For the John Kerry fans...

Something that I hadn't read in the papers yet that the Ohio Democratic Party has announced:






No other details at this point, I'll provide them if I get them.

:-)

UPDATE: Well if you thought paying $150.00 to hear Senator Obama in June for the State Democratic Dinner was pricey? Tickets to the private reception with John Kerry are $250.00 - if you want to get into the rally? It's not free. It's a $10.00 donation.

For further information contact: LCDP 419-246-9301

Corruption...

I don't normally cross post, but I wrote this on my other blog and felt given the discussion here I'd share it with those of you who normally only visit here.

Power tends to corrupt;
absolute power corrupts absolutely

Much has been made about Ney, Noe, Abramoff, Taft and other Republicans as a sign of corruption that should encourage people to vote Democrats into office, not just here in Ohio but nationwide. Yet the problem is not really Republicans, it is that Republicans have held power long enough to be corrupt. I’m crazy you say? How dare I dispute the facts surrounding these wicked, bad Republicans?

Take a short adventure with me into Toledo, Ohio…Yes, the hometown of the now infamous Tom Noe. Democrats are and have been the majority power for quite some time. Yesterday a former Toledo Councilperson, Bob McCloskey pled guilty to two federal counts of bribery and no contest and was found guilty of one of two unrelated felony counts of bribery in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.

It’d be easy to just point to McCloskey as just one “bad apple” yet there were signs that went ignored by other City Council members and in at least one particular situation City Council votes were changed. That’s a big situation, the City of Toledo is involved in a ten million dollar civil lawsuit as a result of accusations made against Bob McCloskey.

Four people changed their vote that created this situation; one of those was Bob McCloskey. The other three are not mentioned often in articles concerning this situation. However if you go back into the Toledo Blade archives, since the City of Toledo does not provide online City Journal information back to 2002, Wilma Brown, who is still a current Toledo City Council person changed her vote. Peter Ujvagi who is now the 47th District House Representative for this area and Tina Skeldon who is now Tina Skeldon Wozniak, a current Lucas County Commissioner, also changed their votes.

We also know now that Wade Kapszukiewicz a former Toledo City Council person, now Lucas County Treasurer was approached by Bob McCloskey in what he felt may have been an attempt at a bribe. Even Republican George Sarantou is publicly stating he also experienced a similar experience. It’s also now been stated that former City Council President Louis Escobar was aware that McCloskey had asked EJS for the money before the vote took place in 2002. Mr. Escobar said he told him it would “look strange” for McCloskey to change his vote after he had previously supported the developer.

Escobar was not present on August 27, 2002 when the vote took place. Yet we do not know why Wilma Brown, Peter Ujvagi or Tina Skeldon Wozniak changed their votes, most of them will not comment because of the “on going civil case”. While that’s understandable it’s also hard to just blame Bob McCloskey. While he may bear the ultimate responsibility in all of this none of these people stepped forward.

Wilma Brown made a comment in today’s Toledo Blade in another article that was about Councilman Frank Szollosi’s attempt to strengthen ethic requirements for Toledo City Council members:

"If you're gonna be a crook, you're gonna be a crook no matter how many pieces of paper you have,"

That’s true, especially if you are surrounded by public officials that will look the other way. There have been many excuses made as to why no one reported this. Many of us feel, rightfully so that these elected officials did have a duty, a moral one since it’s been stated they had no legal duty to report this.

So it’s not just a Republican issue of corruption, it’s an issue that can happen anywhere when one party is allowed to remain in control, and too many of it’s own members are not willing to speak out. Until the day comes when political parties demand ethical behavior from their own party members rather than finger pointing at the other side this will never change.

I once was lost...but now I'm found...

No, not me; Bob Vasquez's application! As liberal_dem pointed out in the comments this morning's Toledo Blade contains this information:

Bob Vasquez is a candidate, after all, for the vacancy on Toledo City Council, a Lucas County Democratic Party official said yesterday.

Domenic Montalto, the party’s executive director, yesterday said Mr. Vasquez turned in an application either late Friday or early Saturday.

That's still a difference in the timeline since it was stated Bob turned in his application on April 28th but? At least it has been acknowledged as received.

:-)

More details on the Village at Southwyck

Danielle Portteus covers this breaking news story for the Toledo Free Press.

Stautzenberger College will aid in the renovation of Southwyck Mall with a 40,000-square-foot academic building in the former Lion Home Store, Stautzenberger President George Simons said May 8.

