Mid Term Elections (National Elections)

First things first: It's about to become mid-term election season.  This is typically where we have a backlash against the President's party.

People will go to the voting booth, mostly with their minds made up as to how they're going to vote...and very little of that mind will consider the why's.

My goal is to consider the candidates, not the party.

If they're up for reelection, have they represented me over the previous term?  Am I comfortable with that person voting for me on such key issues as immigration, energy, and financial reform?

If they're challenging the incumbent, what are they going to do different?  Do they have plans?  Positions?  Or are they just in opposition?  Are they really a better fit for the job, or are they change for change's sake?

In any event, we need to know what offices are up being contested, and by whom.  Here's Part 1 of that list!

The Races:

United States Senate

Daniel La Botz (S) vs Eric W. Deaton (C) vs Rob Portman (R) vs Lee Fisher (D)

United States House of Representives

12th District

Robert Fitrakis (G) and Travis Irvine (L) and Paula Brooks (D) challenging Pat Tiberi (R)

It's the first real set of elections since "third parties" were required to be allowed on the ballot, so the landscape of the ballot is wonderfully diverse.

I'll do a post on this later, but a quick run down is:

S = Socialist Party

C = Constitution Party

G = Green Party

L = Libertarian Party

D = Democratic Party

R = Republican Party

Tune in Tuesday for some of the State offices up for grabs and their contenders!

Congressional Race Watch 2010

Just a couple news links about people who will have their names in various electoral hats next fall!

On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed the major financial regulation overhaul bill pushed for by the Obama Administration. Pat Tiberi and Steve Austria voted against the bill, Mary Jo Kilroy voted for it.

This week the Franklin County Board of Commissioners spent $7 million on a grant to help prevent premature births and lessen the ill effects of such births. Paula Brooks (who will be challenging Pat Tiberi for his seat in Congress) is quoted by the Dispatch as saying, "We're saving our children, and we're also making sure our community is on the cutting edge of dealing with an issue that's very vexing."

That's it for today folks, tune in next week!

Congressional Race 2010

So currently, Pat Tiberi represents the 12th Congressional District here in Ohio. It's a wide ranging district, from the Northwest of Delaware all the way down to the East of Reynoldsburg. Rep. Tiberi is in his 5th term serving the district, which means he's been in office for nine years or so now.

According to his reelection website, Tiberi hopes to use his new position on the Ways and Means to promote his agenda on retirement security, making healthcare affordable, and tax reform. Before, Tiberi was on the Financial Services panel, and played a role in drafting legislation that made it easier for people to purchase homes.

Paula Brooks, Franklin County commissioner, has decided to challenge the incumbent. She's been a Franklin County commissioner since 2005, and before that served on the Upper Arlington city council for 8 years before being term-limited out.

According to Brooks' website, her strengths are a long history in the state (biographies I've read emphasize the fact her family is 10 generations American or so), fiscal responsibility (helped Franklin County maintain a AAA bond rating), expanding access to healthcare and good jobs, and promoting green policies.

Over the next year, I'll be keeping an eye out on these two and how their race is going. Digging into records, keeping up with news, all that fun stuff. So keep an eye out!