Friday, July 25, 2008

The element of surprise in the 20th Statehouse district

PolitickerOH has the race between Nancy Garland and Jim McGregor in the 20th district profiled among its "Top Eight Statehouse Races of 2008." With a nod to Bev Campbell's narrow miss in '06, Politicker sums up this year's race:

McGregor was supposedly caught off-guard against Campbell in 2006, but Garland cannot expect to have the advantage of surprise again: everyone knows this will be a close, critical race for control of the state house and the state's balance of power.


Of course Garland, who has already gone through a tough primary, is actively campaigning throughout the district, has institutional support, and is getting attention from media types like Politicker, won't take McGregor by surprise. On the other hand, McGregor seems to be hoping to turn the tables. I haven't heard of any campaign events, read any news stories, his website lists his endorsements... from 2006. Apparently, McGregor is planning on an October surprise - launching his re-election campaign. That'll catch everyone off-guard.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what about Nancy Garland. She and her cousin Ted Celeste can piss in the wind as far as I'm concerned.

The Dem Party screwed themselves when they threw Bev Campbell under the bus. Bev deserved respect and support to run against McGregor. I hope Nancy Garland drops and losses this election because she is such a DINO that it doesn't really matter much between her and McGregor.

BRING BEV BACK !!!!

Anonymous said...

Don't confuse lack of online activity with a lack of campaign activity. Just because a candidate neglects a web page or online news sources does not mean he hasn't been active.

Anonymous said...

You can base how much a campaign's activity truly is on how much time they are spending on the ground, how many doors have been knocked on and if the candiadate is out there working, I do not mean by how many house partys they go to, I mean how much time they spend with the real voters in the field. You can bet McGregor will pull out all the stops before Nov.

Anonymous said...

Exactly. McGregor could easily be putting his time into door to door around the district, rather than working on a website that maybe 50 people go to. I mean look at Garland's facebook account with 14 supporters. Not many voters really spend time looking for candidates online that are running for a state office.

bonobo said...

Listen, folks. I'm a resident of his district. When my community had a parade, he didn't march. I've never received a piece of mail or literature. If I wanted to volunteer or donate I couldn't be sure I had a current address or phone number for the campaign. I have seen no announcements of campaign events, read nothing in my local weeklies or the Dispatch. Tell me one neighborhood he has actually walked this year, one event he has actually attended. Maybe there's a bunch. I haven't seen or heard of a single one. Let me know the next campaign event I can attend. I won't find out any other way.

Anonymous said...

I read in our local newspaper that he was in the Gahanna parade and apparently he had about 20 supporters at the parade. Also, I have received both his and Tiberi's lit on my door in Gahanna. Most of my other friends in Gahanna have also received such campaign literature. District 20 is huge, and for all we know he could be working other areas of the district than Bexley.

Anonymous said...

I am not a McGregor supporter and I live in the 20th (east Columbus). I have not receved any Lit, Mail or Phone calls from any campaign, in 2006 I did not receved any lit before Sept. All I am saying is there are campaign's out there working, Robinson was in Gahanna this weekend as well as Powell,and I know Tiberi was in Orange Township in Delaware County this morning. So they are out there. It is early. But if this is your fist campaign it is never to early, an incumbent has a little room because of name recognition, but as you said in your post Bonobo, I think Tiberi is a little nervous this time around. I do not recall him being out this early in the past, epically in Delaware County, a so called strong hold for him. I am betting Robinson will give him a run for his money......