"We are absolutely delighted to be part of this project," he said. "It is a major change for us."

Simons, Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and Larry Dillin, owner of Dillin Corp., announced the renovation plans for The Village at Southwyck.

Simons said the Board of Trustees has signed a letter of intent to expand into the mall by July 2007.

"It's not going to be another mall," he said. "It will be the re-emergence of the community and our charter is to serve this community."

Simons said academic programs including veterinary technology and private investigation will be available at the new site.

Dillin said the college is apart of the new vision for Southwyck.

"We've accomplished a major milestone and have positive support from the community," he said. "The college will bring a core group of customers back to a center of education and other stores."

There's more information at the title link. But it appears this plan does not revolve just around shopping it's going to be a blend of the college, housing and stores.

Also included as a part of the article is this website The Village at Southwyck

WTOL has some additional details, including some mixed emotions from the morning mall walkers.

Let's talk about Toledo and Ethics...

No new updates on the Bob Vasquez story from the Toledo Blade. However, Frank raises an interesting point in the comments below that I think is worth discussing/expanding on.

He stated:

City Council will make the appointment, not the Democratic Party. Bob and all the candidates should communicate with councilmembers.

While I understand the natural desire for a candidate to be "endorsed" or "approved" by the Lucas County Democratic Party shouldn't the application process be directly to Toledo City Council?

Further, shouldn't primary consideration be given to applicants who did run in the November election as opposed to people who did not run?

Here's the results from the Lucas County Board of Elections for the at-large Toledo City Council seats from last November:

Bob Vasquez - 28835 - 8.36%
Karen Shanahan - 27560 - 7.99%
Karyn McConnell Hancock - 24958 - 7.24%
Dave Schulz - 20750 - 6.02%
Terry Shankland 18344 - 5.32%
Ernie Berry - 13367 - 3.88%
Amanda Scott-Rice - 53 - .02%

Here's the list of the 11 names that did not allegedly get lost or eaten by a copy machine as released to the Blade by the Lucas County Democratic Party:

Karen Shanahan
Terry Shankland
Chuck Cassis
Christy Cole
Tim Kilcorse
Adam Martinez
Joe McNamara
Tom Meinecke
Shelley Papenfuse
Tom Roth
Bob Wuest

I'm sure every one of those people who applied are fantastic, the fact that they care enough about the City of Toledo to apply is worthy of kudos. Yet only two of those who had their applications "accepted" ran in November. Whoever is selected is going to have to defend that seat in a special election. Logic dictates you'd want to select someone who has demonstrated they can run a campaign and have established there is local support behind them. Else all you are doing is selecting a temporary body to keep the seat warm until the next election.

It also appears that Dave Schulz is considering running for this open seat in November. In a recent press release he states this as well as applauding Frank Szollosi for his efforts in bringing about a hearing on city ethics policies which he notes ironically is taking place the same day Bob McCloskey is to appear in court.

As many of you might remember, Dave made ethics a large part of his campaign as well as pointing out areas of concern with Bob McCloskey. In addition to encouraging all City Council members, Republican and Democrat alike to support Frank Szollosi and legislation on this issue; Dave urges this go even farther:

1. Formation of an independent ethics commission. Many cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Louisville, Boise, Billings, Houston and Honolulu have ethics commissions to enforce the policy, offer independent opinions on appropriate behavior and serve as a public information clearinghouse.

2. Tougher more defined conflict of interest policy regulating outside employment. The citizen’s interests must come first.

3. Online reporting of campaign finance reports with searchable database and financial disclosure reports. This would allow the media to better report connections between campaign contributions and votes.

Dave ends his press release with the following statement:

“There is a glaring need for ethical leadership on Toledo City Council. The citizens of Toledo need a watchdog on City Council. Too many on council have turned a blind eye on the illegal and shady behavior of its members and I don’t see many names coming forward that have been a watchdog like I am.”

Whether Dave ultimately decides to run for this open seat; I think the points he raises are ones that should be discussed.

Always glad to help a friend

Even if it's just to share a laugh or two...Jill Miller Zimon who's blog Writes Like She Talks is a favorite of mine; had a recent article published as linked above that I played a brief inspirational role in. Being the talented writer that she is, the end result is an article that's not only well done but amusing.

:-)

He wants to be a candidate...

With a curtsy to Liberal_Dem who has been covering this story on his own blog, Politics in Mudville and on Progressive Toledo we discover there is more to this Toledo Blade article than meets the eye.

