Ohio Wednesday Morning Brew

Gubernatorial Race

The Kasich campaign is out with a petition and a new ad both designed to hit Ted Strickland on his taxation/job creation record (not a bad strategy, given Strickland’s tendency to lash out over the most minor things). Based on the ad, and the fact that Kasich posted higher fundraising than Ted Strickland last month, it’s clear that the campaign is finally unsheathing its claws, and they’re going to hurt:

Senate Race

Lee Fisher is nearly 20 points behind, according to Quinnipiac. Jim Geraghty over at NRO’s own Campaign Spot blog says this means it’s time to take our toys and go home. The race is won. Not that you know it from Rob Portman, who’s still running like he’s 10 points down, as this intense interaction with College Republicans shows:

House Races

John Boccieri, Democrat of OH-1 is desperate enough to want a Libertarian to participate in his debate with Republican challenger Jim Renacci. The motive is obvious — he’s hoping the two people the Libertarian convinces to vote for him will come from Jim Renacci’s total. Fortunately, Renacci has solid enough Libertarian credentials that Americans for Prosperity is campaigning for him anyway.
Steve Driehaus, Democrat of OH-1, continues to be haunted by his vote for Obamacare.
Mary Jo Kilroy, Democrat of OH-15, gets into a pissing contest over fundraising with her Republican challenger, Steve Stivers. She loses.
Tom Ganley, the Republican challenger in OH-13, gets some rare good news in his sexual harassment lawsuit trouble — his accuser has flip-flopped on attempted rape charges, now backing off them. Although the story is already falling apart, the police are now involved. Still, Ganley has a pretty good statement denying the whole thing.
And Rich Iott, Republican challenger in OH-9, is being accused of racism for not wanting someone wearing a black Santa Claus outfit (called “Soulful Santa”) to march in a parade back in the 1990s. Because that’s a racially sensitive costume?!