Yesterday, Battle ‘10 attended the Mercer County Tea Party — a gathering geographically located in quite possibly the most Republican-leaning area of Ohio, and whose attendance last year stretched to over 500 people. Featured speakers this year included Seth Morgan, former representative of Ohio’s 36th state house district, Steve Curtis from the Ohio FairTax Association, Harlene Holland, an independent candidate for Ohio’s 39th state house district, and (probably the biggest name of the lot) Matt Mayer, President of the Buckeye Institute, Ohio’s statewide free market think tank.

However, despite the strong attendance figures last year, Mercer County appears to be evidence that in Ohio, the Tea Party may be losing steam as a political force. This year’s attendance barely cracked 100, only one-fifth the attendance of last year. Many high-flying Republicans reportedly declined to respond to their invitation. Perhaps the only Republican candidate for a major state-level office who even answered his invitation was Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich, while Republican Senate hopeful Rob Portman and House minority leader John Boehner appear not to have RSVP’d at all.

Some might take this as evidence that the establishment Ohio GOP is badly out of touch with its base, and with the real source of electoral power in Ohio. But it may be the other way around, with the Tea Party faltering as a movement in the most Republican parts of Ohio.

There was one bright spot at the event: the speech by Buckeye Institute President (and sometime NR contributor) Matt Mayer, who pointed out some dismal economic facts about Ohio, especially the massive budgetary hole caused by Ohio’s excessive compensation schemes for government workers. Meyer also cautioned against complacency by conservative voters in November.

“The progressives get most of their votes from very population dense counties,” Mayer said. “It’s possible for Ted Strickland to lose 26 percent of his support everywhere but in the urban areas and still win in Ohio.”