FORT MITCHELL — Eric Deters continues to astound political professionals with his free-spending campaign for Kenton County attorney.

        Mr. Deters, an Independence Republican and lawyer, announced Tuesday that he has hired a professional polling firm from the Washington area that has worked for some of the biggest names in national Republican politics.

        The firm Mr. Deters hired is Public Opinion Strategies, a national polling firm based in Alexandria, Va.

OTHER CLIENTS

Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney candidate Eric Deters has hired Public Opinion Strategies, a national polling firm that has worked with some of the best-known names and organizations in Republican politics. Its roster of clients includes:     • Senators: Jesse Helms (North Carolina), Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania) John McCain (Arizona) and Chuck Hagel (Nebraska).     • U.S. House: members Steve Chabot (Ohio), Dick Armey (Texas), Bud Shuster (Pennsylvania), Joe Scarborough (Florida) and Henry Hyde (Illinois).     • Governors: Bob Taft (Ohio), Tom Ridge (Pennsylvania) and Jeb Bush (Florida).     • GOP political organizations such as the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

        Its roster of clients includes some of the biggest names and organizations in Republican politics.

        Neil Newhouse, a partner in the firm, said the company has also worked for local clients and organizations, including Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin, the Hamilton County Republican Party, the Cincinnati Bengals stadium initiative and the Cincinnati Zoo.

        The only other race the firm has worked on in Kentucky was the Jefferson County Judge-executive race won in 1981 by Republican Mitch McConnell, now a U.S. Senator from Kentucky.

        “We have our national clients,but also do a lot of local races,” Mr. Newhouse said Tuesday. “The local races are fun, and besides, city council and state legislature candidates grow up to run for Congress and other offices.”

        This month, Mr. Deters hired a full-time campaign manager, GOP strategist Hayes Robertson. He has also said he may open a campaign office and is planning to spend $200,000 on next year's primary and, provided he wins that race in May, general elections.

        “It's certainly a unique situation,” said Marc Wilson, the operator of a political and media consulting firm in Florence. “I've never seen anything like it as far as a county race in Northern Kentucky.”

        Mr. Deters hasn't said how much he is paying his campaign manager or his pollster, though those numbers will eventually have to be reported on his campaign finance reports filed with the Kenton County clerk.

        Mr. Wilson estimated that a full-time campaign manager is likely to cost “a few thousand” dollars a month and that a “full-blown poll” from a national polling firm can cost from $5,000 to $10,000.

        “He wants to be county attorney awful bad because he's sure spending the money to get there,” Mr. Wilson said.

        Mr. Deters has already raised about $40,000 from contributors and has told potential donors and Republican Party officials that he is prepared to spend some of his own money on the race.

        The operator of a law firm in Fort Mitchell, Mr. Deters is also an investor in several businesses, including holdings in a real estate firm, a gymnastics school, restaurants, gas stations and a health club.

        But incumbent County Attorney Garry Edmondson, a former Democrat who switched parties three weeks ago and will run against Mr. Deters in the May 2002 GOP primary, said he is not intimidated by his opponent's money.

        “We all know he has unlimited funds,” Mr. Edmondson said Tuesday. “But he will find you can't buy an election. It's been tried before. The public knows better.”

        Mr. Robertson would not say when the first poll would be conducted, but he did comment that Mr. Newhouse “will become a key member of the campaign team we are putting together to defeat Garry Edmondson.”

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