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U.S. Senate election, Ohio, 2010
Contents |
Background
Republican Senator George Victor Voinovich is the former Governor of Ohio and has served in the United States Senate since 1999. Throughout his tenure, the two-term senator has repeatedly broken ranks with his Republican Party colleagues and borne the anger of former conservative supporters. His opposition to lowering tax rates in addition to his support of gun control legislation and the Matthew Shepard Act have caused him to lose considerable esteem in the eyes of voters of a state that appears to be returning to the fold of the Republican Party.
Though he had strongly suggested in late-2005 that he would run for a third term in office, a Quinnipiac University survey released three years later, which showed Voinovich practically deadlocked with an unnamed Democratic opponent, forced him to reconsider his political future. [1] On Monday, January 12, 2009, Voinovich announced that he would be retiring at the end of the Congressional term. [2]
Qualifications
Standard qualifications necessary in order to be considered for a United States Senate position include being at least 30 years of age, a United States citizen for at least nine years prior to the date of the election, and, in this instance, an inhabitant of Ohio when elected.
In order to be placed on the ballot in Ohio, exactly a thousand signatures must be gathered for major party candidates and be submitted to Secretary of State’s Elections Division in Columbus by 4 p.m. on February 18, 2010. Individuals running as independents are required to collect five thousand signatures, but had until May 3, 2010, one day before the state primary election, to submit them.
May 4, 2010 primaries
Democratic primary
Candidates
Electoral results
| 2010 Race for United States Senate - Democratic Primary [5] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
 Lee Fisher (D)
|
55.6% | |||
| Jennifer Brunner (D) | 44.4% | |||
| Total votes | 673,597 | |||
Finances
According to a variety of sources, as of April 2010, here is the breakdown of campaign finances for each of the candidates:
- Lee Fisher - $3.25 million [6]
- Jennifer Brunner - $677,648 [7]
Republican primary
Candidates
- Former Congressman, Robert "Rob" Jones Portman [8]
Electoral results
- Rob Portman ran unopposed
Other candidates
- Eric William Deaton, a New Lebanon electrical engineer [9] (Constitution Party)
- Daniel H. La Botz (Socialist Party USA)
- Warren P. Brown (Independent)
- Eric LaMont Gregory, an former-Oxford University scientist (Independent)
- David "Dave" Lee Myers, a small business owner (Independent)
- Stephen Lahanas [10] (Independent)
- Adam D. Shaffer, an employee of the Timken Company, based out of Canton, Ohio (Independent)
- William "Bill" G. Pierce (Independent)
- Michael L. Pryce (Independent)
Drop outs
- Steven "Steve" R. Linnabary (Libertarian) lacked the necessary number of signatures to be qualified for the ballot.
- Jeremy D. Swartz (Libertarian)
General election campaign
| United States Senate |
|---|
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| Elections, 2010 |
| Primary election dates, 2010 |
Endorsements
Polling data
Spending
Controversies
FEC disclosure violation
In the midst of her campaign to claim the Democratic nomination in the race for the United States Senate, Brunner has been accused of violating federal campaign financial disclosure laws. Rather then "list the identities and itemize the salaries of all her campaign staffers," her campaign committee has, instead, chosen to file "quarterly FEC campaign finance reports that itemize every stipend to each of her interns." [11] The issue with this, critics argue, is that it lumps the salaries of top staffers, including campaign manager David Dettman, operations manager Mary Woods and scheduler Mallory Mitchell, with those of her interns. While Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher called the claim "troubling," neither he nor Rob Portman, the likely Republican nominee in the race for the United States Senate, have filed a formal complaint with the FEC over the issue.
External links
General Election candidates
- Lee Fisher for Ohio Campaign website
- Rob Portman for U.S. Senate Campaign website
- Deaton for Senate Campaign website
- Eric LaMont Gregory for U.S. Senate Campaign website
- Dave Myers for Senate Campaign website
- Adam Shaffer for Senate Campaign website
- Swartz for U.S. Senate Campaign website
Former candidates
References
- ↑ Quinnipiac University "Ohio Gov. In Strong Re-Elect Position At Half-Way Point, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Sen. Voinovich Faces Tough Challenge In 2010" 10 Dec. 2008
- ↑ Politico "Voinovich announces retirement" 12 Jan. 2009
- ↑ Associated Press "Democrats Jennifer Brunner, Lee Fisher to run for U.S. Senate" 17 Feb. 2009
- ↑ Cleveland.com "Jennifer Brunner announces candidacy for U.S. Senate" 17 Feb. 2009
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State - 2010 Democratic Primary Election Results
- ↑ The Plain Dealer "Lee Fisher has raised more than $3.25 million for U.S. Senate race" 13 Jan. 2010
- ↑ Red State "US Senate (D-Oh!) Candidate Jennifer Brunner Needs to Fire Her Dog, Stat" 28 March, 2010
- ↑ Cleveland.com "Rob Portman stops in Cleveland on campaign kickoff tour" 15 Jan. 2009
- ↑ The Herald Dispatch "Independent candidate who ran for U.S. Senate seat" 28 Aug. 2009
- ↑ Independent Political Report "Independent candidates speak out" 26 Dec. 2009
- ↑ The Plain Dealer "Jennifer Brunner, the top Ohio elections official, isn't following federal election disclosure rules" 21 April, 2010