Sources close to the Bob Vasquez campaign have a different version than Domenic Montalto reported to Tom Troy.

They claim that not only did Bob submit an application in person but that there is at least one telephone answering machine message that confirms this application was received. In a situation similar to the "dog ate my homework", the phone message which was reported to have been from Domenic stated "the copy machine chewed up" Bob's application. Which if true should suggest that all is necessary would be to submit another application. It's not clear what time Tom Troy spoke to Mr. Montalto but this is what the Toledo Blade article states:

Mr. Montalto said he received a letter but no application from Bob Vasquez, of 2156 Plum Leaf Lane, the next-highest vote-getter after the six winners in the 2005 at-large city council race.

Mr. Vasquez was backed in the 2005 race by LucasCountyDemocrats.org, a splinter group that supported former Mayor Jack Ford's re-election effort, and which was affiliated with the A-team.

The party is now controlled by Democrats who backed Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, the B-team.

Mr. Montalto said he told Mr. Vasquez that if he didn't fill out an application he could not be considered by the party's screening committee.

It's worth noting that it has been stated that Bob Vasquez turned his application in on April 28th, if this is correct it would mean unless Tom Troy spoke to Mr. Montalto before last Friday and waited all this time to write today's article? Looks like Mr. Montalto has some explaining to do.

More as this progresses...

He might not be a very good candidate....

Larry "Matthew" Bartow was supposed to meet with the Lucas County Republican Party infront of the Screening Committee to fill the volunteer position of Chair for the Lucas County Republican Party.

Yesterday, he was arrested and charged with theft. According to the above linked Toledo Blade:

...after being accused of taking $2,330 from the campaign committee of Toledo Municipal Judge Robert Christiansen.

Police said Mr. Bartow was paid to create and mail 5,000 pieces of campaign literature for Judge Christiansen, who was running for and won a seat as a Municipal Court judge. The material was to be mailed the same time as absentee ballots so both arrived together in mailboxes.

"He simply took the money and ran," said Mark Berling, who authorized the expenditure.

I sincerely hope they find the right person to become a permanent chair for the Party but I really don't think Mr. Bartow would be a good candidate under the circumstances.

Unofficial Election Results from Lucas County

Summary has been released for those of you who are interested in reading it.

I have it downloaded and am looking forward to analyzing the results.

:-)

When I was at Kroger's last night as part of the general conversation since I guess I looked tired, the cashier had mentioned she had stayed up to see if there was going to be coverage on Issue 11 in Springfield. That wasn't an issue that was included as a part of my district it was related to a zoning change:

A zoning change entitled Z19-C550 enacted
January 3, 2006, changing the allowed usage for the property located at 6901 Garden
Road from RA-3 (Large Lot Rural Residential) to R-1 (Single-Family Residential).

This was soundly defeated - 2715 against and 1554 for.

In other news I discovered from reading the Unofficial Summary:

Shall the sale of wine and mixed beverages, and spirituous liquor be permitted for sale on Sunday between the hours of ten a.m. and midnight by Rosie’s Fine Foods, Inc., dba Rosie’s, an applicant for a D-6 liquor permit who is engaged in the business of operating a family owned restaurant at 606 N. McCord and Patios, Springfield Township, Toledo, Ohio 43615 in this precinct?” 99 voters in Precinct 3 said yes, 75 said no.

Could Southwyck's Woes finally be ending?

According to 13abc news:

WTVG-- May 5, 2006 - Slated for a 2007 opening, the renovated shopping area is being developed by the man behind Levis Commons.

Today, we unveil the preliminary artwork for the shopping area that will be called "The Village at Southwyck."

Developer Larry Dillin has laid out a $100 to $150 million design plan to redevelop the mall. It will include two anchor stores, smaller retailers, restaurants, office space and luxury apartments.

I'm sure more will come later in the day from WTVG and other local news sources. Could this plan be the one?

What does a 14.5 percent turn out really mean?

As those of you know who were here on election night or the morning after, it is a close race between Taylor Balderas and Mike Craig. First reports showed Taylor winning; then after absentee ballots were counted Craig is leading by 12. Provisional ballots have not been counted yet, that will not happen for ten days and the Board of Elections has not stated how many provisional ballots there are for the third Council District.

Yet, I have to take issue with this statement as quoted by the Blade from Mr. Craig:

Mr. Craig said the fact that Ms. Balderas received only a little over a third of the vote showed voters weren't happy with the job she's doing.

