We'll see.  I actually know Aftab personally from his time when we were both together in USG at OSU.  I like him and he is a born campaigner (and apparently at least a halfway-decent executive, too).  Of course, OSU was around 15 years ago now and we haven't spoken since I graduated (I think I was a year ahead of him, maybe two).

 

 

Huh, then you and I have probably met before at OCSG meetings

Moved all Aftab/1st Congressional District talk here from Hamilton County Politics

We'll see.  I actually know Aftab personally from his time when we were both together in USG at OSU.  I like him and he is a born campaigner (and apparently at least a halfway-decent executive, too).  Of course, OSU was around 15 years ago now and we haven't spoken since I graduated (I think I was a year ahead of him, maybe two).

 

Hey, I was at OSU 15 years ago and didn't know ANY of you (except for a youthful political hopeful named Ryan Jolley who I tried getting on this forum but bah).

 

#TeamAftab

Pauline Regime

Chabot is attacking Aftab because he does not live in the district.  He lives at 3545 Holly Ln, just off Duck Creek Rd. on the border of Evanston and Hyde Park. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1425526,-84.4587938,3a,75y,265.19h,86.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4AxHJvL4C9XYfQbI9y7v7A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I did not know until Jon Ossoff that it was even possible to run for Congress without living in the district. Bizarre.

his back property line is approximately 358 feet from the 1st Congressional District.

Pureval ties Chabot to Trump as he launches congressional campaign

 

Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval launched his congressional campaign on Wednesday, attempting to link incumbent Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, to President Donald Trump and saying their policies have hurt working people in the First Congressional District.

 

Democrat Pureval, in office for just 12 months, touted his record at the clerk of courts office and said he did not expect to be running for Congress now but that Chabot’s record of backing the president compelled him to run. The announcement was held before a packed room at Gabriel’s Place in Avondale.

 

Specifically, Pureval took aim at the Republican tax bill, projections that it would add more than $1 trillion to the federal deficit and GOP attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

 

“Steve Chabot has supported everything Donald Trump’s tried to do,” Pureval said. “Chabot’s been in Congress for way too long. He hasn’t achieved anything. He won’t stand up for this district. He’s become a reckless partisan, and he’s a central reason why politics is so dysfunctional in Washington, D.C.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/01/31/purveal-ties-chabot-to-trump-as-he-launches.html

We'll see.  I actually know Aftab personally from his time when we were both together in USG at OSU.  I like him and he is a born campaigner (and apparently at least a halfway-decent executive, too).  Of course, OSU was around 15 years ago now and we haven't spoken since I graduated (I think I was a year ahead of him, maybe two).

 

Hey, I was at OSU 15 years ago and didn't know ANY of you (except for a youthful political hopeful named Ryan Jolley who I tried getting on this forum but bah).

 

#TeamAftab

 

Wait srsly?  Were you on OSUWeb back in the day?

 

I knew Ryan Jolley, too.  He's a good guy, too ... but I think Aftab is a better candidate for national office or any other high-publicity role.  (And yes, I know Ryan has had some local political roles.)

Aftab would be a good candidate in Congress just don't think he can win in either the 1st or 2nd district.

Just because Aftab faces an uphill battle does not mean he shouldn't try.  If anything, Aftab running will push Chabot into softening his staunch support of right wing conservatism.

I think his main goal is to beat Chabot. I don't think he has any belief that this is going to make Chabot any more moderate. His second goal is to boost Democratic turnout for statewide offices. If Cincinnati didn't have any legitimate candidate, that suppresses turnout and hurts the chances of winning those statewide races.

I just think that having a competitive race will naturally moderate Chabot at least a tiny bit.  As it is right now he's about as Right Wing nut job as you can get.  He's just incredibly disconnected from the majority of people he represents.  Forcing him to get out into the community to solicit votes (which he hasn't had to do for so long) will get him out of his echo chamber and make him see how his actions affect people.

How long has Chabot's district stretched up into Warren County? Is that part of the 2010 redistricting? I actually remember in 2006-2010  fitting quite nicely in most of Hamilton County, am I mistaken? I had thought it was one of the least gerrymandered in the state until I just looked at it now. I can't find old maps online.

It covered western Hamilton County and some of Butler. It was a very compact district until 2012.

