News and Notes: Ohio Congressional Races UPDATED

News you can schmooze:

OH-01 - Bloggers Harry and Jack of Ohio First Politics note that if Chabot is holding a town hall (and he is, tomorrow night), then it must be an election year. These are "typically nothing more than staged stump speeches with planted questions," although this time he at least put a notice in the newspaper rather than just mailing an invitation to Republican households only (an abuse of the franking privilege that he engaged in previously). Harry and Jack promise to provide full coverage of the spectacle.

OH-03 - On last week's 5th year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, Jane Mitakides (D) released a plan to honor military veterans by expanding educational opportunities, ensuring access to quality healthcare, and guaranteeing that all veterans receive the assistance and benefits they have earned (details here). Opponent Rep. Mike Turner (R-Centerville) has repeatedly voted against expanding benefits for veterans, earning a "C" grade from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in 2006. Mitakides pledges to stand with military veterans 100% of the time, and notes that her family has served in the Army, Air Force, and Marines in every war of the last century, from the Spanish-American War through Gulf War I. *** Mitakides will attend the Warren County Democratic Party Spring Fundraiser on April 3rd.

UPDATE: OH-04 - Mike Carroll (D-Mansfield) will speak tonight April 24th at the Champaign County Democrats Spring Dinner tonight. The event begins with a social hour at 6:00, followed by dinner at 7:00, at the Campaign County fairgrounds, Activity Building, 384 Park Avenue in Urbana.

OH-07 - Although no longer a candidate, Lt. Col. John Mitchel, USAF-ret. (R) continues to hammer retiring Rep. Dave Hobson (R-Springfield) and his hand-picked heir apparent State Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) over a huge no-bid contract steered to Hobson contributors by a commitee that including Austria and his wife. In an LTE circulated by Mitchell last week he says that this transaction involved more hypocrisy and corruption than the sweetheart deal involving Rep. Turner's wife that was recently criticized by the Dayton Daily News:

[T]he earmark to Lori Turner’s company was a walk in the park compared to Dave Hobson’s and Steve and Eileen Austria’s intervening with The Dayton Development Coalition to misappropriate $1.9 million from Greene County and other Ohio taxpayers. On the receiving end were The Greentree Group and Paul Magliochetti and Associates (PMA Group), a local defense contractor and a Washington lobbyist, under the pretense both private corporations were required for BRAC support. At least Mrs. Turner provided meaningful work for her company’s $300,000 payday. For nearly a year I’ve been trying to learn exactly what Greentree and the PMA Group did to earn $1.9 million. While campaigning for Greene County Commission before the March 4th primary, Marilyn Reid took all the credit for Wright Patt’s BRAC success, but never once mentioned the $1.9 million earmarked for BRAC support by herself and two other Greene County Commissioners (Madden and Harper) in 2003.

OH-10 - Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland) gave a particularly fiery floor speech recently, connecting the misbegotten war in Iraq to the nation's economic woes:

OH-13 - Representatives of Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Copley Twp) will onduct "Congress in Your Community" events at seven locations this week in order to hear the opinions and concerns of constituents: Strongsville and North Royalton tomorrow a.m.; Avon Lake, North Ridgeville, and Sheffield on Thursday; and Brecksville and Broadview Heights on Friday. Mayors John Hunter of Sheffield and Dave Gillock of North Ridgeville praised the events to Lorain Morning Journal reporter Brian Ross, the former commenting that "It's good for the people, good for the community and the area," and the latter that "More public officials should try to be available locally in the communities."

OH-14 - Sabrina Eaton reported on Openers on Friday that Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Bainbridge Twp) is collecting money from transportation interests (regulated by the House Transportation Committee on which he sits) for his new "Trans PAC," which he will use to help the NRCC and individual GOP candidates in order to beef up his chances for a committee chairmanship. This is classic LaTourette, a backroom-operator devoted to building and using his personal political clout. *** Opponent Bill O'Neill (D-South Russell) will celebrate opening day on Monday with a lunch in downtown Cleveland featuring AG Marc Dann - details here. In the meantime, you can sign an online "Get Well Bill!" card here.

OH-18 - Rep. Zack Space (D-Dover) held a successful economic summit on agriculture in Coschocton on Friday, part of his RENEW Ohio 18 initiative. As Brian Gadd reported in the Coschocton Tribune, more than 100 farmers, county leaders, and Farm Bureau officials turned out. They broke into sub-groups to develop ideas for improving the outlook for agriculture. Some of the ideas included more government support for farm management research and education, and supplements or subsidy payments and start-up funds for young farmers. *** Space's opponent Fred Dailey (R-Mt Vernon) was Director of Agriculture in 2001 when the regulation of factory farms was transferred from the Ohio EPA to the Department of Agriculture. He is widely regarded as having given a free pass to new megafarms (he objected to the use of that term and insisted that they are "family farms" that are welcome in Ohio), which rural residents despise because of their stench, pollution of air and water, and relatively minor contribution to the local economy (jobs offered tend to be low-paying and filled primarily by immigrant workers, and factory farms buy very little feed or supplies locally). As Scott Pullins noted last summer, Dailey's permissive attitude toward factory farms could be a big issue in the largely-rural 18th District.