By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FAIRFIELD TWP. - Neither Mike Fox nor Greg Jolivette could muster enough votes Wednesday from the Butler County Republican Party faithful to win the party's endorsement for the county commissioner's race next year.

That means the two men will square off against each other in the March 2004 Republican primary. Each man had promised to drop out if the other won endorsement.

Angry with Fox's public criticism of other Republican office-holders, party leaders had recruited Jolivette, now a state representative, to run against Fox.

Jolivette received 53 percent of the vote, Fox got 44 percent, with 3 percent not endorsing either candidate. A vote of 60 percent or more of the executive and central committees was required for party endorsement.

Fox said he was pleased to block Jolivette's expected endorsement.

"I'm so happy with the results," Fox said. "Almost every power position in the party was lined up against me."

The endorsement vote shows there is a need for a change in leadership in the county commission, Jolivette said.

"I'm very happy I received 53 percent of the vote," he said. "The message is that we need more teamwork in the county."

The party's executive and central committees met at the D. Russel Lee Career/Technology Center.The party's executive and central committees did endorse Ohio House Rep. Gary Cates over Butler County Commissioner Courtney Combs for the Ohio Senate seat that Scott Nein will have to relinquish next year because of term limits. Combs will drop out of the primary.

Jolivette has characterized Fox as a bully and a headline-grabber while emphasizing his own commitment to teamwork and consensus-building. In turn, Fox has criticized Jolivette as a puppet of the GOP's leaders and has cast himself as an independent-minded person who acts for the ordinary person's best interests.

Fox, who was a state representative for 23 years before becoming a county commissioner six years ago, upset his party's leaders earlier this year when he issued a report that blasted the policies and practices of Butler County Domestic Relations Court.

Jolivette, a former Hamilton mayor, has been a state representative for six years. Ironically, he was appointed to replace Fox in the Ohio House after Fox resigned to take the commissioner's job.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com