 

We'll see.  I actually know Aftab personally from his time when we were both together in USG at OSU.  I like him and he is a born campaigner (and apparently at least a halfway-decent executive, too).  Of course, OSU was around 15 years ago now and we haven't spoken since I graduated (I think I was a year ahead of him, maybe two).

 

Hey, I was at OSU 15 years ago and didn't know ANY of you (except for a youthful political hopeful named Ryan Jolley who I tried getting on this forum but bah).

 

#TeamAftab

 

Were you on OSUWeb back in the day?

 

No, I wasn't on it but was familiar with it.

All this talk of Aftab running for a Congressional seat makes me sad.  I was always hoping to see him run for Cincinnati Mayor. For some reason, i just can't shake the nightmare of Smitherman somehow slithering into the Mayors office, single-handedly reversing years of progress this city has made towards changing its image.

^ PG-13 probably has a better shot at beating Smitherman than Aftab does, I was under the impression the next race was shaping up to be between those two. I think in a primary, Aftab would be third behind them if he ran, even if he ran a really good campaign.

 

Though Aftab's probably going to lose this election by > 15% so I'm sure he'll still be around to run for mayor in a few years, if he wants to.

In wake of Pureval's congressional campaign bid, fiancée reports being stalked

 

The fiancée of Democratic congressional candidate Aftab Pureval filed a police report Monday night saying that she has been stalked at the home he owns in Hyde Park since before he announced a campaign against Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, last week.

 

According to the police report, which lists Pureval as a "reportee" and his fiancee, Whitney Whitis, as the victim, "suspects are sitting outside the victim's house at all hours of the day" since Jan. 29. The suspects, who are not named in the report, have attempted to photograph Whitis "and have come onto the victim's property banging loudly on the door, yelling at the victim and attempting to photograph through the windows," the report said.

 

The police report was filed at 9:50 p.m. on Monday. Cincinnati police say the incidents still are under investigation. The police report categorized them as "menacing and stalking."

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/02/07/in-wake-of-purevals-congressional-campaign-bid.html

Don't know if this would help him much for city council election since isn't most of the 1st District now outside of the city limits?

Pureval may be toughest foe yet for Chabot

 

Rep. Steve Chabot could face his toughest political test so far in Hamilton County’s Democratic clerk of courts, Aftab Pureval, a former Procter & Gamble lawyer who is a Democratic candidate of the 21st century – a charismatic, biracial millennial with an anti-Trump message.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/02/23/pureval-may-be-toughest-foe-yet-for-chabot.html

With the way things have been going lately, it looks like this and the governor's race may becomes proxies for not just Trump's approval, but also the gun control fight. How that would change things is, I suppose, up to what the candidates say on the issue. It seems some gun control measures are very popular, so Chabot taking a hard line could cost him. Then again, Pureval's words could boost turnout in Warren County.

"Liberals want to take away your guns" will definitely be conservatives' rallying point to get people out to the polls in 2018.

Pureval announces fundraising total

 

Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval, a Democrat, raised $660,000 in the eight weeks since he announced he would challenge Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, for the 1st Congressional District seat.

 

Pureval’s campaign announced the figure in a news release but did not provide the full report he will file with the Federal Elections Commission. That information will be available by April 15, according to his campaign. Chabot has not yet announced his total for the first quarter of 2018.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/04/03/pureval-announces-fundraising-total.html

How seriously should voters take Pureval’s Pelosi pledge?

 

Aftab Pureval, the downtown Democrat trying to unseat Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, has followed in the footsteps of 23 other Dems, pledging not to support Nancy Pelosi for speaker if they win 25 seats and take the House in November.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/13/commentary-how-seriously-should-voters-take.html

Just don't see him winning with so much Warren county ground to cover.

"Liberals want to take away your guns" will definitely be conservatives' rallying point to get people out to the polls in 2018.

 

Obama already took them away. 

 

In related news(?), on Saturday I was driving north on 471 and saw a coal train crossing the highway between Newport and Bellevue.  Except the train was headed...east.  Toward the hills where coal comes from.  Is Trump paying to drive a mile of coal around in random directions?

 

It could be Alberta coal which is different than Appalachian coal.

Just don't see him winning with so much Warren county ground to cover.

 

Southwest Warren County is where all the growth is and it's also becoming more politically moderate, as new residents are more liberal. Maybe in 2018 it won't make the difference, I don't know. But eventually Ohio 1 in its current configuration becomes a Democratic-leaning district.

Sabato's Cystal ball has bumped this race from Lean Republican to Toss up saying....

