From Wenzel Strategies:

TO: Yost for Auditor of State campaign
FR: Fritz Wenzel, President, Wenzel Strategies
RE: Statewide survey of likely voters in the race for Ohio Auditor of State

Wenzel Strategies conducted a telephone survey of likely voters statewide in Ohio to gauge voter sentiment of the race for Auditor of State. The poll was conducted June 30-July 1, 2010, and included 597 respondents. The survey carries a margin of error of +/- 3.99 percentage points.

Republican Dave Yost of Delaware County maintains a double-digit lead over Democrat David Pepper of Hamilton County, our recent survey of likely voters statewide in Ohio shows. This lead for Yost stands among those who are firmly committed in their choice for state auditor (Yost leads Pepper 32% to 22% among “firm” voters) and among all voters, including those who are leaning toward supporting one of the candidates but who could change their minds before voting.

Among all voters, Yost leads Pepper by a 46% to 28% margin.

One in four voters – 26% – said they were undecided about for whom to vote in the race for state auditor. This race is important because it the auditor fills one of five seats on the Ohio state Apportionment Board, the entity that draws legislative boundaries for state senate and state representative districts. The political party which controls the Apportionment Board has a distinct advantage in determining which party will control the General Assembly for the ensuing decade.

A significant factor boosting Yost at this early point in the General Election campaign is the support each candidate wins from their respective political parties. Pepper wins just 45% “firm” support from fellow Democrats, while another 12% of Democrats said that they are leaning toward supporting Pepper, for a combined support level among Democrats of 57%.

The support for Yost among fellow Republicans in much stronger. Among the GOP, 58% of voters say they are “firm” in their support of Yost, and another 16% of Republicans say they are leaning toward supporting Yost. This combined total 74% is very strong, as the average statewide candidate in Ohio who is successful needs nearly 80% support among their own political party in order to secure a victory statewide. Given that 21% of Republicans are yet undecided in this contest, Yost’s upside among his own political base is tremendous.

Worth noting is the fact that 22% of Democrats said they are either firm or leaning toward voting for the Republican Yost, while just 6% of Republicans said they are firm or leaning toward voting for Pepper. This reflects a national trend in which Republicans are seen as much more trustworthy than Democrats in terms of elective offices.

Geographically, Yost is stronger than one might expect in traditional Democratic Party strongholds across the northern tier of Ohio. In fact, Yost leads in every region of the state. Pepper trails Yost by a surprising margin in Northeast Ohio, where Democrats need to run strong to win statewide, as well as in his geographic “base” of Southwest Ohio. This means Pepper will have the added challenge of holding his base, while swimming upstream against a Republican tide in 2010. Properly funded, Dave Yost stands an excellent chance of winning this race.

Fantastic news…. Now let’s turn this into actual campaign donations for Dave Yost.

From his column in the Akron Beacon Urinal:

In 2009, Morgan was the keynote speaker at the April 15 Tea Party rally in downtown Dayton. While many politicians, including conservatives, were trying to test the wind before joining the new movement, Morgan didn’t hesitate. One could argue he was a Tea Partyer before it was cool.

”It’s an expression of the frustration people have that their government is not listening,” Morgan said. ”The stakes are high, and I’m anxious for victory because it will give the Tea Party a certain degree of validation.”

Yost is the endorsed candidate of the Ohio Republican Party. Normally, the power, finances and reach of the state party would be enough to squash opposition from someone like Morgan.[...]

Morgan received the Ohio Tea Party endorsement for auditor. He also has picked up support from numerous county Republican parties, including Summit.

Yost lashed out at Alex Arshinkoff, Summit County Republican chairman, for scheduling the screening process last month when he could not attend because he was in court prosecuting a corrupt politician in Athens County.

”The Summit County chairman proceeded with his process anyway, despite knowing I could not participate. He had previously personally endorsed my opponent. Summit County is widely regarded as one of the last true ‘machine’ counties in the state, and there was no doubt that the fix was in,” Yost stated in a late March news release.

