2006 State Young Republicans Convention

It was an awesome year for Lake Geauga Young Republicans at this years 2006 State Young Republicans Convention. Representing our club were President Morgan McIntosh, VP Ryan Johnson, Secretary Rick Zaleski, Trustee Steve Patt, and Gina Bartlett (our art director guru). We are proud to announce 2 awards this year. The first goes to Ryan Johnson, he received the John Kasich Award for Outstanding Male YR of the Year. Also the club newsletter "The Great Communicator" picked up the Outstanding Newsletter nod. Heres to all of you who have contributed, you know who you are, and to another wonderful year!

"artists" to not support, based on their views

I just thought I'd throw together a list of "artists" to not support based on their political views. They are very much against Bush and/or very much against the "main stream political view", or at the minimum so liberal it hurts.
Most are from the "Rock Against Bush" albums...
None More Black
Sum 41
Alkaline Trio
Epoxies
Anti-Flag
Against Me!
the Offspring
the Get Up Kids
Rise Against
Ministry
Descendents
Authority Zero
the Soviettes
Jello Biafra with D.O.A.
RX Bandits
Strung Out
Strike Anywhere
Ataris
Pennywise
Denali
the World/Inferno Friendship Society
New Found Glory
the Frisk
NOFX
Social Distortion
Less Than Jake feat. Billy Bragg
Bad Religion
Green Day
Operation Ivy
Cyborg Midnight
the Lawrence Arms
Dropkick Murphys
Flogging Molly
Only Crime
Foo Fighters
Lagwagon
Sugar Cult
Rancid
Sleater-Kinney
the Unseen
Yellowcard
Dillinger Four
Jawbreaker
Bouncing Souls
Mad Caddies
the Dwarves
Sick of It All
No Doubt
Useless ID
Autopilot Off
International Noise Conspiracy
Donots
Hot Water Music
Thought Riot
No Use For A Name
System of a Down
Will Farrell
Greg Proops

CHENEY SHOOTS MAN IN HEAD, NECK AND CHEST!!!!!

Did anyone hear about this?
Does anyone care anymore?
Did anyone care to begin with?
Isn't it funny that a full week after Cheney accidentally hit a hunting buddy with some spray from a shell, we are still hearing about it? It couldn't be some sort of media agenda, could it? Isn't it also funny that this probably happens everyday, but because its the evil conservative VP it's news all of a sudden?

Primary filings as of 02/16/2006 Noon.

Thats right folks! Today is the big day, and as of noon est. Thursday February 16, 2006 here are your candidates for the May Primary!

Governor / Lieutenant Governor (Joint Candidates):
J. Kenneth Blackwell (Cincinnati) and Thomas Raga (Mason) Republican
Jim Petro (Columbus) and Joy Padgett (Coshocton) Republican
Bryan E. Flannery (Strongsville) and Frank M. Stams (Cuyahoga Falls) Democrat
Ted Strickland (Lisbon) and Lee Fisher (Shaker Heights) Democrat

U.S. Senator:
Mike DeWine (Cedarville) Republican
John Mitchel (Beavercreek) Republican
William G. Pierce (Maineville) Republican
David R. Smith (Mason) Republican
Sherrod Brown (Avon) Democrat
Merrill Samual Keiser, Jr. (Fremont) Democrat

Attorney General:
Tim Grendell (Chesterland) Republican
Betty Montgomery (Perrysburg) Republican
Subodh Chandra (Cleveland) Democrat
Marc Dann (Youngstown) Democrat

Auditor of State:
Christopher McNulty (Columbus) Republican
Mary Taylor (Uniontown) Republican
John B. Reardon (Poland) Democrat
Barbara Sykes (Akron) Democrat

Secretary of State:
Greg Hartmann (Cincinnati) Republican
Robert G. Montgomery (Westerville) Republican
Jim Trakas (Independence) Republican
Jennifer L. Brunner (Columbus) Democrat

Treasurer of State:
Jennette B. Bradley (Columbus) Republican
Sandra O'Brien (Rome) Republican
Richard Cordray (Grove City) Democrat
Hugh Quill (Dayton) Democrat

Supreme Court Justice (Term commencing January 1, 2007):
Terrence O'Donnell (Rocky River) Republican
William Michael O'Neill (Chagrin Falls) Democrat
A.J. Wagner (Dayton) Democrat

Supreme Court Justice (Term commencing January 2, 2007):
Robert R. Cupp (Lima) Republican
Ben Espy (Columbus) Democrat
Peter M. Sikora (Cleveland) Democrat

Also candidates as of 02/16/2006 noon...

U.S. Representative 14th Congressional District:
Steve LaTourette Republican
Dale Blanchard Democrat
Lewis Katz Democrat
Palmer Peterson Democrat

Judge 11th District (Court of Appeals [Ford]):
Jeffrey Black Republican
Paul Brickner Republican
Dorothy Lee Republican
Mary Jane Trapp Democrat

Judge 11th District (Court of Appeals [Grendell]):
Diane Grendell Republican

State Representative 62nd District:
Jason Andrzejewski Republican (yeah, really! REPUBLICAN!)
Lorraine Fende Democrat

Judge - General (various terms, commencing listed after party):
Richard Collins Republican (01/01/2007)
Vince Culotta Republican (01/03/2007)
Eugene Lucci Republican (01/06/2007)

Commissioner:
John Murphy Democrat
Dan Troy Democrat

Auditor:
Ed Zupancic Republican

State Central Committee:
Dale Fellows Republican
Dan Troy Democrat

There also currently Questions or Issues on the ballot...

