Next year's primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Ohio may prove to be a Pyrrhic victory for the eventual winner. The three contenders - State Auditor Betty Montgomery, State Attorney General Jim Petro, and Secretary of State Ken Blackwell - have all spent years biding their time, will all turn 58 next year, and may all realize that it's now or never if they plan to compete for the state's highest office.
The most likely Democratic nominees are Columbus mayor Michael Coleman and U.S. Representative Ted Strickland.
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GOP chief fears primary fight
Civil war likely among 3 candidates for governor
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
After dining separately with his party's "Big Three" in the past several weeks, Ohio GOP Chairman Robert T. Bennett developed heartburn.
Internecine warfare is in the offing, he fretted, doubting that "I can sort this thing out" before Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, Auditor Betty D. Montgomery and Attorney General Jim Petro destroy one another in their quest to become the Republican nominee for governor in the May 2 primary election.
Bennett's three stars, all of whom will turn 58 next year, have spent at least a decade biding their time in lower statewide offices and won't be easily dissuaded from the governor's race.
"I think they each recognize this is probably their last opportunity to achieve Ohio's top executive office," Bennett said.
"This could be a $12 million primary," he lamented. "Whoever the winner is will emerge broke, severely damaged and starting probably, at the very best, even with the Democrat nominee, and that's only if the Coleman-Strickland race gets nasty, too."