Arshinkoff cannot be blamed for Morgan being endorsed by the county parties in Cuyahoga, Lake and Montgomery.

Taylor is also backing Morgan.

She has criticized a plan offered by Yost for the state auditor to be involved with the legislature and governor in drafting a two-year state budget.

Taylor believes there could be a conflict of interest if the auditor plays a role in writing the budget, but then must come in after and audit the state’s financial books.

And in the process, I think they are trying to tell conservatives that Seth Morgan is more conservative?

Mr. Yost, 53, is a county prosecutor. He has been Delaware County auditor and has worked for former Gov. George Voinovich and former Columbus Mayor Buck Rinehart. Before politics, he was a newspaper reporter.

His breadth of experience and his specific record in managing a county prosecutor’s office — with about 25 employees — trump the CPA credential. Mary Taylor is the only Ohio auditor to have been a CPA. The job entails running a large operation, not actually doing audits.

The two men don’t have dramatically different plans for the auditor’s office. But Rep. Morgan talks about farming more work out to private accountants. Mr. Yost doesn’t necessarily oppose that direction, but does respond that “privatization” in government work can sometimes go too far.

And Rep. Morgan talks about using the auditor’s job as a “bully pulpit,” whereas Mr. Yost minimizes that role.

Rep. Morgan’s conservatism extends even to the point of voting against the Third Frontier, which is endorsed by the Republican Party and got the vote, for example, of William Batchelder, the conservative leader of House Republicans.

Rep. Morgan says that people are looking for an alternative to the “muddy middle,” that they want stronger, more principled leadership. In effect, he’s calling for more polarization, exactly what the state and country do not need.

Mr. Yost’s mature demeanor is more likely to instill confidence in the good intentions of the office than the demeanor of the tightly wound, ideologically rigid, ambitious young politician.

For prudent, relatively non-political management of a position that should be non-political and non-ideological, the better bet is David Yost.

Conservatives can disagree, but I don’t think I’ve found a function in government that I wouldn’t like to see privatized,  if not eliminated.

And by “tightly wound,” I suppose the Dayton Daily News is lamenting that Morgan isn’t malleable enough to choose the politically expedient thing of supporting the Third Frontier, and the potential fundraising dollars that could have come from him changing his vote?

Prosecutor Yost is staunchly conservative too. But The Dayton Daily News editorial board really did him no favors by downplaying that fact. If I was Seth Morgan’s fundraiser, I’d send this endorsement to conservative donors.

Not sure how big the buy could be with both candidates for Auditor having about $100k on hand, but it’s a good ad:

Bizarre stuff from Dave Yost’s website:

Management and people skills and a practical view of how to get things done will best serve the holder of this office. And, given the broad responsibilities of the office, including participation in reapportionment, a lawyer’s training is at least as valuable as an accountant’s.”

Dave’s opponent is a member of the state legislature, the very place responsible for the out-of-control spending of Columbus.  With tax day upon us, let’s rise up and say “no more!”. Let’s get to work fixing the mess in Columbus and holding government officials accountable.

Sorry, but to argue that the minority caucus of the Ohio House wanted anything to do with Ted Strickland’s 4.2% retroactive income tax increase for 2009 is absurd, especially when directing those comments at a proud member of the so-called “Caveman Caucus” like Rep. Seth Morgan.

And Morgan’s campaign is furious:

“This attack on Seth Morgan, all Republican members of the Ohio House, including Treasurer Candidate Josh Mandel, as being responsible for the out-of-control spending in Columbus is nonsensical, reckless and is inaccurate,” said Rob Scott, Communications Director for Friends of Seth Morgan.

Seth Morgan, was handpicked by one of the most respected conservative leaders around Ohio, Minority Leader William Batchelder, to serve as the House Republican Caucus’ Policy Committee. Morgan has been one of the most aggressive and outspoken members of the Ohio Legislature, leading the charge on holding Columbus accountable and implementing conservative ideals.