 

"The sheer weight of the Democratic fundraising advantage is a factor in some of these moves. For instance, Reps. Steve Chabot (R, OH-1) and Mike Bishop (R, MI-8) hold districts that Trump won by about a half-dozen points apiece. They have had relatively easy elections over the past couple of cycles (Chabot has been in the House since 1995, with an interruption in service from 2009-2011, while Bishop was first elected in 2014), but they face two seemingly high-quality Democratic challengers, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval (D) and Elissa Slotkin (D), an Obama-era Defense Department official. Pureval raised more than double what Chabot raised last quarter and is approaching the long-time incumbent’s cash-on-hand total, while Slotkin has been crushing Bishop in fundraising so badly that she holds a $2.2 million to $1.7 million cash on hand advantage, an unusual edge for a challenger to hold on an incumbent. Both districts have above-average college graduation rates, often a predictor of Trump skepticism that could have down-ballot repercussions."

 

http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

 

It makes sense when you see that conservative media now attacks those with college educations as "elitists" and try to portray colleges as places where people are indoctrinated. 

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

 

It makes sense when you see that conservative media now attacks those with college educations as "elitists" and try to portray colleges as places where people are indoctrinated. 

 

It infuriates me how anti-intellectual Conservatism has come. No surprise that Hannity and Limbaugh both were unable to finish college.

 

And don't tell me inferiority complexes about schooling aren't dangerous - eh hem........

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

 

The fact that the districts in question have been voting solidly Republican for a long, long time seems to be at odds with this.

 

I think the bigger indication of what actually matters is the fact that Aftab has been receiving tons and tons of money from all over the country. He's taking the PG Sittenfeld route - get enough money in Cincinnati and you can essentially buy a seat despite being almost completely unknown.

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

 

It makes sense when you see that conservative media now attacks those with college educations as "elitists" and try to portray colleges as places where people are indoctrinated. 

 

 

It's no surprise that the ones creating this manipulative Right-Wing rhetoric are all very highly-educated and went to elite universities themselves.

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

 

The fact that the districts in question have been voting solidly Republican for a long, long time seems to be at odds with this.

 

I think the bigger indication of what actually matters is the fact that Aftab has been receiving tons and tons of money from all over the country. He's taking the PG Sittenfeld route - get enough money in Cincinnati and you can essentially buy a seat despite being almost completely unknown.

 

Well, first of all the 1st District has been gaining college-educated voters and shedding non-educated voters as it has gotten bluer. And the fastest growing and most highly educated communities within the district are also the bluest. And second of all, a majority of Aftab's money has come from donors in the district and he is not accepting PAC money. Finally, a majority of Chabot's money has come from PAC contributions this cycle. So those facts don't really line up well with your narrative.

It could be Alberta coal which is different than Appalachian coal.

Most likely it was coal from Kentucky or Illinois.

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

 

The fact that the districts in question have been voting solidly Republican for a long, long time seems to be at odds with this.

 

I think the bigger indication of what actually matters is the fact that Aftab has been receiving tons and tons of money from all over the country. He's taking the PG Sittenfeld route - get enough money in Cincinnati and you can essentially buy a seat despite being almost completely unknown.

 

Well, first of all the 1st District has been gaining college-educated voters and shedding non-educated voters as it has gotten bluer. And the fastest growing and most highly educated communities within the district are also the bluest. And second of all, a majority of Aftab's money has come from donors in the district and he is not accepting PAC money. Finally, a majority of Chabot's money has come from PAC contributions this cycle. So those facts don't really line up well with your narrative.

 

I think the DCCC is targeting the 1st District. So while Aftab may not be accepting money from PACs, he is likely benefiting from outside money being spent on his behalf.

Well, first of all the 1st District has been gaining college-educated voters and shedding non-educated voters as it has gotten bluer. And the fastest growing and most highly educated communities within the district are also the bluest.

 

Warren County, the reddest part of the district, grew significantly faster than Hamilton County and has a much higher percentage of college-educated people. I suppose you'd have to look at percent level data to really get an understanding of this and I don't care enough to do that, but I think your assertion doesn't factor in the bluest parts of the district - they're mostly poor urban districts in Cincinnati, where college degrees are few and far between. There aren't really a whole lot of people in poor rural areas in the district.

I love how "above-average college graduation rates" equates to voting against Republican candidates.