"I just think they were not getting the leadership they thought they should be getting," Mr. Craig said.

If one wanted to be a bit snarky...they could say that if Mike Craig's 12 vote lead holds that East Side Toledo voters were not exactly inspired by him to go out and support him.

What this really says to me is a few things, first few District 3'rs felt it important to vote and whoever is elected might want to find out what caused such apathy.

Second, maybe it's time to take a serious look at the South End being included as a part of District 3. It's obvious from the division that came out directed at Taylor because she was not an East Sider that those who are District 3 residents that do live in the South end are not getting fair representation.

Third, South Enders there was your chance to turn out and vote. Doesn't appear you care anymore than the East Siders did on this one. This was the first time someone from "that side of the river" would have been elected to represent District 3...

Bob McCloskey facing additional charges

As reported by WTOL and the Toledo Blade:

TOLEDO -- Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio announced Wednesday that a two-count information was filed charging Toledo City Council Member-at-Large Robert A. McCloskey. The information charges bribery in violation of the Hobbs Act.

Count 1 of the information alleges that on March 22, 2006, McCloskey accepted a $3,000 bribe from an unnamed Toledo businessman who was cooperating with the FBI. Count 2 of the information alleges that he accepted a second $2,000 bribe from the same businessman on April 12, 2006.

Now George Sarantou is stating on 13ABC he was approached with an envelope and he was not sure what was in the envelope. That it was sealed and thick it felt like it contained money, but Sarantou said he didn't want it, he wasn't interested and gave it back to McCloskey.

Wade Kapszukiewicz made a similar statement to the Toledo Blade claiming that in 2002 McCloskey offered him an envelope containing 5 one hundred dollar bills.

What I find interesting is George Sarantou states he told the City Law department about this and Michael Beazley who was the Toledo City Council Clerk was aware of the situation with Wade; how many other people knew and why wasn't some type of public claim or ethics complaint filed? According to the Toledo Blade article Wade denied this incident happening for almost four years when asked by reporters.

If all of this is true, why did Bob McCloskey continue to seek public office? Even if voters still selected him why would he even be considered for President of Toledo City Council or any key appointments? The silence from those who knew about this is bothersome.

Some number/name confusion....Dave really is the winner....

WTOL is reporting this as information from the Lucas County Board of Elections, I called the newsroom and they stated this is what the BOE reported to them and that they would re-check the information.

Precincts Reporting: 356 of 356 Percent of Total = 100%
Candidate Incumbent Votes Vote %
William Jennings 1,479 21%
Jon Stainbrook 1,295 18%
WINNER John Birmingham 2,777 38%
David Schulz 1,613 23%

These are the numbers I was given when I called the Board of Elections not more than two minutes ago:

Birmingham 1,479 21%
Jennings 1,295 18%
Schulz 2,777 38%
Stainbrook 1,613 23%

Here's what the numbers were before they were updated:

Precincts Reporting: Percent of Total = 78%
State Central District 11 Republican:

William Jennings 857 19%
Jon Stainbrook 940 21%
John Birmingham 910 21%
David Schulz 1,715 39%

For the latest release from 11 to be accurate Dave would have had to lost 102 votes somewhere and John Birmingham would have had to have gotten 1,867 in that last 22% of votes.

I'll check later to see if this is changed/updated.

:-)

UPDATE 5:42: WTOL still has not corrected these numbers

TADA! UPDATE 8:39 a.m.: This has been corrected and Dave is correctly listed as the winner.

:-)

Now we wait...

For the absentee and provisional ballots to be counted and results released.

So, while you are waiting, now would be a good time to stop by the Toledo Free Press and read this week's Blog it, Toledo column. The cover story on Barry Soskin and the Storm is highly recommended as well as Michael Miller's weekly Lighting the Fuse, and some very excellent pieces as a part of the Writers Workshop.