On Nov. 17, 2009, Ohio House Republican Policy Committee Chairman, Seth Morgan, CPA along with his colleagues, unveiled a package of ten proposals to spur government reform, streamline efficiency, and strengthen accountability and transparency in state government, while working to reduce the economic turmoil suffered by families across Ohio.

“Yost is clearly uneducated about Seth Morgan, House Minority Leader Bill Batchelder, Treasurer-candidate Josh Mandel, Ron Maag, John Adams, and other members who are fighting to cut spending in the state budget,” said Scott.

Contained in the proposals are plans to reestablish the Legislative Budget Office to provide nonpartisan financial oversight; restructure state government by streamlining the executive branch; examine Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse; require conference committee reports to be publicly available for 48 hours prior to being considered by the House or Senate; and identify other areas of wasteful, inefficient spending. The Ohio House Republican Caucus offered these proposals as bills in the Ohio House and as amendments to the Ohio budget. These ideas have been silenced or ignored by Democrats, the House Majority Party.

The April 14th campaign communication is another example of Dave Yost and his campaign misleading Ohioans or simply using a “ready, fire, aim” approach to communicating.

* First, Dave Yost and his campaign were misleading on campaign literature and websites in February when Yost was described as “the only auditor in the race.” As a Certified Public Accountant, by definition, Seth Morgan is an auditor. We applaud the Yost campaign for changing their phrasing.

* Second, Dave Yost and his campaign associated themselves with an individual who pled guilty to public corruption charges. After the Friends of Seth Morgan drew attention to the problem, Yost fired back and aggressively defended the spokesperson. The individual, who served as an advisor and spokesperson for Dave Yost and his campaign, is apparently no longer the spokesperson for the campaign. We applaud the Yost campaign for apparently removing this spokesperson.

* Third, Dave Yost sent a scathing statement via email on March 20, 2010 attacking the Summit County Republican Party Central Committee members for endorsing Seth Morgan, CPA by saying, “Summit County is widely regarded as one of the last true “machine” counties in the state, and there was no doubt that the fix was in.” Unlike the endorsement process used when Yost garnered the endorsement by the Ohio Republican Party and four of the five County endorsements he has won, it is our understanding that both candidates were invited to participate in the endorsement process in Summit County.

* Fourth, Dave Yost’s proposed Ohio budget commission would create a conflict of interest for the Ohio Auditor’s office. Morgan expressed concern over his opponent’s proposal. Several days later, the current Auditor of State, Mary Taylor, voiced concerns over keeping the independence of the Auditor’s office if Yost’s plan was enacted in an interview airing on Sunday, April 11, 2010.

“It is our hope that Dave Yost and his campaign exercise caution before sending communications attacking Seth Morgan, fellow Republicans in the Ohio House, as well as a Republican statewide candidate, for the direction of the Ohio House, of which they do not control the agenda,” Scott said.

“It appears that Dave Yost is running an off-the-cuff, nonsensical campaign. Seth Morgan is the most qualified candidate for the Auditor of State office and is the best candidate to run against Democrat David Pepper in November.”

I would say the relationship between the House Republican caucus and Yost is probably already touchy, considering that legislators who endorsed Morgan were not allowed to use the Ohio GOP’s bulk mail rate until I started talking about the situation. So, in effect, efforts to armtwist support for the Ohio GOP’s endorsed candidate for Auditor were making it more expensive for Republicans to win the majority and cut taxes in the future.

Yost’s campaign should retract their statement.

From the Seth Morgan for Auditor campaign:

The Shelby County Republican Party endorsed Seth Morgan, CPA for Auditor of State today. The county party required greater than 2/3rds of the vote in order to endorse a candidate.

“At the end of the day, members voted for the candidate who in their view had the best chance of winning the seat in November. We were happy to trust Seth with our greater than 2/3rds majority vote to endorse,” said Christopher R. Gibbs, Chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party.
“This endorsement is a validation that Seth Morgan continues to receive a tidal wave of support across Ohio and he is the most qualified to be Ohio’s next auditor,” said Rob Scott, Communications Director for Friends of Seth Morgan.

