Jon Husted
Age: 42
Family: Married, three children
Education: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Dayton
Political Experience: State senator, 2009-current; state representative 2001-2008, including House Speaker 2005-2008.
Sandra O’Brien
Age: 58
Family: Married, four children
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University, master’s degree from Edinboro University
Political Experience: Ashtabula County auditor 1994-2006; beat incumbent state treasurer in GOP primary in 2006 but lost general election.
COLUMBUS — Four years ago, Republican Sandra O’Brien came roaring out of the far corner of Ohio and pulled off a stunning victory over incumbent state treasurer in the GOP primary.
O’Brien is now hoping to pull off a repeat performance, this time against GOP-favorite Jon Husted in the Republican primary for secretary of state.
“I am going where ever I can find conservative Republicans. I am, again, the conservative in this race,” said O’Brien, 58, the former Ashtabula County auditor who now teaches communications classes part-time at Lakeland Community College.
Husted, 42, a state senator from Kettering and former House speaker, is leaving nothing the chance. He is traveling the state, seeking newspaper endorsements, landing roughly 300 endorsements from county parties, lawmakers and conservative groups, and actively pushing a redistricting reform bill in the General Assembly.
“I take every election seriously,” Husted said, thumbing through a blue binder packed with election stats, news articles and state audit findings against O’Brien when she served as Ashtabula County auditor.
O’Brien hammers on Husted’s record as a tax-hiker in the General Assembly when he voted to increase the sales and gas taxes.
“Jon is the lobbyist-and-special-interest candidate. There is no question,” she said.
Husted counters that as House speaker he passed the most fiscally conservative state budget in 40 years and pushed through the biggest cut to state income taxes in Ohio history.
Both candidates say they are criss-crossing the state, trying to woo Republican voters for the May 4 primary.
Husted is an ambitious, hard-worker who started his political career as an aide to former Montgomery County commissioner Don Lucas. After winning a seat in the Ohio House in 2000, Husted quickly put together a team to win the speaker’s seat — one of the most powerful positions in state government because of the speaker’s ability to block legislation, set the agenda and influence the $50 billion state budget.
Along the way, Husted made mistakes: he solicited NCR Corp. for use of its corporate jet to ferry him to an Ohio State University bowl game in December 2004, took a fishing trip to Florida with three business lobbyists in May 2005 while the state budget hung in the balance, and in 2004 he pushed a little-known non-profit in Dayton to hire two Columbus-based political consultants and then had to urge the organization to fire the pair when they became subject to a federal investigation.
O’Brien’s tenure in elected office isn’t free of blemishes either. After years of being a stay-at-home mom and public school teacher, O’Brien won the Ashtabula County auditor’s seat in 1994. A 2003 state audit issued findings against O’Brien’s office, saying it didn’t pay bills in a timely manner and a lack of financial safeguards led to an employee embezzling $40,000.
According to campaign finance reports filed in January, Husted has more than $2 million in his war chest while O’Brien is campaigning on a meager $51,913.
Updated reports are due April 22. Husted is expected to spend a chunk of that money to win the primary.
O’Brien is quick to point out that she beat treasurer Jennette Bradley even though the incumbent had a bigger campaign account.
The winner of the May GOP primary will go up against Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, a former Franklin County commissioner who is now clerk of courts.
The secretary of state’s seat is crucially important to political parties since whoever holds it also gets a spot on the five-member Ohio Apportionment Board, which draws Congressional district lines next year. The district lines will be hotly contested, especially since Ohio is expected to lose two seats in Congress.
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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