On Thursday, March 30, the Hamilton County Democratic Party held a candidates forum at the old 20th Century movie theater in Oakley. The chief focus of the evening was on candidates running in Ohio’s First and Second congressional districts. Five Democrats are competing in the Second Congressional District in the May 2 primary for the opportunity to face the Republican primary winner, either incumbent Jean Schmidt or challenger Bob McEwen. The five Democrats are Dr. Victoria Wulsin, Thor Jacobs, Gaby Downey, Jeff Sinnard, and Jim Parker.
The lone Democratic candidate in the First District is John Cranley, who will face the Republican incumbent Steve Chabot in the fall. Before the forum started there was an informal gathering for the candidates to mingle with the Democratic faithful in attendance.
Keynote speaker for the event was Paul Hackett, who was narrowly defeated by Jean Schmidt last year in the special electcion to fill the Second District seat vacated when Rob Portman was appointed to another position in the Bush administration.
The charismatic Hackett had considered running in the May 2 primary for U.S. Senate but withdrew from that race in favor of Democrat Sherrod Brown, who will attempt to unseat Republican Senator Mike DeWine in the fall. Hackett is not running for a political position this year, but he stirred the audience with a rousing speech without endorsing any of the candidates.
During the forum, Cranley spoke briefly before leaving to attend to his father, who had just gone through major surgery. Then the Second District candidates each got their turn to speak briefly on what they stood for and what they would bring to the office if they were elected. These introductory remarks were followed by questions from the audience, to which they each had two minutes to respond. Healthcare and abortion were chief among the topics covered.
For information on Dr. Victoria Wulsin and Gaby Downey, read feature articles about them in this issue. For more information on Thor Jacobs, Jim Parker, and Jeff Sinnard, check out their websites at the following addresses:
http://www.jacobsforcongress.org/
http://www.jimparker4ad.blogspot.com/
http://www.sinnard.com/