:-)

First Lucas County Numbers in

I'll keep updating on this thread as it makes major changes:

Lucas Co Comm Democrat - 100% of Precincts Reporting
(D) Ben Konop 13,638 47%
(D) Tim Wagener 7,745 27%
(D) Phil Copeland 7,423 26%

Lucas Co Comm Republican - 100% of Precincts Reporting
(R) George Sarantou 11,569 71%
(R) Pam Haynam 4,681 29%


U.S. Representative OH 9th Dist (R) - 86% of Precincts Reporting
(R) Bradley Leavitt 6,858 40%
(R) Ed Emery 5,217 30%
(R) Dirk Kubala 5,037 29%

Updated numbers for this race not sure if all absentee and provisionals are included:

Toledo City Council District 3 - 100% of Precincts Reporting
Mike Craig 1,291 37%
Taylor Balderas 1,279 37%
Fred Kutz 539 16%
Don Boisselle 363 10%


Toledo City Council District 3 - 100% of Precincts Reporting
Taylor Balderas 1,193 38%
Mike Craig 1,167 37%
Fred Kutz 467 15%
Don Boisselle 315 10%

Precincts Reporting: 87 of 356 Percent of Total = 78%
State Central District 11 Republican:

William Jennings 857 19%
Jon Stainbrook 940 21%
John Birmingham 910 21%
David Schulz 1,715 39%

Precincts Reporting: 140 of 356 Percent of Total = 78%
District 11 Democrat:

Frank Szollosi 3,292 24%
Kollin Rice 631 5%
Jack Ford 4,852 35%
Carty Finkbeiner 5,147 36%

Toledo Zoo Addl Tax-1 Mill/10 Yrs - 100% of Precincts Reporting
No 28,616 51%
Yes 27,719 49%

Toledo Zoo Repl Tax-0.85 Mill/5 Yrs - 100% of Precincts Reporting
Yes 32,366 57%
No 24,112 43%


They reporting on 13 that Lake Local Schools lost by 30 votes.

And the votes begin!

It's way to early to really report anything so I'll update as soon as there are larger numbers of counties reporting as far as State candidates.

No local numbers yet, but hopefully soon:

Update: 9:55 p.m almost 11% of total State:

Update: 10:21 p.m. almost 22% of total State:

Update: 10:46 p.m. over 41%

Blackwell, J. Kenneth / Raga, Thomas A. 50,780 55.78%
Petro, Jim / Padgett, Joy 40,249 44.22%

Blackwell, J. Kenneth / Raga, Thomas A. 100,319 54.82%
Petro, Jim / Padgett, Joy 82,683 45.18%

Blackwell, J. Kenneth / Raga, Thomas A. 219,506 56.08%
Petro, Jim / Padgett, Joy 171,877 43.92%

AP has announced Blackwell as the predicted winner...

Strickland, Ted / Fisher, Lee 62,612 80.87%
Flannery, Bryan / Stams, Frank M. 14,811 19.13%

Strickland, Ted / Fisher, Lee 133,635 79.41%
Flannery, Bryan / Stams, Frank M. 34,643 20.59%

Strickland, Ted / Fisher, Lee 247,969 81.50%
Flannery, Bryan / Stams, Frank M. 56,301 18.50%

Attorney General (Democratic)
Dann, Marc 55,438 80.55%
Chandra, Subodh 13,384 19.45%

Dann, Marc 110,029 74.37%
Chandra, Subodh 37,920 25.63%

Attorney General (Democratic)
Dann, Marc 197,442 74.19%
Chandra, Subodh 68,702 25.81%

Treasurer of State (Republican)
O'Brien, Sandra 39,157 53.37%
Bradley, Jennette B. 34,213 46.63%

O'Brien, Sandra 76,981 51.87%
Bradley, Jennette B. 71,426 48.13%

O'Brien, Sandra 163,110 51.23%
Bradley, Jennette B. 155,281 48.77%

Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court (Democratic) - 01/01/07
O'Neill, William M. 41,416 61.66%
Wagner, A.J. 25,754 38.34%

O'Neill, William M. 84,344 57.52%
Wagner, A.J. 62,294 42.48%

O'Neill, William M. 149,918 56.89%
Wagner, A.J. 113,621 43.11%

Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court (Democratic) - 01/02/07
Espy, Ben 35,167 53.56%
Sikora, Peter M. 30,496 46.44%

Espy, Ben 80,712 55.80%
Sikora, Peter M. 63,922 44.20%

Espy, Ben 151,729 57.77%
Sikora, Peter M. 110,916 42.23%

Update 11:14 p.m. with 58% of the State in looks like it will be

Blackwell v Strickland

Montgomery V Dann

DeWine V Brown

O'Neill V O'Donnell...

Update 11:43 a.m.

O'Brien, Sandra 250,811 51.56%
Bradley, Jennette B. 235,587 48.44%

Espy, Ben 238,068 55.08%
Sikora, Peter M. 194,152 44.92%

Four minutes to go and a winner already declared...

