It being an election year, Larry Householder, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House, is eager to explain how well the GOP has managed the “people's house” the past year.

        That year, not coincidentally, is the first with Rep. Householder, 42, in charge.

        Rep. Householder cheers his chamber for adopting by early summer nine good-sized pieces of legislation that he outlined as the state's priorities.

        He can't help it, he says, if the governor and Senate occasionally disagreed and watered down what he wanted to get done.

        Best example: he cobbled together a school funding plan that won praise from the critics of school funding. In fact, they said they'd drop a 10-year lawsuit if it became law.

        His $3.2 billion plan would have significantly boosted per-pupil spending, pumped more dollars into urban and rural school districts and spent more on special education. Permitting video lottery terminals at racetracks was his way to pay for a lot of it.

        But Gov. Bob Taft and the Ohio Senate thought it was too expensive, plus they couldn't stomach the gambling initiative.

        What finally passed was a $1.4 billion increase, enough to satisfy the Ohio Supreme Court, although it now has second thoughts.

        Rep. Householder thinks that Republicans will wind up with a net loss of four seats after the November elections. Locally, he's putting energy and money into the 28th and 31st House districts, both held by first-term Democrats.

        Hamilton County's eight House districts are evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

        Surefire wins for Republicans:

        • 29th District: Incumbent Patricia Clancy, Colerain Township. The Democrat is Danny E. Kenneweg, Colerain Township.

        • 30th District: Incumbent Bill Seitz, Green Township. The Democrat is Bob Klug, Green Township.

        • 34th District: Incumbent Tom Brinkman, Mount Lookout. The Democrat: Dave Schaff, Mount Lookout.

        • 35th District: Incumbent Michelle Schneider, Madeira, has no opponent.

        Cinch wins for Democrats:

        • 32nd District: Incumbent Catherine Barrett, College Hill. The Republican: Randy O'Hara, Corryville.

        • 33rd District: Open seat. Democrats running in primary are Minette Cooper, Tyrone Yates and Leroy Hopkins. Winner takes on Sandra Hall of Deer Park.

        Likely wins for Democrats:

        • 31st District: Incumbent Steve Driehaus, Price Hill. Republican is Sheryl Ross, North Bend. Tossup district:

        • 28th District: Incumbent Wayne Coates, Forest Park. Republicans Jim Raussen of Springdale and Doug Mink, Sharonville, will meet in a GOP primary.

        Politics Notebook appears Sunday. It is compiled by Politics Editor Ron Liebau, 768-8396 or rliebau@enquirer.com.

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