Open Letter to the Cincinnati Enquirer about the Ted Strickland Dealbreakers

Previous post: The Ted Strickland Dealbreakers — Briefly Stated (Voter Deception over the fact that he has been living outside of his district, and Financially Shortchanging His District by not living inside it)
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The following e-mail was sent to three of the reporters whose pictures appear at the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Politics Extra blog, plus the administrator for one of those reporters (modified slightly for presentation here to add links and to delete redundant verbiage):

Folks,

Malia Rulon’s expose of GOP congressional primary candidate Bob McEwen’s residency (in Ohio’s 2nd District — Ed.) and voter-registration issues (original Enquirer article; my blog post) was one of the high points in the Enquirer’s political reporting this year. You may be aware that I strongly praised it at the time.

I would suggest that the issues surrounding Ted Strickland’s residency in the 6th Congressional District since it was redrawn 4 years ago are in their own way at least as serious as McEwen’s, and that they are therefore very relevant to the current gubernatorial contest.

The matters involved are TOTALLY DIFFERENT and UNRELATED to the legal wrangling that is going on over Mr. Strickland’s early voting in Lisbon on October 20.

These are the main points:

• Ted Strickland has been living out of the district since early April of 2003 in a condo in Columbus, and spending most, if not almost all, of his non-DC and non-campaign time there.
• 6th District residents had every reason to believe that Mr. Strickland was living in the district, as he had made a big to-do over renting an apartment in Lisbon above his campaign headquarters during the 2002 campaign.
• The East Liverpool Review, in its recent endorsement of Ken Blackwell, stated this about Strickland’s presence in the district, confirming his rare presence: “It is clear that he announced his move to Lisbon only after the district was reshaped leaving Columbiana as the largest county. But it is clear to Lisbon residents that he spends little, if any, time there. His own income tax records indicate he resides in Columbus.”
• Strickland’s constituents did not learn that he was living outside of the district and spending most of his non-DC time outside of it for over three years (until sometime this summer). Democratic voters in the Ohio’s May primary were also not aware of this.
• Surveys, including a recent one by Survey USA, show that voters by overwhelming majorities insist on the importance of a congressman living in his/her district (89%), and would not vote for someone who does not live in the district (70%).
• By living outside of the district, Strickland, who pays Columbus income taxes, has denied his relatively impoverished district needed income tax, sales tax, and other revenues.

Bob McEwen’s residency, and the deceptions involved in his campaign relating to them, were important enough to merit full-length feature coverage in the Enquirer this past Easter Sunday. Bob McEwen was “only” trying to be elected to represent 800,000 (9 PM update — actually about 650,000 — Ed.) residents of the Second District. Ted Strickland wants to govern 11 million people in the entire state. I would suggest that covering Mr. Strickland’s situation at least to the extent that you covered McEwen’s is of paramount importance.

Regards,
Tom Blumer
BizzyBlog.com