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National Republicans scored their first major recruiting
victory of the 2010 cycle when ex-Rep. Rob Portman (R) jumped into the race to
replace retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) Wednesday. Portman made his entry official at an announcement in
Cincinnati, an area he represented in Congress for a dozen years.
“At a difficult time in our state and national economy, I
believe I can make a positive difference in the lives of people throughout Ohio,”
Portman said.
“Over the past year or so, as I have traveled across the
Buckeye State and listened to Ohioans talk about what matters most to them, I
learned that we all have a lot in common — strong family values, a solid work
ethic and a common-sense approach to solving problems,” Portman said. “I am
committed to working with all Ohioans to get our state back on the path to
greatness.”
Praising Voinovich as “one of the great public servants
of our time,” Portman pledged to follow the retiring senator's lead in working
with both parties, playing up his success at passing legislation under
Democratic and Republican administrations.
By jumping in the race early, he hopes to avoid the kind
of crowded primary that could cause headaches for Republicans in other states.
Democrats have yet to coalesce around a true front-runner, though Reps. Tim
Ryan (D) and Zack Space (D) and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) are the most frequently
mentioned candidates. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) backed
Portman and praised him as the strongest candidate to represent Ohio in the
Senate.
“Rob is a capable and principled reformer, well-liked
throughout the Buckeye State and well-known for his commitment to policies that
help create new jobs,” Boehner said. “With congressional Democrats plotting to
increase government spending to unprecedented levels, America will need an
experienced public servant like Ohio’s Rob Portman to help keep Washington from
burying our children under mountains of debt.”
Portman left Congress in 2005 to serve as United States
Trade Representative for President Bush. A year later, Portman was appointed to
head Bush's Office of Management and Budget.
Democrats have already made hay out of Portman’s
experience in the Bush administration, calling Portman an “architect” of Bush’s
economic policies.
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