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By Stephanie Warsmith
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 10:08 p.m. EST, Nov 05, 2009
Jennifer Brunner is Ohio's first female secretary of state.
Now she wants to be the first woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.
Brunner, who spoke Thursday at the Akron Press Club, said many women urged her to enter the Senate race.
''They were saying, 'You have to do this,' '' said Brunner, a Democrat. ''It was a question of timing.''
Brunner's visit to Akron came on the heels of an election Tuesday in which Summit was the only county in Ohio with serious voting problems. The county elections board had a shortage of ballots in a fifth of its precincts, resulting in long waits, voters leaving without casting ballots and mass confusion.
Brunner said she knows the Summit board was trying to keep costs down by not ordering too many ballots. She said the board reacted properly by contacting her office and getting permission to photocopy ballots to get them out to the polls quicker.
''In the end, they averted a situation that could have been worse,'' Brunner said.
Brunner, a former Franklin County judge elected secretary of state in 2006, remains a staunch advocate of the paper ballots used in counties like Summit, which she thinks are more reliable than the electronic voting machines employed in the majority of Ohio counties.
''No system is perfect,'' she said. ''I've seen time and again the paper ballots' benefits.''
Brunner joked about how she's often asked if Summit is the county that's demanded most of her time. Though she's decided more tie votes for Summit than any other county, she said she's focused most on Cuyahoga County.
Summit board improves
Brunner said she thinks the Summit board has improved.
''I've seen incremental and beneficial change,'' she said. ''I'm glad the old habits are dying.''
Brunner is trying to remove Jack Morrison Jr., a Republican member of the Summit board. She asked Morrison to resign because of his conviction earlier this year on ethics charges. When he refused, she scheduled a hearing for Nov. 18 in Columbus.
Morrison, also a member of the University of Akron board of trustees, was convicted of two misdemeanors for failing to disclose income from his son on financial documents filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission. Morrison's participation in his son's business came to light when the university took steps to buy a home his son owned near campus.
Brunner said a retired judge will preside over the hearing, with the Ohio Attorney General's Office representing her office. She said Morrison will have his own attorney. Afterward, the judge will make a recommendation to her.
Brunner doesn't expect Morrison, who also has refused to resign from his UA board seat, to have a change of heart about stepping down.
''I'm not counting on it,'' she said.
If elected to the Senate, Brunner said she would work with state and local office holders and push for Ohio to get its fair share of federal money.
Fisher's endorsements
Brunner said she isn't concerned about Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the other Democratic Senate candidate, getting endorsements from prominent state and local politicians, including Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and Summit County Executive Russ Pry.
''In the end, it's the people who will vote,'' she said.
Brunner has had some fun with her underdog status, including sending out a campaign e-mail from her dog.
''I'm pragmatic — that made money,'' she said, getting chuckles from the audience.
After her speech, Brunner talked to a University of Akron political science class and visited with a Students for Brunner group supporting her Senate bid.
Brunner, who has several student groups at universities across the state, is glad to see young people energized. She thinks this enthusiasm has carried over from President Barack Obama's campaign.
''I want to see them stay involved,'' she said.
The Akron Press Club is hosting all four Senate candidates. The two Republican candidates who have already appeared are Tom Ganley, owner of 32 auto dealerships, including three in Summit County; and former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman. Fisher will speak Dec. 8.
The candidates are vying for the seat held by Sen. George Voinovich, who is retiring.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
Jennifer Brunner is Ohio's first female secretary of state.
Now she wants to be the first woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.
Brunner, who spoke Thursday at the Akron Press Club, said many women urged her to enter the Senate race.
''They were saying, 'You have to do this,' '' said Brunner, a Democrat. ''It was a question of timing.''
Brunner's visit to Akron came on the heels of an election Tuesday in which Summit was the only county in Ohio with serious voting problems. The county elections board had a shortage of ballots in a fifth of its precincts, resulting in long waits, voters leaving without casting ballots and mass confusion.
