Saturday, February 19, 2000
County race down to one
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — The election for Campbell County Commonwealth Attorney in November has been decided.
Citing what he said would be a difficult campaign, Republican Pete Coughlan, a Newport attorney, has dropped out of the race.
That leaves Democrat Jack Porter of Fort Thomas, an assistant commonwealth attorney for the last 10 years, unopposed.
Mr. Porter, 47, will take over the office after the November election. Incumbent Lou Ball, who has been the state's top prosecutor in Campbell County for 25 years, is retiring.
“It feels good but it also feels kind of strange,” Mr. Porter said Friday. “I was all geared up to run. Over the last few weeks I've been campaigning by going to five stags, two fish fries, a couple of dinners and a few other things.
“I've never eaten so much turtle soup and fish in my life.”
Mr. Coughlan was seen as a long shot when he entered the race. In a statement he said he perceived “a general lack of support for my candidacy.”
“That along with the difficulty of my campaign and the strength of my opponent caused me to decide that an early withdrawal was in mine and my family's best interests,” he said.
Mr. Porter began laying the groundwork for his campaign four years ago. He has been attending community events, marching in parades and organizing his political base.
“I really intensified things about two years ago, and I have to believe it paid off,” Mr. Porter said. “I never understand people who wait until the filing deadline to start campaigning. I had already talked to hundreds of people and lined up a lot of support a long time before I filed for the race.”
A former Campbell County and Covington police officer who received his law degree in 1987, Mr. Porter spent a year in private practice and a year working as a prosecutor for former Campbell County Attorney Paul Twehues before joining the commonwealth attorney's office in Newport.
With no campaign to concentrate on, Mr. Porter said he'll spend the next months working on a slow transition of taking over the office, learning more about the budget and administrative tasks.
At least two assistants will have to be hired to fill the slot he is vacating as well as the one held by Steve Schiller, who is resigning.
“I'm a former police officer with a strong prosecutorial background, and I'll be looking for some assistants who share that philosophy with me,” Mr. Porter said.
“We have a good record here of protecting our community. Our office is always firm on cases, but we're also fair.”
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