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Democratic leader says Ohio party strongest ever

By Stephen Majors
Associated Press writer

POSTED: 06:48 a.m. EDT, Apr 30, 2008

COLUMBUS: The Ohio Democratic Party is the strongest state party organization in the country, and it will help Democrats take the Ohio House and the presidency this fall, its chairman said.

Chris Redfern's party looks nothing — either in its appearance or its results — like its feeble predecessors, whose candidate for governor won barely 25 percent of the vote in 1994 and who saw no wins for statewide positions other than the Ohio Supreme Court for the next 11 years.

Before the fast-talking, sound-bite rich state lawmaker took the helm, the state party was a sporadic operation confined to the pockets of Ohio that would never think about voting Republican.

''Democrats have worked very hard at losing over the course of the last 16 years,'' Redfern said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Since Redfern took the helm in 2005, five Democrats have been elected to statewide positions, the party has raised over $30 million, and it has grown from having six employees to about 150. It has also moved into fancy new digs downtown.

It was a momentous change caused by Redfern's leadership, but also by circumstance and competition. As he goes into a second term as chairman, Redfern is focused on winning the presidential election in Ohio — but also on getting the up-and-coming Democrats who will one day lead the party elected on the local level.

Redfern has taken a philosophy championed by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and adopted it to the state level, putting Democrats in front of Ohio voters for every race.

''We're going to go at my Republican friends in every ZIP code in the state,'' Redfern said. ''Because if you live in Batavia, you deserve a Democrat representing you. If you live in Cleveland, you deserve a Democrat representing you.''

Democrats were handed a golden opportunity by Republicans, whose longtime dominance in state politics was unhinged by corruption scandals that went as high as former Gov. Bob Taft.

Redfern said he will make sure that albatross continues to hang from Republicans' necks.

''The one thing Kevin DeWine will always have is Bob Taft,'' Redfern said about his fellow House lawmaker and deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. ''And the one thing Chris Redfern will always have is Ted Strickland. I like my chances.''

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said Redfern has ''high hopes but low expectations.''

He pointed to problems in the Ohio House and Senate, including troubles for Senate minority leader Ray Miller of Columbus, who was fined by the state Elections Commission earlier this year for failing to properly file 12 campaign finance reports since 2002.

In 2006, Democrats picked up seven seats in the House, but just one Ohio Senate seat.

''He's got plenty of problems here and I think he's just trying to deflect attention from those problems now,'' Bennett said of Redfern.

For a long time on the state and national levels, Republicans showed Democrats how a powerful political organization could work. While the Ohio Democratic Party was mired in weakness, Ohio Republicans had one of the strongest state parties in the country. Republicans promoted their ideas and their candidates, and attacked Democrats, long before Election Day; Democrats simply mobilized a few months before the election.

John Kerry and the state Democratic Party had a narrow view of where he should campaign in the state -- and ended up beating President Bush in just 16 of Ohio's 88 counties. Under Redfern the party has taken a much more expansive view of its clout.

''If John Kerry sends a message by only focusing on 16 urban counties, that message trickles down to voters on the ground in places like rural southwest and southeast Ohio,'' Redfern said. ''And that message is: 'I guess the Democrats don't care about us.' So not only does John Kerry lose, but the poor guy running for county commissioner gets beat as well.''

The result is Ohio's ''88-county strategy,'' mirrored on the national Democratic Party's ''50-state strategy.'' Resources are pumped into every location with the hopes of establishing at least a minor level of Democratic influence, even in Republican strongholds.

Redfern said he will use his experience getting elected in heavily Republican northwest Ohio to help other Democrats running in Republican areas. The party will stand by candidates at the township level, sending the message that the party will also be behind them as they make their way up the ladder, Redfern said.

''He's done an excellent job at reaching out and rebuilding the party from the grass roots up better than any party chairman before him, and the results speak for themselves,'' said Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.

Redfern said the central message for the 2008 campaign on all levels will be the economy.

''Republicans are more likely to talk about market forces,'' he said. ''As if market forces run the state's economy, as if market forces shape tax policy, as if market forces are looking out for the weakest among us. The fact of the matter is we can provide progressive leadership in this state.''

