Will Trump take role in GOP primary?
President Donald Trump inserted himself into the contest this year to lead the Ohio Republican Party. Will he be able to resist the 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary?
The question emerges naturally after remarks about U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci by Vice President Mike Pence last week that seemed to stray just a little beyond the traditional political politesse.
During a visit to suburban Cleveland, Pence called the gubernatorial candidate from the Akron suburb of Wadsworth a “friend of mine, a strong partner of this administration, a leader who represents Ohio with such distinction in Washington, D.C.”
The vice president added: “I was for Jim Renacci before it was cool. I really was. I got to know him before he was even elected to the Congress, and now he serves on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He’s been a great champion of economic growth and jobs here in Ohio, and I (am) truly honored, truly honored, that you’d be with us today, congressman.”
Not only that, but Renacci, who is serving his fourth two-year term, had flown to Ohio with Pence on Air Force Two for the event, which was held close to but not actually in his congressional district.
Shortly afterward, the Renacci campaign crowed: “After the vice president’s visit today, it is safe to say that there is only one candidate in the race for governor of Ohio that the administration views as truly with them.”
Blaine Kelly, spokesman for the GOP chairman whom Trump backed in Ohio, Jane Timken, said, “We are not reading into the vice president’s compliment of Congressman Renacci. Ohio Republicans will decide who their nominee for governor will be on May 8th of next year.” And the party will remain neutral, Kelly said.
Heroin for executions?
In a little-noticed dissent to last week’s 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that opened the door to resuming executions in Ohio, Judge Karen Nelson Moore offered a creative if a bit shocking possibility to remove the question of pain during capital punishment: illegal drugs.
“As anyone who reads the newspaper knows, the nation, and Ohio in particular, is in the midst of a virulent drugdeath epidemic,” she wrote. “Given these reports, there are obviously multiple drugs that could be used to execute people.”
Confusion in the Senate
No, government doesn’t always run like clockwork.
Just after 4 p.m. Wednesday, reporter Jim Siegel relates, the Ohio Senate appeared to be done. The state budget was finished, as was an abortion bill, Judy’s Law and a way-too-long parade of congratulatory resolutions.
But instead of adjourning, Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, had the chamber stand at ease, and senators milled around, unsure about what they were waiting for.
Apparently, according to a Senate source, the House discovered an earmark missing from the state budget that was supposed to send money to some 4-H organizations. But with no way to further amend the budget at that point, the speaker was searching for an alternative, such as amending it into some do-little bill that had yet to receive a vote.
Exactly what was said between the House and Senate leaders is not known, but about 30 minutes later, the Senate reconvened, took no more votes, and adjourned.