Brunner said she knows the Summit board was trying to keep costs down by not ordering too many ballots. She said the board reacted properly by contacting her office and getting permission to photocopy ballots to get them out to the polls quicker.
''In the end, they averted a situation that could have been worse,'' Brunner said.
Brunner, a former Franklin County judge elected secretary of state in 2006, remains a staunch advocate of the paper ballots used in counties like Summit, which she thinks are more reliable than the electronic voting machines employed in the majority of Ohio counties.
''No system is perfect,'' she said. ''I've seen time and again the paper ballots' benefits.''
Brunner joked about how she's often asked if Summit is the county that's demanded most of her time. Though she's decided more tie votes for Summit than any other county, she said she's focused most on Cuyahoga County.
Summit board improves
Brunner said she thinks the Summit board has improved.
''I've seen incremental and beneficial change,'' she said. ''I'm glad the old habits are dying.''
Brunner is trying to remove Jack Morrison Jr., a Republican member of the Summit board. She asked Morrison to resign because of his conviction earlier this year on ethics charges. When he refused, she scheduled a hearing for Nov. 18 in Columbus.
Morrison, also a member of the University of Akron board of trustees, was convicted of two misdemeanors for failing to disclose income from his son on financial documents filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission. Morrison's participation in his son's business came to light when the university took steps to buy a home his son owned near campus.
Brunner said a retired judge will preside over the hearing, with the Ohio Attorney General's Office representing her office. She said Morrison will have his own attorney. Afterward, the judge will make a recommendation to her.
Brunner doesn't expect Morrison, who also has refused to resign from his UA board seat, to have a change of heart about stepping down.
''I'm not counting on it,'' she said.
If elected to the Senate, Brunner said she would work with state and local office holders and push for Ohio to get its fair share of federal money.
Fisher's endorsements
Brunner said she isn't concerned about Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the other Democratic Senate candidate, getting endorsements from prominent state and local politicians, including Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and Summit County Executive Russ Pry.
''In the end, it's the people who will vote,'' she said.
Brunner has had some fun with her underdog status, including sending out a campaign e-mail from her dog.
''I'm pragmatic — that made money,'' she said, getting chuckles from the audience.
After her speech, Brunner talked to a University of Akron political science class and visited with a Students for Brunner group supporting her Senate bid.
Brunner, who has several student groups at universities across the state, is glad to see young people energized. She thinks this enthusiasm has carried over from President Barack Obama's campaign.
''I want to see them stay involved,'' she said.
The Akron Press Club is hosting all four Senate candidates. The two Republican candidates who have already appeared are Tom Ganley, owner of 32 auto dealerships, including three in Summit County; and former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman. Fisher will speak Dec. 8.
The candidates are vying for the seat held by Sen. George Voinovich, who is retiring.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Posted 10:30 PM, 11/05/2009
She better start whipping up the ACORN connections.
ProChoice, OH
Posted 11:44 PM, 11/05/2009
I hope Ms. Brunner does run. It's the 21st century & women are STILL having to do ''firsts.'' And I agree w/her statement, paper ballots are the way to go!
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Posted 07:43 AM, 11/06/2009
Oh, boy. Here comes 'Pelosi Lite'.
akron, oh
Posted 07:44 AM, 11/06/2009
She'll never win because she is far too corrupt. How can you represent people when you are continuosly overturned in the courts because of lack of judgement.
Kent, Oh
Posted 07:58 AM, 11/06/2009
Ok, she's a woman! But what has she done for us?
Ohio is sliding downhill fast. No jobs, more crime and fewer police.
Being a woman is not enough!
Uniontown, OH
Posted 08:11 AM, 11/06/2009
I think I am going to be sick.
