11/07/00 12:00 p.m.
Cloudy, Damp, Heavily Solicited
No umbrellas, but lots of GOTV.

By Kevin Holtsberry, freelance writer based in Ohio

lection Day broke cloudy, damp, but mild here in Ohio. It doesn't appear voters will face any severe weather when they head for the polls, but there could be pockets of rain, which tend to discourage turnout.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell estimates that nearly 5.2 million — or 69% of registered voters — will turnout to vote in Ohio. It is that magical word — turnout — that is now the focus of the candidates and their parties.

Both Republicans and Democrats have been organizing massive efforts to get their voters out. Governor Taft, Attorney General Betty Montgomery, and Speaker of the Ohio House Jo Ann Davidson were just a few of the Republican office holders that were working the phone banks last night. Prerecorded phone calls and e-mails from Laura Bush, John McCain, and Colin Powell have been deployed across the state. A number of loyal partisans even ventured out at 5:30 this morning to deliver party slate cards in important neighborhoods.

Turnout will play a crucial role in races from the top of the ticket to the bottom. The make-up of the Ohio General Assembly will largely be determined by turnout in a handful of close races. Republicans will likely keep control of the Ohio House and Senate, but a strong turnout either way could mean the difference between increasing their majority or tightening the gap.

The races for the Ohio Supreme Court are also heavily dependent on turnout. At this point, one would have to give the turnout edge to Republicans, but Democrats have intensified their efforts and are promising record turnout. Only time will tell.

Worth Noting
There is truly no rest for the weary! The Ohio House and Senate will be in session Wednesday and Thursday. On the agenda: education funding reform and a legislative pay raise. Two points:

1) If Republicans succeed in defeating current Democratic Supreme Court Justice Alice Resnick and reelecting Republican Justice Deborah Cook, they will have removed a clinching vote in the narrow 4-3 decision that ruled Ohio's education-funding system unconstitutional. Will this remove the impetus to make major changes in education funding?

2) Because of term limits and incumbent retirement, 41 of the 99 House and 16 of the 33 Senate seats are open. If a legislative pay-raise bill comes to the floor for a vote, a sizable minority of legislators will be voting not themselves, but their successors, a pay raise.