COLUMBUS: The Ohio Democratic Party is the strongest state party organization in the country, and it will help Democrats take the Ohio House and the presidency this fall, its chairman said.

Chris Redfern's party looks nothing — either in its appearance or its results — like its feeble predecessors, whose candidate for governor won barely 25 percent of the vote in 1994 and who saw no wins for statewide positions other than the Ohio Supreme Court for the next 11 years.

Before the fast-talking, sound-bite rich state lawmaker took the helm, the state party was a sporadic operation confined to the pockets of Ohio that would never think about voting Republican.

''Democrats have worked very hard at losing over the course of the last 16 years,'' Redfern said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Since Redfern took the helm in 2005, five Democrats have been elected to statewide positions, the party has raised over $30 million, and it has grown from having six employees to about 150. It has also moved into fancy new digs downtown.

It was a momentous change caused by Redfern's leadership, but also by circumstance and competition. As he goes into a second term as chairman, Redfern is focused on winning the presidential election in Ohio — but also on getting the up-and-coming Democrats who will one day lead the party elected on the local level.

Redfern has taken a philosophy championed by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and adopted it to the state level, putting Democrats in front of Ohio voters for every race.

''We're going to go at my Republican friends in every ZIP code in the state,'' Redfern said. ''Because if you live in Batavia, you deserve a Democrat representing you. If you live in Cleveland, you deserve a Democrat representing you.''

Democrats were handed a golden opportunity by Republicans, whose longtime dominance in state politics was unhinged by corruption scandals that went as high as former Gov. Bob Taft.

Redfern said he will make sure that albatross continues to hang from Republicans' necks.

''The one thing Kevin DeWine will always have is Bob Taft,'' Redfern said about his fellow House lawmaker and deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. ''And the one thing Chris Redfern will always have is Ted Strickland. I like my chances.''

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said Redfern has ''high hopes but low expectations.''

He pointed to problems in the Ohio House and Senate, including troubles for Senate minority leader Ray Miller of Columbus, who was fined by the state Elections Commission earlier this year for failing to properly file 12 campaign finance reports since 2002.

In 2006, Democrats picked up seven seats in the House, but just one Ohio Senate seat.

''He's got plenty of problems here and I think he's just trying to deflect attention from those problems now,'' Bennett said of Redfern.

For a long time on the state and national levels, Republicans showed Democrats how a powerful political organization could work. While the Ohio Democratic Party was mired in weakness, Ohio Republicans had one of the strongest state parties in the country. Republicans promoted their ideas and their candidates, and attacked Democrats, long before Election Day; Democrats simply mobilized a few months before the election.

John Kerry and the state Democratic Party had a narrow view of where he should campaign in the state -- and ended up beating President Bush in just 16 of Ohio's 88 counties. Under Redfern the party has taken a much more expansive view of its clout.

''If John Kerry sends a message by only focusing on 16 urban counties, that message trickles down to voters on the ground in places like rural southwest and southeast Ohio,'' Redfern said. ''And that message is: 'I guess the Democrats don't care about us.' So not only does John Kerry lose, but the poor guy running for county commissioner gets beat as well.''

The result is Ohio's ''88-county strategy,'' mirrored on the national Democratic Party's ''50-state strategy.'' Resources are pumped into every location with the hopes of establishing at least a minor level of Democratic influence, even in Republican strongholds.

Redfern said he will use his experience getting elected in heavily Republican northwest Ohio to help other Democrats running in Republican areas. The party will stand by candidates at the township level, sending the message that the party will also be behind them as they make their way up the ladder, Redfern said.

''He's done an excellent job at reaching out and rebuilding the party from the grass roots up better than any party chairman before him, and the results speak for themselves,'' said Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.

Redfern said the central message for the 2008 campaign on all levels will be the economy.

''Republicans are more likely to talk about market forces,'' he said. ''As if market forces run the state's economy, as if market forces shape tax policy, as if market forces are looking out for the weakest among us. The fact of the matter is we can provide progressive leadership in this state.''



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