INDIANAPOLIS - Some Ohio Republicans had to cross the border to Indiana this weekend to see the clearest signs yet that Ohio Treasurer J. Kenneth Blackwell is serious about running for governor.
Mr. Blackwell, the former Cincinnati mayor and councilman,
has yet to formally announce that he will take on Ohio Secretary of State Bob Taft, a fellow Cincinnatian and the clear favorite of the state party organization for the 1998 GOP gubernatorial nomination.
But at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, where 1,300 party activists from 13 states gathered, Mr. Blackwell kept a high profile and sent out clear signals to the Ohio delegates and the national media that he has no intention of backing off a fight with Mr. Taft.
Blackwell aides passed out small "Blackwell for Ohio Gover nor" stickers, which some of the Ohio delegates wore around the Indiana Convention Center; Saturday night, Mr. Blackwell hosted a "cigar and beverage reception" for Buckeye Republicans at Ybor's Martini and Cigar Bar in a downtown shopping mall.
The stickers, Mr. Blackwell said Saturday, "mean what they say."
"There's a psychology behind the stickers for me," Mr. Blackwell said. "Just seeing them has highlighted the reality of the challenge for me."
Ohio Republican Party officials are hoping to talk Mr. Blackwell into either running for re-election as treasurer or running for Mr. Taft's job, secretary of state, before the candidate filing deadline next February. They want to avoid a potentially divisive battle in the May primary that could leave the eventual GOP gubernatorial nominee drained for the fall battle against former Attorney General Lee Fisher, the likely Democratic nominee.
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said Saturday he has talked to Mr. Blackwell about the possibility of running for secretary of state. It is one of three offices - the other two being governor and auditor - that control seats on the state's apportionment board, which will draw new legislative district lines after the 2000 census. Control of the apportionment board will be the primary goal of both the Ohio Democratic and Republican parties in 1998.
"I don't know what he is going to do," Mr. Bennett said. "Ken is a star on the national level. He is one of the smartest people I have met in 30 years in politics. I think he is going to ultimately make a decision that will be best for him and best for the party." But Mr. Blackwell said Saturday he has told Mr. Bennett and other party leaders "there is only one apportionment board office I am interested in, and it is not secretary of state."
Mr. Taft did not attend the Midwest GOP conference in Indianapolis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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