Monday, February 15, 1999
GOP looking for defectors
Democrats on city councils their target
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT WRIGHT — Fort Wright Councilmen Tom Franxman and Don Martin were the first. The Kenton County GOP is looking for as many as 48 more.
With no local elections this year and only token opposition to Democratic Gov. Paul Patton, the Kenton County Republican Party has kicked off a campaign to recruit city council members who are registered Democrats into the GOP fold.
If successful, the party — which for the last several years has dominated local elections — could swell its ranks even more and begin to cultivate talent for future races.
“We have never as a party really reached out to nonpartisan elected officials,” said Greg Shumate, a Villa Hills lawyer and chairman of the Kenton County Republican Executive Committee.
“The city councils and commissions in the county are very fertile ground, with maybe 50 or so people we can target,” he said.
Good luck, say Democratic leaders in Kenton County.
They think recent events, including the election last year of Boone County Democrat Ken Lucas to the U.S. House and the GOP's inability to field a credible candidate for the governor's race, could begin to stem the tide of Republican successes in Kenton County.
“I don't think they'll get people to switch on a wholesale level,” said Peggy Zeil of Covington, a member of the Kenton County Democratic Women's Club.
“They might get a couple of individuals ... but I think people are beginning to shift back to the Democrats. We might not get many Republicans to switch, but I do think Democrats who were thinking about switching won't change parties now.”
Fort Wright Councilman Dave Hatter, a member of the GOP's executive committee, is working on the recruiting drive. He landed the first two party-switchers of the campaign, helping fellow councilmen Martin and Franxman make the move from Democrat to Republican.
“I've heard both make com ments on council that were very Republican-oriented,” Mr. Hatter said. “Both seemed like conservatives and neither was very active in the Democratic Party as far as I could tell.”
Mr. Hatter said he approached Mr. Martin and Mr. Franxman about switching parties, even offering to go the courthouse and pick up new voter registration cards.
For Mr. Martin, 63, the decision was easy because of the impeachment of President Clinton.
“I think Bill Clinton is without a doubt the lowest form of life going,” Mr. Martin said. “I don't want to be associated with the party he belongs to.”
He also respects and likes new Kenton Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd, a former state lawmaker.
“He's my kind of people.”
Mr. Franxman, 57, has been voting for Republican candidates for so long even his children didn't know he was a Democrat.
“Most of my kids registered Republican because that's what they thought I was,” he said. “I'm conservative, and I like the Republican platform, so I just decided to go ahead and change parties.”
Edgewood Councilman John Middleton, a GOP executive committee member also working on the recruitment drive, said city councils are a good place to find potential Republican candidates.
“Getting council members to switch not only gives us more people in the party and some possible county or statehouse candidates some day,” Mr. Middleton said, “but it also gives us people involved in politics on the local, grass-roots level.
“Those people have already proven they know how to work in their communities to get elected, and they know the issues local governments have to face,” he said.
Mr. Shumate said the Republican Party already has several council members involved on the executive committee, including Beth Rose of Fort Mitchell and Steve Kramer of Villa Hills, as well as Mr. Hatter and Mr. Middleton.
Kenton County Magistrate Steve Hoffman, an active Democratic Party member from Park Hills, said the GOP effort is destined to fail.
“The Republicans like to talk big, like how they were going to beat Ken Lucas and Paul Patton, and looked what happened,” Mr. Hoffman said.
“We're coming back, we're not sitting back and maybe we'll start going after some of their guys,” he said.
Mrs. Zeil said the Democrats have at least three events planned this year: A March 27 Jackson Day Dinner, a pig roast in the summer and a jamboree in the fall.
“There's not much going on this year with elections, so we're going to work hard on building the party,” she said.
How is he driving? Like a hero on wheels
Single motorists can now do their cruising on the Internet
Execution could speed others
'Jeopardy!' victories hollow
Jeopardy! holds local tryouts
Man who beheaded wife is called all better
Some schools reclaim 'church night'
Eyes on Lebanon in risky cable war
Local mourners remember Hussein's humanity
Arts Fund aims high for 50th anniversary
CSO names maestro search committee
6 charged after brouhaha at teen club
Edgewood officials seek more space
GOP looking for defectors
Group cheers the elderly on holidays
Group to present alternate to 12th St. widening
Helping hand extended for Erica
Kasich returning heads back to Ohio to start presidential bid
Noise 'more than we can bear'
Real-life lesson on the presidency
TRISTATE DIGEST