Akron, Oh
Posted 08:20 AM, 11/06/2009
She needs to worry about doing the job that we elected her to do in the first place.
uniontown, oh
Posted 08:26 AM, 11/06/2009
Of all the people in Ohio to run for office this is what we get? Who really asked he to run, her mailman? Your right, I don't believe a word that comes out of her mouth. She and Morrison should both leave Ohio and give us a chance to heal from years of abuse by these phony big mouths that really don't know how to do anything. Get lost, and leave us alone.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:35 AM, 11/06/2009
"Eyes bigger than her gut."
She hasn't inspired enough confidence in her current vocational output.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:58 AM, 11/06/2009
Why hasn't the ABJ carried a single story about (Ohio's 'Chief Election Official')Jennifer Brunner's troubles with the Federal Election Commission?
Seems that her campaign struggled to understand the very clear, Federal rule that prohibits a candidate from directly using state campaign assets to finance federal races.
Back in January, Brunner's U.S. Senate campaign used $15,000 from her Ohio Secretary of State campaign's to purchase office equipment and cell phones.
Tisk, tisk! Bad Jenny!
Now the campaign wants to donate $15,000 to charity, keep the stuff, and of course... make this violation go away.
1) The Feds said "Nope".
2) Why is this situation entering its 9th month without coverage anywhere other than the Columbus Dispatch.
3) Why hasn't Jennifer Brunner come out and admitted to the violation and accepted her (campaign's) punishment?
Posted 09:28 AM, 11/06/2009
She certainly knows how to rig up the votes to win!
Columbus, OH
Posted 10:16 AM, 11/06/2009
Why does it matter if she is a woman? Shouldn't just best candidate win? Gender shouldn't even be an issue. Especially when she's done such a terrible job at being the "first female secretary of state."
Akron, OH
Posted 11:39 AM, 11/06/2009
ProChoiceLiberal,
Grow up and get real. There are no longer barriers for women in politics like there were decades ago. The fact that no senators from Ohio have been women is not evidence of some sort of oppression, which is pretty much what I sense you're implying by your post.
Women are free to run for any office in the land and their gender is not considered by most voters.
If you really want to be petty about this, why don't you take up the discussion with your liberal democrat friends? They're the ones who nominated a comparatively inexperienced and underqualified man to run for president in 2008 instead of the much more qualified and experienced female (Hillary Clinton). Meanwhile those same liberal democrats couldn't wait to tear apart the first legitimate female vice presidential candidate we've seen in more than 20 years. It wasn't the majority of conservatives or republicans standing in the way of putting women in power. It was liberal politicians and liberal voters who opposed the presidential bid of Hillary Clinton and the vice presidential bid of Sarah Palin.
akron, oh
Posted 11:58 AM, 11/06/2009
"first legitimate female vice presidential candidate we've seen in more than 20 years".
WAIT A SEC. YOU LOST ME HERE. :)
Akron, OH
Posted 01:11 PM, 11/06/2009
sammie,
I'm only assuming you're being sarcastic here. And yes, it's kind of a funny (although worn out) joke to make fun of Palin.
But let's face facts. She was, for better or worse, on the Republican ticket in 2008. She and McCain received 59.9 million votes. The last time something remotely close to this level involving a female VP candidate happened was 1984, when Mondale/Ferraro got 37.5 million votes and lost every state except Minnesota.
Liberal and democrat voters spoke loudly in the primaries and the general election. They soundly rejected Hillary Clinton - a clearly more qualified and experienced political candidate - in the primaries. She was also rejected as a potential VP candidate by the Obama campaign.
Then, they once again rejected a woman in the general election.
I cannot abide by disingenuous, liberal hypocrites who complain about some sort of gender bias in politics when they are the ones who outright rejected two female candidates for two of the most important positions in the land in 2008. They love to imply that the largest source of this so-called bias is the convservative, white male when it's not true at all. True conservatives view people as people, and evaluate them not on gender, race or other superficial classifications, but on their ideas, their intelligence and their leadership skills. A true conservative is unbiased toward gender and is colorblind. Unfortunately, I don't think you can honestly say the same thing about a liberal.
