...Democrat Paula Brooks, an elected commissioner in the county that includes Columbus, said Wednesday that she will challenge Tiberi, who’s serving his fifth term.
Brooks’ challenge has prompted CQ Politics to change the initial rating of the 2010 race in Ohio’s 12th to the more competitive “Republican Favored” from “Safe Republican.”
Brooks told The Columbus Dispatch newspaper that “people in the district say they are disappointed in the current member and they want a fresh approach to tackling these tough problems.”
Tiberi has been against programs for the environment and has voted against the stimulus plan. Tiberi was always a reliable supporter of the Bush programs. According to Open Secrets, Tiberi has received over $600,000 in political contributions from the insurance industry, which explains his opposition to health care reform. According to the FEC.gov for 2007-2008 (Federal Elections Commission), Tiberi's list of contributors includes ExxonMobilPAC, Duke Energy, Ashland, Marathon, American Gas PAC, FirstEnergy PAC, and a huge list of insurance and bank PACs.
Looks like Tiberi will have a very tough campaign.
*** Ohio Republicans have even more to worry about with another race. There have been several news and opinion items about Republican candidate Rob Portman. With a recent piece at Huffington Post on Portman, "Rob Portman = George W. Bush," and now a Republican challenger for Portman. According to the Dispatch, Tom Ganley, a wealthy conservative Republican will challenge Portman in the primary. Here is an excerpt from the Dispatch:
...Portman, 53, is from Cincinnati and served in the U.S. House for 12 years before becoming President George W. Bush's trade representative and then his budget director. Portman has locked up support from virtually everybody who is anybody in Ohio GOP circles and is slated to be endorsed by the state party next month.But Ganley's pledge to "spend what is necessary," including as much as $7 million out-of-pocket, compels Portman to take him seriously.
Ganley's money also could force Portman to spend money in the primary that he had hoped to husband for the general-election campaign against Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher or Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Those two Democrats are vying for their party's nomination to replace retiring Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich.....
Ouch!
>>> With Ohio Republicans seemingly out of touch with the everyday challenges of regular Ohioans, it is clear that the GOP may have a rough political season.