 

The fact that the districts in question have been voting solidly Republican for a long, long time seems to be at odds with this.

 

I think the bigger indication of what actually matters is the fact that Aftab has been receiving tons and tons of money from all over the country. He's taking the PG Sittenfeld route - get enough money in Cincinnati and you can essentially buy a seat despite being almost completely unknown.

 

Well, first of all the 1st District has been gaining college-educated voters and shedding non-educated voters as it has gotten bluer. And the fastest growing and most highly educated communities within the district are also the bluest. And second of all, a majority of Aftab's money has come from donors in the district and he is not accepting PAC money. Finally, a majority of Chabot's money has come from PAC contributions this cycle. So those facts don't really line up well with your narrative.

 

I think the DCCC is targeting the 1st District. So while Aftab may not be accepting money from PACs, he is likely benefiting from outside money being spent on his behalf.

 

The DCCC has yet to spend any money on this race, though they no doubt will. And I have no doubt that the NRCC will be spending money for Chabot too. It would be unrealistic to think that both organizations wouldn't be getting involved in a close race.

Well, first of all the 1st District has been gaining college-educated voters and shedding non-educated voters as it has gotten bluer. And the fastest growing and most highly educated communities within the district are also the bluest.

 

Warren County, the reddest part of the district, grew significantly faster than Hamilton County and has a much higher percentage of college-educated people. I suppose you'd have to look at percent level data to really get an understanding of this and I don't care enough to do that, but I think your assertion doesn't factor in the bluest parts of the district - they're mostly poor urban districts in Cincinnati, where college degrees are few and far between. There aren't really a whole lot of people in poor rural areas in the district.

 

Warren County has added 16,189 residents since 2010, while Hamilton has added 11,448. Between 2016 and 2017 Warren County added 2,406 and Hamilton County added 3,735. So no, Warren County hasn't grown significantly faster. It grew faster in the early part of the decade and is now growing slower than Hamilton County, according to the Census estimates.

 

But also, the fastest growing parts of both counties are actually places that lean left or have shifted farther to the left each of the past several elections. Mason, Deerfield Twp, and Hamilton Twp in Warren all shifted to the left in the last election and are the fastest growing places in Warren County. In Hamilton you have growth in OTR, Downtown, Northside, Oakley, Pleasant Ridge, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Blue Ash, Walnut Hills, East Walnut Hills, Madisonville, Mt. Auburn, and Green Township. I'm probably missing a couple but those are places that are definitely adding population. Among them, OTR, Downtown, Northside, Walnut Hills, East Walnut Hills, and Mt. Auburn are all solidly blue. Oakley, Pleasant Ridge, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Blue Ash, and Madisonville have all been either lean red or lean blue but have trended more blue (in some cases significantly so) as new residents are more liberal than existing residents. The only one that can be considered solid red is Green Township, but it also trended significantly bluer in 2016 than in years past. Also, east side communities long considered to be conservative bastions such as Anderson Twp, Indian Hill, Terrace Park, Madeira, and Loveland all trended bluer in 2016.

 

Your statements about education just aren't true either. Warren County is better educated, but both counties are well educated with 36.9% of Hamco residents having a bachelor's or better and 42.9% of Warren residents. 15.2% of Hamco residents have a graduate degree or better, while 15.1% of Warren residents do. Also the growth in both counties has come from well-educated folks.

It could be Alberta coal which is different than Appalachian coal.

 

...and a lot of coal is shipped in opposite directions on the rivers because a lot of the coal our plants burn comes from South America and a lot of the coal we produce in our area is used in the south.

Why Pureval’s chances of beating Chabot have been upgraded

 

For the first time, a national political analyst that rates every U.S. House race has described the 1st Congressional District race between incumbent Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, and Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval, D-Downtown, a tossup. 

 

"Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball," a publication of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, changed the district, which includes much of Hamilton County and all of Warren County, from “leans Republican” to “toss-up.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/24/why-pureval-s-chances-of-beating-chabot-have-been.html

Your statements about education just aren't true either. Warren County is better educated, but both counties are well educated with 36.9% of Hamco residents having a bachelor's or better and 42.9% of Warren residents. 15.2% of Hamco residents have a graduate degree or better, while 15.1% of Warren residents do. Also the growth in both counties has come from well-educated folks.

 

My statement was "Warren County... has a much higher percentage of college-educated people." Maybe we're splitting hairs here, but I consider 42.9 to be much higher than 36.9 considering the spectrum. The national average is 33.4, meaning Hamilton County is only slightly above average, whereas Warren County is significantly above average.

