Republicans Still Without a Candidate in Ohio’s 15th District

by Seth Michaels, Oct 31, 2007

Leading Republicans are running from, not for, the U.S. House seat being vacated by the incumbent next year in Ohio’s 15th District.

The seat has been held for the past 15 years by Deborah Pryce, a member of the Republican leadership who barely made it back to Congress last year. She won re-election by just a tad more than 1,000 votes, despite years of easy victories. Pryce announced this summer she wasn’t up for another campaign and would retire at the end of her eighth term.

As we noted in August, this district, which includes Columbus, was a major recruiting target for the AFL-CIO community affiliate Working America. As our blog said:

By 2006, there was a major change in Ohio 15: Working America had come to town and recruited thousands of people seeking better state and federal policies on workplace and other economic issues. And at election time, with more than two dozen canvassers and many more volunteers, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO joined with the union movement’s Labor 2006 mobilization to get out the vote for working family-backed Mary Jo Kilroy.

It’s clear the active and energetic efforts of Working America members contributed to Pryce’s decision to retire. Remarkably, little has changed since her announcement—except GOP hopes of beating Kilroy are even slimmer.

Other Republicans in the area know what Pryce figured out—this race will be difficult to win. They are unwilling to step forward—practically conceding this race to Kilroy, according to the conservative Real Clear Politics blog.

In Ohio’s 15th District, where Rep. Deborah Pryce announced her retirement in August, Republicans face an even more basic challenge: Finding a candidate to begin with. The GOP has thus far failed to recruit any serious candidate, though the NRCC [National Republican Congressional Committee] maintains it is a top priority.

Real Clear Politics suggests Kilroy may have “little more than token opposition” in her efforts to pick up a seat in Congress. If she wins this seat, she’ll have working families to thank.

For more on the 2008 election, check out Working Families Vote 2008. For more on Working America’s efforts in Ohio, check out their new blog.

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