Petro Pipes Up; Blackwell yet to quiet down

Just days after the unveiled attacks of Blackwell, Petro's opposition, Petro moves forward with little hesitation, and little recognition of his opponents claims.

According to Dayton Dailey news, Petro gave a speech to about 20 business and politcal leaders in Miami county. A direct quote from the article states:
"He focused on his plans to reduce the number of Cabinet-level departments to nine from 23 and cut the state work force by 11,500, for a savings of $1 billion. This will help free up money for higher education and economic development, he said."

It appears as though Jim Petro's main theme was "refurbishing" Ohio's relationship with other states and nations.

Meanwhile, Blackwell gave a speech at the Lima convention center where he continued to accuse Petro of many things, among them being reckless spending, and poor ethics.

It appears that both Mr. Petro as well as Mr. Blackwell are quite ambitious in seeking support around the state to strengthen their campaignes. It should be interesting to see how the cards play out.

Rough week for Petro

It's been a rough week for Jim Petro in his race for Governor. According to Cleveland.com, most of this can be attributed to the blatant attacks of his honesty and integrity made by competitor Ken Blackwell. While Petro was not the only one targeted in several TV commercials, set to begin airring today, he definitly took a blow. An excerpt from the article states: Petro's campaign manager, Bob Paduchik, said he hadn't seen the ads and responded with a one-sentence comment: "Ken Blackwell's campaign of lies will not distract voters from his failed policies and his out-of-control spending record."

In addition to the commercials, an alligation is now being made that the "Republican Party's officials were secretly promoting Petro, while pretending to remain neutral," as was also stated on Cleveland.com.

It doesn't appear that things are looking very bright for him, seeing all the allegations and drama surrounding his race for Governor. With the primaries steadily approaching, one would hope that a little luck will come his way. That's all for now, check back soon for updates.

New Running Mate For Petro: Will It Help Him?

According to the Dayton Daily News and the Toledo Blade, yesterday, January 30th, 2006, Jim Petro announced his new running mate: State Senator Joy Padgett (R). Padgett is to replace Phil Heimlich, who dropped out of the race in early January. Joy Padgett has served eight years in the Ohio House and five years as director of the Ohio Office of Appalachia.
There seems to be much skepticism regarding Padgett's running history and methods. Many cite her 2004 campaign for senate in regards to what can be expected of her now. It seems that Susan Gwinn, chairman of the Athens county Democratic Party may have a point. She said, "Ms. Padgett comes into the race with a lot of baggage from the 2004 campaign". Susan Gwinn points to Ms. Padgett's somewhat untactful, accusing strategies used to help her gain her seat in 2004 with this quote.
Time will tell just what Joy Padgett has brought to the table, and if and how she will influence her running mate's strategies/stances. The primary election is scheduled for May 2nd, 2006. Updates on Jim Petro and his progress/weekly news will be frequent and forthcoming.

Sources:
www.toledoblade.com
www.daytondailynew.com