Willoughby-Eastlake: 1.3 Mills Renewal Levy
Kirtland Local: $16,600,000 Bond Issue (est. 3.25 Mills)
Painesville Township: 1.89 Mills Renewal Levy
Eastlake City: 6 Mills Additional
Zoning: "Shall Ordinance No. 2006-016, changing the use of land in the area of Oxford Drive
between 238 Shelton and 248 Shelton Blvd. from S-1 (suburban) to R-60 (Residential)
be approved?"
Kirtland City: .85 Mill Renewal for Senior Citizen and community facilities
Perry Township: .6 Replacement plus a .4 Increase

Its official, Fingerhut is out.

If you're questioning why I care about a Dem., please see yesterdays post. This morning it is official! Fingerhut is out of the governors race this year. He is sighting lack of fundraising and lack of interest in his campaign as the reason, I'll still stick by Strickland and Fisher as his reason for leaving. Fingerhut is also termed out, and I personally couldn't seeing him trying to pull any other race together in this short amount of time. OH!, and a a "by-the-way", Paul Hackett is out for Senate. He released this statement today:
"Today I am announcing that I am withdrawing from the race for United States Senate. I made this decision reluctantly, only after repeated requests by party leaders, as well as behind the scenes machinations, that were intended to hurt my campaign." Apparently thhe party ( yes, the D's ) didn't want him either. Well, two down...

Fingerhut pulling out of gubernatorial race?

OK, I know... He's a Dem. BUT! One still cannot deny that Fingerhut pulling out of the gubernatorial race would be a good thing. As of right now it is not official but it looks like he will be out as soon as tomorrow. Sources are sighting Lee Fisher running on the ticket with Strickland as the main motivation behind bailing on this years race. As a PS... sorry for the delay in posting... *it won't happen again.



*( it probably will )

Ohian Rep. John Boehner elected as new majority leader

House Republicans elected Rep. John Boehner of Ohio as their new majority leader Thursday, replacing Tom DeLay who was indicted in an ethics scandal. Boehner beat out, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, 122-109, after a less than stunning first vote.
The only other candidate, John Shadegg of Arizona, withdrew after a last place finish in a round of voting Thursday. Blunt was thought to be a shoe-in by some with close ties to former majority leader DeLay, and will remain the GOP whip.

Alito Confirmed

Judge Alito was confirmed today by a 52-48 vote! The vote was, more or less, down party lines.

Petro picks running mate

01/30/2006: Jim Petro announces State Senator Joy Padgett as his Lt. Governor running mate. She is the representative for Ohio's 20th Senate District.She also was elected to four consecutive terms in the Ohio House of Representatives. Senator Padgett is a lifetime resident of Coshocton, and has a Bachelor's Degree from Kent State University.

A recent poll Conducted for the Ohio Republican Party, shows that Petro is the favorite for a head to head battle with Strickland. This leaves some interesting questions to be posed. Is Ken Blackwell the favorite Republican candidate that he seems to think he is, and if so will anyone care if it means throwing away a Gubernatorial Race to the Dems? This makes the primary an interesting scenario, if it means losing in the end. The following was taken from a portion of the ORP poll.

General Election Informed Ballot
Jim Petro - 36%
Ted Stickland - 36%
Undecided - 28%

General Election Informed Ballot
Ken Blackwell - 32%
Ted Strickland - 56%
Undecided - 12%

"Ken Blackwell's 24% deficit could easily drag the entire Republican ticket to defeat," said Bob Paduchik, Petro for Governor Chairman.

As reported yesterday... Betty Montgomery is out for Governor

As we broke yesterday, Betty Montgomery has officially dropped out of the gubernatorial races, and announced her bid for Attorney General. The Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, Bob Bennett, issued the statement regarding Betty Montgomery’s candidacy for Attorney General this afternoon. This leaves Jim Petro and Ken Blackwell as the sole candidates for the Ohio Governors race.

The scoop on Betty Montgomery

All signs are now pointing to Betty Montgomery dropping out of the Gubernatorial race for Ohio in 2006. It is also assumed that she will instead be focusing her attention on running for Attorney General, a position she held 1995-2002, before becoming Auditor of State in 2003.

For any of you who may have missed Hackett's latest

Paul Hackett recently made some rather hateful and incendiary remarks about people of faith.

The Columbus Dispatch published an article where Democrat Paul Hackett accuses the Ohioans of being Anti-American due to the recent vote for a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage. The following is an excerpt from the article...

*“The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world," he said. "The challenge is for the rest of us moderate Americans and citizens of the world to put down the fork and spoon, turn off the TV, and participate in the process and try to push back on these radical nuts – and they are nuts.”

Our own Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett stated the following in reference to Paul Hackett’s remarks...

**“Paul Hackett’s attempt to compare Christian conservatives to terrorists is abhorrent and completely inappropriate. These intolerant views have no place in the public debate, and I hope his fellow Democrats reject this divisive hate speech. Hackett has shown repeatedly that he will say or do anything to get attention, and it’s unfortunate that views like his are embraced by the Democratic Party. I think, Mr. Hackett, you’ve once again proven who the real ‘radical nut’ is.”

( quotes taken from *Columbus Dispatch “Candid Candidate: Hackett calls ‘em like he sees ‘em,” 1/15/06 and **Ohio GOP website )

Lake Geauga Young Republican Meetings

This is just to let all interested parties know that Lake and Geauga Counties have their monthly Young Republican meetings every fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm at 1899 Pub. 1899 is located at 38228 Glenn Avenue in Downtown Willoughby. Look forward to seeing you there!
T 440.954.4214
www.young-republican.com