Wednesday, November 10, 1999
Rhodes, Luebbers consider county commission run
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Two Delhi Township Democrats — Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes and state Rep. Jerome Luebbers — are considering becoming a tag-team duo to take on two incumbent Republican county commissioners next year.
“I think we'd make a great team,” Mr. Rhodes said. “It would be fun.”
If they decide to run, Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Luebbers, two longtime friends and former Delhi Township trustees, could end up opposing incumbent Republicans Bob Bedinghaus and John Dowlin next fall, although it's not clear who would run against whom.
The pair are among the most conservative elected Democrats in the county, and Democratic Party leaders think they would have a chance to pull in votes from Republicans and independents, as both have done in their long political careers.
Next year, Ohio's term limits law will end Mr. Luebbers' 20-year run as a state representative. Mr. Rhodes could run without risk of losing the auditor's office, which is not up for election again until 2002.
“It would only work if we did it as a team — raising money together, organizing together, with the support of the (Democratic) Party,” Mr. Rhodes said.
County Democratic Party Co-chairman Tim Burke called the possibility of a Rhodes-Luebbers ticket “an intriguing combination. The two of them together would be formidable.”
There already is one announced Democratic candidate for commissioner — Marilyn Hyland of Indian Hill, who filed her nominating petitions with the board of elections Tuesday.
Mr. Burke said that within the next month, a party screening committee will start interviewing candidates for the commissioner seats. The party, Mr. Burke said, will endorse a candidate for both the Bedinghaus and Dowlin seats, in hopes of avoiding a primary battle in March.
Mr. Luebbers said Tuesday it is “too early to tell” whether he will run for county commissioner.
“I had pretty much concluded that when I got through this term in the legislature, I'd be giving up public life,” Mr. Luebbers said. “But the idea is interesting. I've got an open mind about it.”
"It's about time'
The Delhi pair would have to decide rather quickly. Because next year's primary election has been moved up to March, the filing deadline for candidates is Jan. 7, about eight weeks away.
Mr. Rhodes, a frequent critic of the county commissioners, said he and Mr. Luebbers would be running against “the wild spending the commissioners do. The place is out of control.”
“It's about time there were some conservatives on the county commission,” Mr. Rhodes said.
Shannon Walker Jones, executive director of the county Republican Party, dismissed the speculation about a Rhodes-Luebbers ticket.
“Frankly, I'm not surprised Dusty Rhodes is talking about this again,” Ms. Jones said. “He does this every two or three years and never ends up running.”
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