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Columbus
Dispatch...
Ohio
congressional map could send
Kilroy back to Washington
Democrats have best chance in new
Franklin County district
By
Jessica Wehrman
and Jack
Torry
Tuesday
September 13, 2011
WASHINGTON
— Former Democratic
congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy is emerging as a likely candidate for a
new U.S.
House seat in Franklin County being created by Ohio Republicans.
The
district, which is to include most
of the Democratic areas of Columbus and Franklin County, is part of a
new
congressional map that will be submitted today to the Ohio legislature
for
approval. Because Republicans control both the Senate and House, the
map is all
but certain to win quick approval.
The
new Columbus district was crafted
by GOP strategists as part of a maneuver to strengthen the seats held
by
Republicans Pat Tiberi of Genoa Township, Steve Stivers of Upper
Arlington and
Bob Gibbs of Lakeville. The new map calls for distribution of solidly
Republican precincts to those three incumbents; as a result, most
central Ohio
Democrats would end up in one district.
Kilroy,
who was defeated by Stivers
last November in the 15th District, would enter the race with a number
of
advantages. She is a former Franklin County commissioner and has run
for Congress
three times, serving one term from 2009 through the end of last year.
“You
have a better than even chance of
a Congresswoman Kilroy next year,” said one Democrat who spoke on
condition of
anonymity.
Kilroy
was unavailable for comment
yesterday.
Franklin
County Commissioner Paula
Brooks, who ran against Tiberi last fall in the 12th District, all but
ruled
out running for the new seat. She said she loves being a county
commissioner
and plans to run for re-election this year.
Another
possible Democratic candidate
is former state Sen. Ray Miller of Columbus.
“If
the district is drawn as a mostly
Democratic district, there are still a lot of moving parts because ...
there
are a number of Democrats who might feel this district is not owed to
Mary Jo
Kilroy,” said Terry Casey, a Republican consultant in Columbus.
The
legislature, which is required to
draw new districts every 10 years, has to reduce the state’s number of
congressional districts from 18 to 16 because population has continued
to shift
toward the nation’s South and West. Republicans control the governor’s
office
and the House and Senate, giving them total say over the shape of the
new
districts.
According
to GOP sources familiar with
the plan, Stivers’ new district would include a portion of Franklin
County as
well as all or parts of Clark, Madison, Union, Fairfield, Vinton,
Muskingum,
Perry, Morgan, Athens and Hocking counties.
Tiberi’s
district, which now includes
all or parts of Delaware, Franklin and Licking counties, would expand
northward,
including Morrow and Richland counties. Those counties are now
represented by
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana.
The
districts held by Republicans
Steve Austria of Beavercreek and Mike Turner of Centerville are to be
combined
into one, meaning the two would have to face each other in a primary.
That new
district would include all or parts of Montgomery, Greene, Fayette,
Pickaway
and Fairfield counties.
The
map also would combine the
Democratic districts of Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and Dennis J. Kucinich
of
Cleveland, meaning they might have to battle each other in a primary.
It
would put Democratic Rep. Betty
Sutton of Barberton against freshman Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, in a
district
favorable to Renacci. Sutton also could move into Rep. Tim Ryan’s
district and
challenge him in a primary. Ryan is a Niles Democrat.
The
new map would leave Democrats with
four solid seats — the winner of a Kaptur-Kucinich primary, Ryan, Rep.
Marcia
Fudge, D-Cleveland, and the winner of the new Columbus district.
Read
it at the Columbus Dispatch
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