Posted on Wed, Oct. 18, 2006
Democrats set sights on wins in Ohio
DAVID ESPO
Associated Press
GREENVILLE, Ohio. - For more than a decade, Ohio was the place where Democratic dreams went to die. Now, in the state that sealed President Bush's 2004 re-election, even Republicans concede Rep. Ted Strickland in on track to become the first Democratic governor in 16 years.
At the same time, Rep. Sherrod Brown has clawed his way to a large lead in the polls over GOP Sen. Mike DeWine.
Democrats have led for weeks for two House seats long in Republican hands, and party officials talk giddily of snatching two or three more seats - gains that would almost certainly portend an end to GOP control of the House.
Already Republicans have abandoned plans to advertise or run their highly regarded get-out-the-vote program in races to replace Brown or Strickland in the House.
"There is this Republican fatigue here in Ohio," says Chris Redfern, chairman of a Democratic Party that has been shut out in statewide political races for more than a decade.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15789611.htm