 

Your trying to paint OH-1 as having wealthy, educated, liberal, urban residents and a bunch of dumb country bumpkins. I get it. The reality is it's got wealthy, educated, conservative suburban residents, and liberal urban residents who are all over the spectrum when it comes to education and income level.

Your statements about education just aren't true either. Warren County is better educated, but both counties are well educated with 36.9% of Hamco residents having a bachelor's or better and 42.9% of Warren residents. 15.2% of Hamco residents have a graduate degree or better, while 15.1% of Warren residents do. Also the growth in both counties has come from well-educated folks.

 

My statement was "Warren County... has a much higher percentage of college-educated people." Maybe we're splitting hairs here, but I consider 42.9 to be much higher than 36.9 considering the spectrum. The national average is 33.4, meaning Hamilton County is only slightly above average, whereas Warren County is significantly above average.

 

Your trying to paint OH-1 as having wealthy, educated, liberal, urban residents and a bunch of dumb country bumpkins. I get it. The reality is it's got wealthy, educated, conservative suburban residents, and liberal urban residents who are all over the spectrum when it comes to education and income level.

 

Warren County is higher, but both are above average--and the growth in both counties is concentrated among highly educated folks.

 

As for your second part, I don't understand at all how you got that idea. I'm not saying that in the slightest. In Warren County I'd say the split is more among new/old residents than anything else. And I grew up in the country. Most of my family still lives in the country. I wouldn't characterize country folks as dumb.

Parties duel over Pureval’s campaign expenses

 

Lawyers for Democratic congressional candidate and Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval and attorneys linked to a conservative group will duke it out Thursday over whether money Pureval spent in his Ohio campaign finance account was legally used for expenses related to his U.S. House campaign.

 

An Ohio Elections Commission hearing is scheduled tomorrow, the day after a Hamilton County Board of Elections employee admitted that she blacked out the memo line of a check Pureval’s state campaign wrote to pay for a poll, which it had listed as a “consulting” expense.

 

On Wednesday, deputy elections director Sally Krisel said she redacted the memo line for a $16,427.79 check to GBA Strategies, a polling firm, at the request of Pureval campaign manager Sarah Topy. After a special Board of Elections meeting, the Pureval campaign disclosed that the memo line said “poll balance,” meaning it was used for public opinion polling.

 

Republicans, including the party chairman, Alex Triantafilou, said it looks like Pureval, a downtown Democrat, was attempting to hide the true purpose of the expense because it would run afoul of regulations that bar the use of a state campaign account to pay for federal campaign expenses. The GOP is angling to make the expense an issue in the campaign between Pureval and incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/09/19/parties-duel-over-pureval-s-campaign-expenses.html

^ What a goofball. The redacted checks totaled about $30,000 - nearly all of which his mom donated to the campaign. So this whole ordeal was set into motion because mommy wrote a check to the wrong campaign, but he used it for his House race, anyway.

It looks like Aftab is in trouble - his defense thus far has been that the polling in question was done for the 2020 Clerk of Courts race (yeah, right buddy) but the poll itself was clearly for the Congressional race:

 

Aftab Pureval's secret poll obtained by Enquirer

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/26/aftabs-secret-poll-obtained-enquirer/1430234002/

 

The Enquirer has obtained the poll at the center of a campaign finance spending complaint against Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval – and it's unquestionably a poll about his current congressional race. 

 

The poll itself – which until now has been held secret by the Pureval campaign –undermines repeated claims by them that it was for both a future clerk of courts run and an exploration of a congressional run. The poll is headlined, "Polling in OH-1 shows opportunity for Aftab Pureval."

 

And there's not one question about the 2020 clerk of court's race.

 

That's a problem because if the poll was for both races, the spending would be permissible under Ohio campaign finance laws. But spending from a clerk of courts campaign fund solely for the purpose of a congressional run would be a violation of those laws.

 

The spending must be kept separate because in the federal race, donations are capped at $5,400. In the county race, there are no donation limits.

Is Pureval in more trouble than Chabot?

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/03/rep-steve-chabots-campaign-has-paid-son-in-laws-firm-more-than-150-000-web-consulting/826677001/

Looks like even if he wins the race he may be fighting criminal charges. This report from the Enquirer is fairly damning. Don't know how you can spin this.