With only 44 precinct's reporting Ted Strickland has been declared the winner - would be ironic if this ended up not true but it is probably accurate.

Precincts Reporting: 44 of 11288 Percent of Total = 0%

Bryan Flannery 390 10%
WINNER Ted Strickland 3,705 90%

What we know so far Election news

Lucas County 495 Precincts 292,520 Registered Voters

DIRECTORS' ESTIMATED TURNOUT: 66,700 Democrats: 57,844 Republicans:36,079

That's the Predicted Turnout - will it end up being lower? That we will find out later. As Jill pointed out in the comments the numbers don't add up. :-)

Also some FYI type information:

Ohio has 88 bipartisan county boards of elections. The Secretary of State`s office installed point-to-point T1 lines for all 88 county boards of elections, providing direct, high-speed electronic connections between the agency and the counties. This allows open and direct electronic communication between the Secretary of State and the county boards.

Live Election Results from the State of Ohio

Update:

Paul Miller is reporting:

I just heard on WIMA-Lima that the attorney general's office is holding all results - ALL RESULTS, INCLUDING LOCAL RACES - until 9 p.m., due to the problems with counting in Cuyahoga County. I'll try to get more details and pass it along.

Which means we have about an hour since that is probably in effect for Lucas County as well.

Yes - we are all on delay according to the state website:

A court has ordered a precinct in Cuyahoga County to remain open until 9:30 p.m. The Secretary of State's office, therefore, will not report results until after all polling locations are closed.

Slow...low start to Lucas County voting

More is at the above link but the basics:

And as of 9 a.m., voter turnout was about 3.5 percent for the county.“I think that’s low,” said Jill Kelly, director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, pointing out that average turnout for a partisan primary is between 22 and 25 percent for the day. Ms. Kelly had no number to compare to the 9 a.m. total from previous elections.Ms. Kelly said there were some “slow starts” at several stations — she declined to say how many — where several machines weren’t running.

With about 50 poll workers having called off, Ms. Kelly is down to 1,930 workers of the needed 1,980; she said no “fill-in,” or replacement workers, were found.“We were disappointed,” Ms. Kelly said, saying it was difficult to train people last-minute. “When that happens on the eleventh hour, what do you do?”

I will most likely be live blogging what results I can access for tonight as they come in. In addition Paul Miller told me that live blog numbers for Ohio will be done at State of Ohio Blog Alliance fondly known as the Conservative SOB's and he will be doing live blog updates on Northwestern Ohio on his blog Newshound

If I find out any other online sources for results I'll post them here. The tabulation and recording may go slow but we do have the blogging aspect of this down. Hope you voted, I haven't yet, I have to wait till Miguel gets off work but I'll let you know how busy my polling place is and what I can find out from the poll workers present.

:-)

As an update, Eric over at Plunderbund is working the polls in Delaware County...so it's not just Lucas County that is slow. To quote Eric?

Wifi! Woohoo! Word of the day: S L O W. Pretty much sums it up. Slow as all get out where I’m at in Delaware County. Not one single line or wait…other than poll workers waiting on voters. If your horse benefits from a slow race, you are in the money!

My update...Just got back from voting, my new polling place was pretty empty, no waiting I was voter number 74 for my district. This was my first time with the touch screen, last time I used the optical scanner. While I don't like the view print option part of the touch screen, I think it was okay. I still liked the old pull the curtain lever type machines but if this ends up actually working faster and more accurate? Touch screen for me was easier and faster than the optical scanner.

:-)

The Ohio Supremes...

One of the many decisions tomorrow for those who select a Democratic ballot is between four candidates for two Ohio Supreme Court seats in the General Election. As you can see by the above poll done by the Columbus Dispatch this is how those races stood:



As the Toledo Blade pointed out back on April 12th, there is a difference in ratings for these candidates as decided by the Ohio State Bar Association.

Judge William O'Neill was rated "recommended"
Judge A.J. Wagner was rated "adequate"

Ben Espy was rated "highly recommended"
Judge Peter Sikora was rated "recommended"

Judge A.J. Wagner and Judge William O'Neill both refused to sign the clean campaign pledge suggested by the Ohio Bar Association as reported in this Blade article.

The Ohio Democratic Party has endorsed Espy and Wagner, so who will voters select? Will they go on the ratings of the Ohio Bar Association and support the two that are listed as more highly qualified or will they go with the ODP and select the other two?