Ohio 18: east central: New Philadelphia, Zanesville, Chillicothe (map)
Democrat: Zack Space, lawyer, Dover law director
Republican: Joy Padgett, state senator (incumbent Bob Ney retiring—2004: won 66%–34%)
Poll D +7: Space 48%, Padgett 41% (10/11)
Outlook: leans Democratic
Post updated: October 31
Final result (11/8): Democrat 62%, Republican 38%
During the six terms Republican Bob Ney represented Ohio 18 in the House, he became increasingly comfortable in the bribes-for-legislation environment of Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert. He wielded much of his influence from the chairman's perch of the House Administration Committee, where he had jurisdiction over lobbyists and was known as "the mayor of Capitol Hill." And he garnered six-figure rewards and lavish trips from the notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff. On August 7, his crimes discovered, he withdrew from the 2006 race. On September 15, he pled guilty to bribery and corruption; he had delayed the announcement until one day after the special primary election (called to replace him) so that his hand-picked successor, Joy Padgett, could win.
She did win the Republican nomination, and she demonstrated her gratitude to Ney by immediately calling for his resignation, as usual allowing nothing to stand between herself and ruthless ambition. Similarly, in her 2004 race for state senate, she beat Terry Anderson—the AP correspondent who was kidnapped and held hostage for seven years by Hezbollah—by accusing him of being soft on terrorism and "part of the 'Blame America' crowd." A real piece of work.
Whatever her joyless political tactics, Padgett is unlikely to win this race, saddled as she is with such unsavory cronies. She owes her first term in the state senate to disgraced Governor Bob Taft, who also appointed her to direct (haplessly) his Office of Appalachia. She worked closely with corrupt Secretary of State and gubernatorial hopeful Kenneth Blackwell. And she was anointed for Congress by Bob Ney, an self-confessed criminal, who said, "I can think of no better person to represent this district."
It cannot help her reputation that Padgett and her husband recently declared bankruptcy, defaulting on a government loan from the Small Business Administration. She commented, "I am not going to downplay it: Voters are skeptical of everything." Everything Republican, she meant to say. The only untainted fundraiser she could find was Laura Bush, who loyally came to Ohio a month ago to try salvaging something. Even the Newark Advocate, a local newspaper that usually supports Republicans, endorsed the Democrat this time.
In this sleazy environment, a ham sandwich might win as the Democratic contender, but in fact Zack Space is a well-qualified candidate. He practices law in the town of Dover with his father, Socrates Space, focusing on consumer rights. He has served as public defender, state special counsel, and now Dover city attorney. Unsurprisingly, he highlights ethics in his campaign, first making a little joke about it—"Being the son of Socrates, Zack Space knows a thing or two about ethics"—and then taking this pledge (which he is signing in the photo above):
I pledge to you, as your Congressman, I will accept:
- No gifts from lobbyists.
- No trips from lobbyists.
- No meals from lobbyists.
- I will never put corporate interests ahead of the people I represent.
Space calls for 180-degree changes in Bush's policies on healthcare, stem-cell research, and the Iraq War—excellent ideas all. But his motto focuses again on Republican corruption: "Let’s clean up Congress!" It is a motto that seems increasingly pertinent.
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