Rep. John Adams spoke on Morgan’s behalf, as he was at the Cuyahoga County GOP Lincoln Dinner.

I’m surprised more people didn’t vote for Morgan, as not only is Adams an eloquent speaker on behalf of the conservative cause, but as a former Navy SEAL he could literally kill anyone in the room with 1 finger poke.

From the Seth Morgan for Auditor campaign:

Associated Builders and Contractors of Ohio, Inc. (ABC of Ohio) announced its unanimous endorsement of Seth Morgan, CPA for Auditor of State on Friday, March 26.

“As state representative, Seth Morgan demonstrated he has the character and strength to be a strong, independent and trustworthy watchdog of the Ohio treasury,” said Thaddeus Claggett, Chairman of the ABC of Ohio board.

Associated Builders and Contractors is the largest construction association devoted to the merit shop contractor. ABC of Ohio is comprised of three Ohio chapters, representing nearly 1,000 companies. In all, 77 chapters in a nationwide federation represent 25,000 member companies with 2 million employees across the U.S.

“Seth’s strong support in the business community is a validation that business leaders want a certified public accountant in the auditor’s office. He has the record as city councilman and state representative of supporting policies that help businesses grow,” Claggett said.

From the Buckeye Firearms Association:

The Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA) has asked the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) to issue a correction to a press release published on the party’s website March 24.

The release, entitled “Yost Endorsed by Buckeye Firearms for Auditor of State“, failed to report that Yost and his primary opponent Rep. Seth Morgan, both received endorsements.

“In failing to make that important distinction, it appears the Ohio Republican Party hopes to mislead voters into thinking our political action committee issued a singular endorsement to Yost,” said Jim Irvine, BFA Chairman. “Buckeye Firearms Association will not ‘choose between friends’ in this primary race, and has issued a dual endorsement of Seth Morgan and Dave Yost. It is frustrating that Republican voters, which were until recently looking forward the prospect of voting for pro-gun candidates in many statewide races, are now facing a situation where one race (for attorney general) is left without a strong candidate on our issue, while in the auditor’s race, one staunch friend will surely lose.”

ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine has not responded to BFA’s request for a correction in a timely manner. As such, it became necessary to issue a public statement denouncing the misleading press release.

Update: The vote was for a charter change that put the vote to the people of Huber Heights for a vote for money for police and firefighters, 80% was “temporary.” So Seth did not vote for a tax increase directly. And later, in 2008, the city tax decrease on the ballot he championed was successful.

From a Right Ohio reader:

Seth Morgan, who loves to claim the endorsement of the tax-hating Tea Party, voted to raise taxes by 15% while he was a city councilman in Huber Heights.

On August 22, 2005, then-councilman Seth Morgan voted FOR an ordinance increasing the city income tax by three-tenths of a percent. If you made $50,000 a year and lived in his city, Morgan took an extra $150 out of your pocket. You can find the vote at the bottom of page three of the minutes, here:

http://www.ci.huber-heights.oh.us/documents/CouncilMinutes8-22-05_001.pdf

That’s a tax hike, right there.

Morgan talks about how he voted to cut taxes in 2008 (while he was running for state representative) but that cut was only .25 percent. Even if we give him credit for cutting taxes in an election year, he took $150 out of your pocket, gave back $125 and kept $25 for the bureaucrats and tax-takers.

And you still paid the $150 in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

You don’t have to be a CPA to figure out that’s not a tax cut, it’s a tax hike.

You have to wonder if he told the Tea Party PAC about what he did in 2005. Do you think they might have cared?

(The 2005 income tax rate was 1.95%. Morgan voted for an ordinance that increased the rate to 2.25%, a difference of .3%. .3/1.95=15%. Morgan’s election-year tax cut only took the rate down to 2.0% — still higher than he found it. The tax rates can be found on the city’s web site, here: http://www.ci.huber-heights.oh.us/tax_2.html)

Update: I’ve been told it’s a duel endorsement. No fun!

