Ohio GOP e-mails detail Petro bias(vs. Blackwell,official accuses brass)

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1140774039306940.xml&coll=2

Former NE Ohio official accuses top brass

Friday, February 24, 2006
Ted Wendling and Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus

-- The Ohio Republican Party's regional director in Northeast Ohio has resigned, contending that party officials have secretly promoted the gubernatorial candidacy of Attorney General Jim Petro while publicly expressing neutrality.

Karl Raszewski, who headed the 19-county region until Feb. 11, quit after accusing party Executive Director Chris McNulty of squelching the results of a Jan. 28 Republican State Central Committee straw poll that showed overwhelming support for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

"If Chris had . . . let everyone see the results, Petro would have likely left the race within 48 hours," Raszewski predicted in one of two e-mails he wrote to party officials. Copies of the e-mails were sent anonymously to The Plain Dealer.

Committee members were asked to submit secret ballots choosing between a Blackwell/Petro ticket or a Petro/Blackwell ticket. Two sources said the results, which GOP Chairman Bob Bennett discussed with party leaders but did not release publicly, showed 40 votes for a Blackwell/Petro ticket and 14 votes for a Petro/Blackwell ticket....



Blackwell drawing straws

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/

Three weeks before the Republican primary for governor devolved into political hand-to-hand combat between Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Attorney General Jim Petro, Republican State Central Committee members took a straw poll that showed overwhelming support for Blackwell.

On Jan. 28, state GOP Chairman Bob Bennett had committee members submit a secret ballot in which they chose either a Blackwell/Petro ticket or a Petro/Blackwell ticket. Two sources said the poll results, which Bennett discussed with committee and county party leaders but did not release publicly, showed 40 votes for a Blackwell/Petro ticket and 14 votes for a Petro/Blackwell ticket, with 11 other voters simply choosing Blackwell over Petro and five committee members picking Petro over Blackwell.

"I let them take a straw poll because that suggestion came up out of the audience and there was quite a bit of support for it," Bennett said. "I felt that that was a good idea and certainly I used it as a tool to try to bring both Ken Blackwell and Jim Petro together. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far with that idea.

"We're in for a bloody one. You guys'll love it."

[ck4829]

1. Maybe because he knows they'll lose even if Blackwell wins in November

[JugDack]

2. Blackwell will most likely win

Blackwell is probably the next Governor. Between Rove and Rod Parsley and Diebold, he's got insurmountable "momentum". He's already cast himself as the instrument of reform by targeting Petro AND Taft and his numbers are shooting through the roof for it, as this staw poll story shows.

Meanwhile, Dems can't get 50 signatures on a candidate petition without screwing it up, and Sherrod Brown's numbers are in free fall due to the outrageously inept way the Hackett thing was handled.

Nice going, dems.