Creating this thread as this race is getting a lot of attention as well as bleeding into a few other threads...

 

 

The most interesting race in SW Ohio

 

Cecil Thomas and Charlie Winburn once sat side by side in Cincinnati City Council chambers.

 

Now they are going head to head in an effort to win the Ohio 9th District Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Eric Kearney due to term limits.

 

Political watchers are keeping tabs on the race that nobody wants to handicap. It's simply too hard.

 

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Winburn's political two-step on the streetcar has one big problem

Chris Wetterich - Staff reporter - Cincinnati Business Courier

 

I don’t know if it’s going to work, but Charlie Winburn’s campaign for the state Senate has been a thing of political beauty.

 

Remember when an adviser to Mitt Romney talked about the GOP presidential candidate’s policy positions being like an Etch A Sketch in that they could easily be erased after the presidential primaries?

 

If Winburn’s political career were chalked out on sidewalk, he’s taken a fire hose to it.

 

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I'm tempted to get a Winburn yard sign...

 

I don't like him, but I want him out of city council so that there is an election in 2015 for his seat. Hopefully we can get a progressive majority on council. The Ohio legislature is so badly gerrymandered that there's no turning back unless there is another Nixon-esque Presidential scandal by the Republicans.

Winburn: 'I'm my own brand'

 

It's hard to take Charlie Winburn seriously – and it's hard not to.

 

The Republican Cincinnati City Councilman is a showman who often refers to himself in the third person and draws lots of eye rolls in council chambers for his colorful – and long-winded – comments and unsolicited compliments of fellow council members. Winburn, running for the 9th Ohio Senate seat against Democrat Cecil Thomas, often toes his party's line on several issues – and many of his ideas are viewed as off-the-wall and go nowhere.

 

Winburn, conversely, is respected in his party for being a fiscal conservative. And he's genuinely well liked by most people he encounters, if nothing else for overcoming a rough childhood and rising to public-service roles by always having a positive, can-do attitude.

 

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I am actually leaning very heavily toward voting for Winburn. This is why:

• Cecil Thomas is not the brightest bulb and I actually think my representative should be able to grasp the issues
  
• Charlie Winburn has a point that he'll be in the majority and have somewhat of a say for SW Ohio
  
• Charlie Winbrun has shown a deftness to vote for his constituency. While he'll vote with Republicans a lot (and it wouldn't matter if Cecil was there because the R's would win the vote anyway), he will also buck the party on issues that he thinks are beneficial to getting him re-elected. In other words, he'll represent the district because he likes being in office.
  
• If Charlie wins he'll no longer be on council and we can replace him with a progressive, hopefully, adding the a veto proof majority. My only fear is I don't trust John Cranley and who he might appoint to Finance if Charlie leaves.
  

Janitor, cop, councilman - and state senator?

 

In recent months Cecil Thomas has been most noticeable as embattled Judge Tracie Hunter's biggest ally.

 

But the career of the Democratic candidate in Ohio's 9th District dates back 40 years and is one that changed the Cincinnati Police Department and how the community views its police force.

 

As a police officer Thomas fought for and won the right for minorities and women to be promoted – winning a federal ruling still in place today that mandates that the department's make-up must mirror the city's population.

 

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