From the Dave Yost for Auditor campaign:

The Buckeye Firearms Association has endorsed Dave Yost for Auditor of State.

“Dave Yost is a strong defender of your right to keep and bear arms. As a prosecutor he has ensured that license holders in Delaware County were not charged for crimes simply because the legislature passed a flawed law,” said Buckeye Firearms Association President Jim Irvine of Strongsville.

As Prosecuting Attorney, Yost filed an Amicus Brief with the US Supreme Court in the Heller case, a key ruling upholding the rights of gun owners.

“I’m proud of this endorsement, make no mistake,” said Yost, a conservative who has championed second amendment rights. “I’ve walked the walk on Second Amendment rights, standing up for Americans and the constitution. I’m proud to stand with the members of this organization.”

Yost has been endorsed by the Ohio Republican Party, 98% of Ohio’s Republican County Auditors, three-fourths of Ohio’s Republican Senators, over 70% of Ohio’s Republican County Prosecutors, the Belmont, Delaware, Muskingum, Preble and Putnam County Republican Parties, Ken Blackwell, and now the Buckeye Firearms Association.

But on Twitter, Seth Morgan also thanked the Buckeye Firearms Association today for their endorsement of Morgan.

Why? Probably because the BFA was included in the long list of TEA party associated organizations which will only make one endorsement this election cycle- and that endorsement went to Morgan.

Stay tuned for more endorsement drama from the Ohio Auditors race!

From Seth Morgan’s campaign for Auditor:

Auditor of State candidate Seth Morgan, CPA was endorsed by the Miami County Republican Party Convention on Sunday and unanimously endorsed by the Summit County Republican Party on Saturday.

“These endorsements show the momentum and breadth of support that Seth Morgan has and why he is best suited to be Ohio’s next auditor,” said Rob Scott, Friends of Seth Morgan Communications Director. “The people have chosen their candidate and its Seth Morgan.”

The Miami County Republican Party Convention is the only county which holds a convention which is similiar to the national political party conventions. The members and delegates at the convention overwhelmingly endorsed Seth Morgan for Auditor of State. Both Seth Morgan, CPA and Delaware Prosecutor Dave Yost were in attendance at the convention.

From the Seth Morgan for Auditor campaign:

Auditor of State candidate Seth Morgan, CPA was endorsed by both the Scioto County Republican Party and the Mansfield North Central Tea Party on Tuesday, March 9.

“Seth Morgan clearly is the peoples’ candidate for Auditor of State,” said Rob Scott, Friends of Seth Morgan Communications Director. “Not only is he garnering support of county Republican parties across Ohio, but also is supported by the Tea Party movement. Ohio Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine said just this week what an integral role the tea party movement will play in this year’s election.”

Additionally, the Knox County Republican Party , which neighbors Delaware County, chose not to endorse either candidate in the Auditor of State’s race but to allow the voters in Knox County make their endorsement on May 4.

Team Morgan is really racking up the county endorsements.

I’m waiting for the Yost’s campaign announcement of their endorsement from Belmont County. Their Chairman, Kent Moore, is not exactly a Morgan fan.

So what’s David Pepper up to lately, other than spending his allowance from his parents?

This morning, the Seth Morgan for Ohio Auditor campaign sent out a press release noting they were endorsed by Family First PAC:

Auditor of State candidate Seth Morgan, CPA was endorsed by Family First PAC for Auditor of State.

“Family First is honored to endorse Representative Seth Morgan CPA for Auditor of State. Seth Morgan has a proven record on the issues of limited government, school choice, pro-life, the sanctity of marriage, and responsible spending and taxation,” said Lori Viars, Executive Director of Family First.

“Seth has proven himself as a solid fiscal conservative and social conservative, as well as a man of integrity. With his credentials and experience as a CPA, Ohioans could not ask for a more qualified watchdog for our tax dollars,” Viars said.

