Ohio Democrat Kilroy Gets Company in House Race Against Pryce

By Greg Giroux, CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY
Published: March 13, 2007
It may still be a year until Ohio holds its congressional primary for the 2008 general election, but Democrats in the Columbus-centered 15th District already know they might have to choose between two county commission colleagues angling to challenge Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce, who was narrowly re-elected last November to her eighth term.

Will Democrats again opt for Mary Jo Kilroy, who nearly defeated Pryce in 2006, and who announced last Thursday that she will run again in 2008? Or will party voters opt for Paula Brooks — like Kilroy a Franklin County (Columbus) commissioner — who is exploring a run for the seat?

CQPolitics.com interviewed Kilroy last Thursday afternoon, shortly after her campaign issued a statement saying that she intended to run again in 2008 after losing to Pryce by 1,062 votes last November. In that interview, Kilroy said that she wanted to build on the momentum from her 2006 campaign and accused Pryce of continuing to vote in lockstep with President Bush.

CQPolitics.com spoke with Brooks on Tuesday about her planned bid, which is technically in the “exploratory” phase but seems certain to blossom into an official candidacy.

Brooks — who early this year organized a “527” committee with the Internal Revenue Service to raise money for political causes — has not yet filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to set up a “hard money” fundraising committee that she can use to run a full-fledged House campaign. She plans, though, to hold a fundraiser on April 24.

Brooks said she formed an exploratory effort “to follow up on the many, many people who have frankly come to me and said that I should be our Democratic candidate.”

“I think I bring a fresh and energetic approach,” Brooks said.

Exploratory committees usually are precursors to full-fledged campaigns. Asked if there was anything that would compel her to drop her exploratory bid, Brooks replied, “Not at this time.”

Brooks’ lengthy public service career includes serving eight years as a city councilor in Upper Arlington, a suburb northwest of Columbus that has historically voted Republican, including for Bush in 2004. Brooks was elected Franklin County commissioner in 2004, winning 57 percent of the vote in a jurisdiction that accounted for about 86 percent of the overall 15th District electorate in 2006.

Brooks shared a ballot with Kilroy, who was re-elected with 53 percent.

After two-plus years on the county commission, Brooks said, “I’m looking at the federal level now because, frankly, it’s the right time in my life, and I feel a major commitment to seeing this country turned around.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee has said that it expects Pryce to win again in 2008, pointing to her survival in a strongly anti-Republican political environment in which the GOP was hurt by scandals involving some prominent Ohio Republicans.