Husted to Challenge Kasich in 2014 Primary?

By Joseph On November 29, 2012 · 13 Comments

In the middle of a very good New York Review of Books article about the 2012 elections I discovered this very interesting sentence:

My own selection for pin-up boy of the vote-suppressing camp of 2012 is Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a baby-faced forty-five-year-old who has ambitions to run for governor in 2014.

I’ll admit I have doubts about the accuracy of this statement. But I’m sincerely hoping the author – Elizabeth Drew – has some special, super-secret, inside knowledge that we here at Ohio’s most influential political blog don’t have.

Husted for Governor, 2014?

Evangelize!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000630486513 Cathy Minard- O’Shea

Seriously? I’m sure we can find someone better to run against the K-sick!
http://www.facebook.com/joan.h.dodds Joan Humphrey Dodds

We surely can find someone better than k-sick and Husted, Strickland will get my VOTE!! I am hoping he will run!!!
disqus_8rL0Cc3zzm

Dumb & Dumber – what a classic GOP choice!
http://www.bluebexley.com bonobo

I do hope Husted runs, though I’d actually rather run against Kasich. There’s this nagging worry in the back of my head, however, about our candidate… I know it’s highly improbable… there seems to be a Democrat with extremely high name recognition who has been unnaturally quiet since losing his job as a result of redistricting… I’d feel better if I knew what his future plans were…
Ramona Hauenstein

Sorry, I don’t. I will vote for him if I have to. He appointed terrible people to his transition team when he won the first time (I know, I used to work for one of them and they were DINO’s). His people messed up several times. He let the Dispatch run his governorship. He made things extremely hard on state employees. We spent more time trying to follow his rules than doing the jobs we were there to do.
http://www.facebook.com/lucie.pollard Lucie Pollard

The New York Review of Books is NOT part of the New York Times (they have their own book review section which is good, but no NYRB or TLS). NYRB is academic and left-leaning, worth a look for Plunderbund readers if you don’t know it. Elizabeth Drew has written thoughtfully about politics for many years — but I wonder if 2014 is a typo. It would be a fun primary for us.
http://plunderbund.com Joseph

Good catch, Lucie. The post has been corrected.

I’m pretty sure she just messed up that one fact, but I still thought it was interesting/funny enough to spark some conversation.
John W.

You are, perhaps, referring to Dennis Kucinich? I don’t know how good a candidate he would be, but he would certainly have my vote!

There are a lot of great names for the Democrats who are real middle-class supporters: Strickland, Eckert, Cordray…those are all names I would be happy to campaign for because of their positive, pro-growth track records.
Portia A. Boulger

It would just be a HOOT!
anastasjoy

I can’t think of a worse statewide candidate than Dennis Kucinich, especially one damaged by the perception that he is more about keeping himself in office at all costs than in representing his constituency. Plus he was an absolute disaster in the one executive-type job he held, and he still exhibits many of the traits that made him a disaster — traits much less destructive when you aren’t actually in charge of running a government.

I have to agree with Ramona that Strickland isn’t a good choice, but for different reasons. I think Strickland’s own political gamesmanship cost him his office in 2010. There’s still a lot of resentment among activists for some of the things that emanated from his office – the reason they sat out 2010. And those reasons haven’t subsided. We need a Tim Ryan, an Ed FitzGerald, a Rich Cordray — a fresh face.
http://twitter.com/Asktheteach1 Paula Garfield

lol, well, Husted will just throw out votes illegally like he is doing now in the 2 Close Congressional races to win. However, he ll have to throw out an additional 1million, 300,000 of the people of Ohio who remember he n Kasuck for SB 5, and surpressing votes in Ohio….lol…they both lose!
mrgavel

It will depend on several things: One, how much money Kasich can raise in 2013; two, what his poll ratings are, and three how strong a Dem challenger looks compared to Kasich. If Husted thinks that Kasich will be defeated by a strong Dem, then he has to make a big decision. Does he challenge Kasich in the primary or run for re-election and try to take on the possible Dem governor in 2018. My guess is that he won’t challenge Kasich.
missskeptic

It would be great if Husted and Kasich went head to head in a primary – they would spend a boatload of money trying to defeat each other, each of them flinging the mud while the Dems could sit back and enjoy their popcorn as they watch the show. I really wonder if Husted won’t just sit this one out, after all the lousy publicity (and deservedly so) of this past election cycle. He’s tainted, no doubt, but is he tainted enough and are the voters’ memories short enough to forget?