Family First is a conservative political action committee serving Ohio and Northern Kentucky. More info can be found at www.familyfirstpac.org.

In other news, I’m quite concerned that Dave Yost’s campaign spokesman is Matt Borges. He recently worked on the John McCain campaign for President and has worked with Congressman John Boehner, but he is most famous for his role in the scandals that took place in the office of former Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters (Deters is now the Hamilton Count Prosecutor).

I don’t point this out, Seth Morgan and David Pepper would be more than happy to.

This is from The Cincinnati Enquirer (July 28, 2004):

COLUMBUS – Two top associates of state Treasurer Joseph Deters pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor charges involving campaign fund raising.

The guilty pleas of former Deters chief-of-staff Matthew Borges and former fund-raiser Eric Sagun conclude a year-long investigation by a grand jury in Cuyahoga County that threatened Deters’ ambitions to run for attorney general in 2006.

Deters, a former Hamilton County prosecutor and county Republican Party chairman, testified before the grand jury in June and will not face criminal charges, said Thomas Sammon, special Cuyahoga County prosecutor assigned to investigate the case.

Borges, 32, of Columbus pleaded guilty to one count of improper use of public office, a misdemeanor, and was fined $1,000 by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Eileen Gallagher. Court documents said he gave preferential treatment to certain brokers who made contributions to Deters’ re-election campaign.

Sagun, 35, of Columbus pleaded guilty to one count of election law violations and was fined $5,000.

Court documents said he solicited a $50,000 donation from Cleveland broker Frank Gruttadauria in December 2001 for the Hamilton County Republican Party when the two intended the money to benefit Deters’ re-election campaign.

At the time, Sagun was raising money for Deters and the Hamilton County Republican Party.

Gruttadauria is in prison for bilking his clients out of $125 million.

He has admitted masking the donation to Deters by running it through the county party’s operating fund – a secret account that can accept unlimited, undisclosed donations.

He also admitted to repaying clients and employees $7,000 for donations they made to Deters’ campaign.[...]

Sammon, who worked out the plea agreements, said if Borges is so convinced of his innocence, he should vacate his plea and go to trial.

“He pled guilty and is admitting to the charges,” he said. “How is he now saying he only did this for convenience sake?”

SG Cowen Corp. and Lehman Brothers Inc. hired Gruttadauria, and from 1999 to 2001 they did a combined $5.9 billion in investment trades with Deters’ office.

“If one reads what (Borges) admitted doing, he used the power of his office to gain favorable treatment for vendors that did business with the office,” Sammon said.

“To me, that’s a very serious offense.”

An attorney for Sagun did not return messages seeking comment.

Deters issued a one-sentence statement.

“I feel badly for Matt and Eric, but I understand why they wanted to bring this matter to an end,” Deters said.

I am all for redemption and second chances in life. Every one in life, at some point, sins and falls short of expectations.

But I don’t think you should get this type of second chance in public life if you are out there accepting $50,000 of kickbacks on behalf of state wide officials. And this was only what they could prove in court- PACs were set up to funnel in hundreds of thousands of dollars for firms that wanted to handle the tobacco money (the same money which Strickland is squandering), Firth Third Securities was fined $1 million for pay-to-play which also included $250,000 of donations in employee contributions to Deters, and 5 Columbus brokers exchanged $125,000 in campaign contributions for millions in state contracts. What happened in Joe Deters’ office, over and over again, was criminal, and certainly added to the toxic climate for Republicans that would eventually sweep them out of all but one state-wide office and out of the Ohio House majority in 2006.

The rumor is that this job was arranged by Jo Ann Davidson and the Franklin County GOP Chairman as a way to attempt to control Yost’s office if he is successful in November against the spoiled brat rich boy David Pepper. Other party insiders think that is a huge stretch to assume.

What would Borges end up being in the Auditor’s office? Yost’s official bribe taker? Dave Yost has such a fantastic record of fighting crime as a prosecutor and ensuring his office is run with the highest ethical scandals… so he really couldn’t have found someone more counter to his principles than Matt Borges.

