Ohio: Cincinnati

Each appointment replaced an outgoing member with similar experience.

Jerry Jurgensen of Columbus, who was the chief executive officer of Nationwide for nine years, replaced Dimon McPherson, who retired as Nationwide CEO in 2000. Jurgensen also had served as executive vice president of Bank One Corp. in Chicago.

McPherson, of Powell, served nine years on the OSU board.

Strickland also appointed Janet Reid of Cincinnati. She is the principal partner of Global Lead Management Consulting and also worked as a research chemist for 10 years at Procter & Gamble Co. She is past chairwoman of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Reid replaces G. Gilbert Cloyd on the OSU board, a former veterinarian who is chief technology officer at Procter & Gamble.

Taylor made her announcement at the Statehouse a week after informing the Ohio Republican Party central committee that she would not run for the U.S. Senate against former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of Cincinnati in next May's GOP primary election.

"I want to continue the progress we've made helping to provide Ohio taxpayers with a more accountable and affordable government," Taylor said at a press conference.

Taylor said she "seriously considered" a Senate bid and denied receiving any pressure from the state GOP to run for re-election. Her decision, she said, was based on "where do I fit in to be of the best service" to Ohioans.

The auditor is one of five members of the State Apportionment Board, which will reconfigure Ohio's 99 House and 33 Senate districts for the next decade after the 2010 census.

Joining other GOP state chairmen in Washington for a meeting sponsored by the Republican National Committee, DeWine will vote no on a scheduled resolution calling on Democrats to rename their party the "Democrat Socialist Party."

"That sort of noise is unproductive; it is not helpful," DeWine said.

To Democrats, the re-branding resolution symbolizes the plight of a party stuck in the past and searching for a leader, its rebirth stunted by divisive voices filling the void, namely former Vice President Dick Cheney and talk radio's Rush Limbaugh.

"They've got to start offering real solutions," said Sherrod Brown, Ohio's Democratic senator. "Name-calling, telling the Democrats to change their name, it just hurts them.

As lawmakers appeared to soften their position on gambling, hundreds of horse enthusiasts rallied at the Statehouse this morning for a plan that would allow slot machines at the state's seven racetracks.

Without slot machines, most of the racetracks likely will go out of business in the next few years, eliminating many of Ohio's 16,000 jobs that depend on horse racing, leaders of the state's equine industry said.

They urged supporters to write to lawmakers in favor of a proposal to allow 14,000 slot machines at the racetracks. The issue would require only approval from the General Assembly, not voters.

"This is not about gambling," said state Rep. Terry Blair, R-Washington Township.