Exibit A
OHIO:
Tip of the iceberg...
GOP e-mails detail Petro bias
Former NE Ohio official accuses top brass
Friday, February 24, 2006
Ted Wendling and Sandy TheisPlain Dealer Bureau
Columbus
-- The Ohio Republican Party's regional director in Northeast Ohio has resigned, contending that party officials have secretly promoted the gubernatorial candidacy of Attorney General Jim Petro while publicly expressing neutrality.
Karl Raszewski, who headed the 19-county region until Feb. 11, quit after accusing party Executive Director Chris McNulty of squelching the results of a Jan. 28 Republican State Central Committee straw poll that showed overwhelming support for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.
"If Chris had . . . let everyone see the results, Petro would have likely left the race within 48 hours," Raszewski predicted in one of two e-mails he wrote to party officials. Copies of the e-mails were sent anonymously to The Plain Dealer.
Committee members were asked to submit secret ballots choosing between a Blackwell/Petro ticket or a Petro/Blackwell ticket. Two sources said the results, which GOP Chairman Bob Bennett discussed with party leaders but did not release publicly, showed 40 votes for a Blackwell/Petro ticket and 14 votes for a Petro/Blackwell ticket.
Eleven other voters chose Blackwell over Petro and five picked Petro over Blackwell, the sources said.
Raszewski's e-mails, which he declined to discuss, also claim that McNulty and Political Director Jason Mauk have "cut [Bennett] out of decision-making" and accuse the pair of spreading rumors that the party fired him.
Bennett, McNulty and Mauk all dispute Raszewski's charges. Bennett said he decided not to reveal the straw-poll results because neither candidate had been notified that a poll would be taken and he didn't want the results to be seen as an endorsement.
He also said he has seen no evidence that McNulty supports Petro even though McNulty's new wife, Jenna Soccorsi, is a fund-raiser for Petro.
"If I took a poll in my office, I would say the office is probably half and half" between Petro and Blackwell, Bennett said. "I've talked to Chris about the perception. He has to be extremely careful. I have not found any time that he has violated that neutrality."
McNulty concurred.
"I follow the direct orders of the chairman that we're neutral, and we don't depart from that," he said. Asked about Soccorsi's work for Petro, he said, "We rarely talk about work."
Petro's spokesman, Bob Paduchik, dismissed Raszewski's claims, saying, "I don't think the party has shown anybody any favoritism - certainly not Jim Petro."
Blackwell said the claims were credible but that he has no beef with the party.
"I've known for years that Bob Bennett has emotional, historical and political ties to Jim Petro," Blackwell said. "I also know that I'm his political prodigal son and Bob Taft and Jim Petro are his favorite sons. It didn't surprise me or alarm me that he threw his protective cover over Jim."
Raszewski's e-mails dispute assertions that the GOP has been neutral. He now works as a consultant for David McGrew, an Akron marketing company owner who is running for Congress.
"I also have a problem with the fact that the ORP is assisting a primary in the governor's race when we supposedly didn't want one," Raszewski wrote. He called Blackwell "clearly the better candidate for Ohio and for the Republican Party nationally," and said he was "disappointed to find out that people there did not like him and frequently worked against what's best for Ohio."
Raszewski's e-mails also accuse McNulty and Mauk of manipulating Bennett to "further their future political careers" as Bennett prepares to retire.
Bennett denied that.
"There's nothing wrong with Karl," he said. "He did a great job for the Bush/Cheney folks in western Pennsylvania, but he was kind of like a round peg in a square hole working for us."
He lamented that Raszewski's departure "was probably not handled the way it should have been handled," and said it was untrue that he was being manipulated.
"I talk to Jason and Chris every single day," Bennett said. "Karl's just misreading it."
© 2006 The Plain Dealer
© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.
Tip of the iceberg...
GOP e-mails detail Petro bias
Former NE Ohio official accuses top brass
Friday, February 24, 2006
Ted Wendling and Sandy TheisPlain Dealer Bureau
Columbus
-- The Ohio Republican Party's regional director in Northeast Ohio has resigned, contending that party officials have secretly promoted the gubernatorial candidacy of Attorney General Jim Petro while publicly expressing neutrality.
Karl Raszewski, who headed the 19-county region until Feb. 11, quit after accusing party Executive Director Chris McNulty of squelching the results of a Jan. 28 Republican State Central Committee straw poll that showed overwhelming support for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.
"If Chris had . . . let everyone see the results, Petro would have likely left the race within 48 hours," Raszewski predicted in one of two e-mails he wrote to party officials. Copies of the e-mails were sent anonymously to The Plain Dealer.
Committee members were asked to submit secret ballots choosing between a Blackwell/Petro ticket or a Petro/Blackwell ticket. Two sources said the results, which GOP Chairman Bob Bennett discussed with party leaders but did not release publicly, showed 40 votes for a Blackwell/Petro ticket and 14 votes for a Petro/Blackwell ticket.
Eleven other voters chose Blackwell over Petro and five picked Petro over Blackwell, the sources said.
Raszewski's e-mails, which he declined to discuss, also claim that McNulty and Political Director Jason Mauk have "cut [Bennett] out of decision-making" and accuse the pair of spreading rumors that the party fired him.
Bennett, McNulty and Mauk all dispute Raszewski's charges. Bennett said he decided not to reveal the straw-poll results because neither candidate had been notified that a poll would be taken and he didn't want the results to be seen as an endorsement.
He also said he has seen no evidence that McNulty supports Petro even though McNulty's new wife, Jenna Soccorsi, is a fund-raiser for Petro.
"If I took a poll in my office, I would say the office is probably half and half" between Petro and Blackwell, Bennett said. "I've talked to Chris about the perception. He has to be extremely careful. I have not found any time that he has violated that neutrality."
McNulty concurred.
"I follow the direct orders of the chairman that we're neutral, and we don't depart from that," he said. Asked about Soccorsi's work for Petro, he said, "We rarely talk about work."
Petro's spokesman, Bob Paduchik, dismissed Raszewski's claims, saying, "I don't think the party has shown anybody any favoritism - certainly not Jim Petro."
Blackwell said the claims were credible but that he has no beef with the party.
"I've known for years that Bob Bennett has emotional, historical and political ties to Jim Petro," Blackwell said. "I also know that I'm his political prodigal son and Bob Taft and Jim Petro are his favorite sons. It didn't surprise me or alarm me that he threw his protective cover over Jim."
Raszewski's e-mails dispute assertions that the GOP has been neutral. He now works as a consultant for David McGrew, an Akron marketing company owner who is running for Congress.
"I also have a problem with the fact that the ORP is assisting a primary in the governor's race when we supposedly didn't want one," Raszewski wrote. He called Blackwell "clearly the better candidate for Ohio and for the Republican Party nationally," and said he was "disappointed to find out that people there did not like him and frequently worked against what's best for Ohio."
Raszewski's e-mails also accuse McNulty and Mauk of manipulating Bennett to "further their future political careers" as Bennett prepares to retire.
Bennett denied that.
"There's nothing wrong with Karl," he said. "He did a great job for the Bush/Cheney folks in western Pennsylvania, but he was kind of like a round peg in a square hole working for us."
He lamented that Raszewski's departure "was probably not handled the way it should have been handled," and said it was untrue that he was being manipulated.
"I talk to Jason and Chris every single day," Bennett said. "Karl's just misreading it."
© 2006 The Plain Dealer
© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.
posted by RightMan @ 6:00 PM
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