Stivers relies on rural counties to beat Franklin Co. turnout

MARYSVILLE - Steve Stivers needs Union County to win his race for the 15th Congressional District.

Stivers (R-Columbus) said as much to 40 supporters who gathered at the 127-year-old courthouse to begin canvassing the district Saturday. Stivers' campaign is making a final push to turnout Republicans in reliably GOP Union and Madison counties, which are credited with saving U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) in 2006 when she lost Franklin County to Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus), Stivers' opponent this year.

"I know that Union County sent Deborah Pryce back to Washington two years ago!" Stivers told supporters. "And we need to do it again. I want to make sure we keep this seat in Republican hands."

In 2006, Franklin County cast 86 percent of the vote and county commissioner Kilroy won a majority of it, according to the Almanac of American Politics. Most of the remaining 14 percent was cast by Union County, which gave 66 percent of its vote to Pryce. The more rural Madison County went for Pryce by 66 percent. In the end Pryce won reelection by just 1,055 votes.

Despite standing in Republican territory, Stivers stuck to his bipartisan message.

"For the last six years I've been the state senator for western Franklin County and I've worked with Republicans and Democrats for common sense solutions to get things done," Stivers said, before being interrupted by a supporter's car horn.

State House candidate Dave Burke played up Kilroy's liberalism in the conservative county.

"We need representation in Washington that tells Nancy Pelosi, ‘No.' We need representation in Washington that tells Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Harry Reid, ‘No,'" Burke said.

The campaign against Stivers has argued that the district doesn't need representation in Washington from a lobbyist, which Stivers was for seven years while vice president at Bank One. Kilroy, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and 527 group Patriot Majority have spent millions portraying Stivers as a tool of banking interests, devoted to slashing consumer protections.

"If you say something enough, you spend enough money on a message, some people are going to believe it," Stivers said of the lobbyist attack.

Stivers also defended his time at Bank One, saying he helped the company add thousands of jobs to its payroll.

"Bank One grew from about 9,500 to jobs in central Ohio to almost 14,000 jobs. I am proud of the time I spent at Bank One," he said.