Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern will remain in his current job, reports Joe Vardon from the Dispatch.
Chris Redfern easily won reelection as chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, crushing Lorain County attorney Anthony Giardini by a large majority vote of the state’s 66-member central committee.
The newly elected central committee cast 53 votes in favor of Redfern and 10 for Giardini, during a meeting in a packed room at party headquarters in Columbus.
Redfern retains the position he’s held since December of 2005, surviving an attempt by organized labor and people close to former Attorney General Richard Cordray to push him out.
SamAdams previously pointed out here on 3BP that this internal spat in the ODP exposes a struggle between supporters of Ted Strickland and Richard Cordray, both of whom are rumored to be likely to seek the nomination to challenge Governor Kasich in 2014.
GOHP Blog asks some great questions as we watch the events unfold going forward:
So is the state party willing to alienate their union base—the folks that finance the lion’s share of the Democrat operation in the Buckeye State—to have Strickland lose… again? If Redfern’s reelection is any indication, that would be a yes.
But while that may be clear, there’s a lot of other questions left unanswered:
Where does this leave Cordray?
After Redfern gives him the middle finger, will he remain active in Ohio politics?
Will unions continue to play ball while the state party ignores them?
When does the money dry up?
Come 2015, who’s leading the ODP?
I’m glad Redfern won tonight. First of all, and quite selfishly, the captain is a lot of fun to blog about. But he also makes a rematch with Ted Strickland more likely. And that’s a matchup I think we’re going to like when 2014 rolls around. Stay tuned!