From Seth Morgan:

---

The Office of Auditor is very important to Ohio Republicans, if for no other reason than to have a seat on the apportionment board. With the announcement of Mary Taylor leaving the office to be John Kasich’s running mate, I think it is fair to say all political observers were surprised as to how there was apparently no preparation for her departure. And now, under the woeful incompetence of Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine, we will have a primary. oh boy!

On my Twitter account, I beat the spry Dayton Daily reporter William Herhsey by 4 minutes that Dave Yost will officially drop out of the race for Ohio Attorney General today (Monday) at 2:30 at the Ohio Republican Party headquarters in Columbus.

This is bad news for all of you concerned about seeing the reemergence of liberal former Senator Mike “gang of 14″ DeWine, with his F rating from the NRA and lack of principles, helped create the environment that swept Sherrod Brown, Barack Obama, and the Democrat majority into office. DeWine, who has been campaigning with mass emails about his wife’s lousy recipes, had a serious Republican challenger in Dave Yost, a tough-as-nails Prosecutor from Delaware County who was already been endorsed by 5 county parties. DeWine, with his support for entrenched special interests and the same lawfirms who wish to trade campaign contributions for special counsel work, was about to recieve the Janette Bradley primary-election treatment.

It is sad to see Kevin DeWine work so hard to clear the field for his second cousin.

However, Dave Yost has experience working as Delaware County auditor between 1999-2003. In addition to being an ethical principled conservative, he is a tireless campaigner.

Would I rather see Dave Yost screw with the party leadership and run for an office where his passion clearly is? Of course. But having Yost anywhere on the statewide ticket is fantastic.

This is not to discount State Representative Seth Morgan, another principled conservative who has taken the additional step of having his campaign run by tea party coordinators, many of which I know personally and would consider friends.

Morgan is credentialed for the job as a Certified Public Accountant. However, since Mary Taylor was Ohio’s first Auditor who was also a CPA, apparently voters don’t see this as an essential requirement.

He has also accomplished much more than most 31 year olds. He is an accomplished financial advisor to small and medium sized businesses. And, while elected to city council at age 23, helped pass major tax reform in the city Huber Heights.

However, he did lose his race in 2006 for county auditor. In addition, his important lawsuit against Gov. Ted Strickland to release details about his so-called “evidance based” education reform was ultimately unsuccessful.

Regardless, I couldn’t be a bigger fan of Morgan’s fire-breathing conservatism.

And the dark horse in this race is Franklin County Auditor Rob Montgomery, who has served in his current elected office since 2000. He is a principled conservative that I had the pleasure of meeting in 2006, when he was Ken Blackwell’s second choice to run for Lt. Governor.

The word is that Montgomery would have been the party’s choice instead of Yost, but Montgomery has been hesitant about announcing. But with a campaign fund of $400,000, he can transfer most that through the Ohio GOP accounts and other means into this race immediately.

I am almost 100% certain that Rob Montgomery will run, and he could quickly become the choice of the Republican establishment. Not only would this put Dave Yost into a similar position that he is currently as the outsider candidate for AG and he could lose anyway.

It pains me to write about this race at all, because I have so much respect for the three candidates running and are all incalculably better than Mike DeWine or Jon Husted. They are all fantastic candidates who can breath life into an otherwise soulless, lifeless Ohio Republican Party which is counting on voters growing opposition to President Obama to sweep them back into power.

The Kasich campaign, the ORP, and Chairman Kevin DeWine should have planned to avoid a primary mess completely so attacks could be focused on David “don’t shoot! just drive me to an ATM” Pepper.

Stay tuned!

State Rep. Seth Morgan, a principled conservative, announced today he is running to replace Lt. Gov-candidate Mary Taylor as Ohio Auditor.

Here is video from the press conference in the State House Crypt from this morning. I’m not sure if there could have been a better way to tick off the liberal Ohio state house news corps than to actively embrace the tea party movement like this:

Update: Seth may have a primary challenger already: Dave Yost.