge Sylvia Sieve Hendon for Ohio First District Court of Appeals

b. Pat Fischer for Ohio First District Court of Appeals

c. John M. Williams for Juvenile Court

d. Megan E. Shanahan for Court of Common Pleas

e. Jon H. Sieve for Domestic Relations Court

3. The Hamilton County Republican Party recommended Christopher McDowell to the City of Cincinnati Elections Commission to serve as the Republican member of that body.

Statement of Chairman Alex M. Triantafilou

"I am pleased with the decisions of our Executive Committee. There are several spirited contests for seats at the state and county level and the Party has decided to leave these decisions to the voters without any endorsement from the Hamilton County GOP. We believe this decision gives us our best opportunity to embrace the new energy of fellow conservatives coming into politics because of the disastrous policies of the Democratic Party in Washington, D.C. We welcome that new energy and we look forward to working with the candidates who emerge from the May 4 primary. As for our judicial slate, I am proud of the slate we have endorsed as we continue a tradition of fielding strong candidates for judicial office."

Media Statement: Driehaus Vulgarity Criticized

"Rep. Driehaus' Vulgarity is Beneath the Office of United States Representative"

In a recent campaign e-mail seeking to raise funds, Rep. Steve Driehaus repeated a common vulgarity used by he and fellow liberals to describe the Tea Party movement. The term, not to be repeated here, is a slang term used to describe a sex act and the term is regularly used by the left to disparage those patriotic Americans moved to political action through the Tea Party movement. A simple Google-search of this slang phrase unveils the filthy sexual nature of the term. Make no mistake, Mr. Driehaus and his liberal friends use that term to regularly disparage the Tea Party movement and they do it on purpose.

Statement of Chairman Alex M. Triantafilou
"The citizens of the First Congressional District entrusted Mr. Driehaus with a position in the greatest democratic legislative body in the world. Today, Mr. Driehaus has disparaged the office he holds by describing a political movement using a disgusting sexual moniker that describes a sex act. Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Driehaus was offended when his children were inappropriately shown in a campaign advertisement. Is Mr. Driehaus prepared to explain his use of that phrase to the children of the First Congressional District? His conduct and his use of that phrase is beneath the dignity of his office. He should be ashamed of himself and he owes the patriots of the Tea Party movement and his constituents an apology."

For more information or comment, Chairman Triantafilou can be reached at 513-381-5454.

*Mr. Driehaus' email went out on April 15, 2010 and was referring to Sean Hannity's visit to the Tea Party rally. In the second sentence of the email, Mr. Driehaus writes, "Hannity and the Tea B****** ..." A copy is available upon request.

This is the enemy...

NCAA Bracket Winners!

Congratulations to Lisa J. Caldemeyer, the winner of the Hamilton County GOP NCAA Bracket Challenge! Lisa is a Blue Devil herself having graduated from Duke University in 2003. She is doubly pleased today as her alma mater is the NCAA champ and she won our Bracket Challenge. Lisa is an attorney at Graydon Head and a friend to the Hamilton County GOP as she spent the summer of 2004 working as an intern.

Lisa will join the Chairman for lunch, soon.

We did have some confusion on the brackets and a few people made their selections using last year's link. That's ok. We have a winner, there, too. The winner is Humboldt R. Snooches III. Congratulations to Mr. Snooches. We're working to find that person right now.

Thanks to the over 160 people who participated. It was a great tournament and a great final game.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!