"GOP Disarray","stunning blow"-Heimlich maneuvers off Petro ticket

Date: Mon 01/16/06 02:16 PM

Monday, January 16, 2006


Heimlich to leave Petro's campaign for Governor


1:25 p.m.

Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus

In a stunning blow to Attorney General Jim Petro's campaign for governor, running mate Phil Heimlich is dropping off the ticket to run for re-election as Hamilton County Commissioner, sources said...

Despite persistent rumors that Heimlich would not remain on the ticket, top Petro advisers insisted for weeks that he would remain in the race and help Petro win the GOP primary for governor.

Sources said Heimlich was under intense pressure from Hamilton County Republican Party leaders who view him as their best bet for keeping the three-member county commission in Republican hands. They also said that Heimlich was concerned that Petro - once viewed as the front runner - was too much of a long-shot for the nomination...

Petro tapped Heimlich early, hoping that his conservative credentials and Cincinnati roots would sway the party's conservative base, especially social conservatives who would be inclined to support Blackwell.


http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/01/16/heimlich.html

Democrats: Heimlich Won't Run On Petro's Ticket For Governor

Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller
Photographed by: 9News
First posted: 1/16/2006 2:31:57 PM

The Ohio Democratic Party is reporting Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich won't be running as Attorney General Jim Petro's running mate in Petro's campaign for governor.

Petro has called a 4 p.m. Monday news conference to discuss the matter...

The party called the development a "stunning blow" to Petro's campaign for governor, referring to the situation as "GOP Disarray."

R's are hoping his former connections to Dem dominated Cuyahoga County would help them split the vote here. Its always worked well for Voinovich. Looks like they may have to come up with a different trick this time.

Petro has obviously been pulling out all the stops. In my work for the non profit world, I have had to go into his official website twice over the past several weeks. It has suddenly become really easy to find information that was laborious before. You can always tell when an election is going on....