Ohio: Kevin Dewine

While an e-mail campaign appears to be brewing sent out to elected Republican figures through out the state, Jon Stainbrook, chair of the Lucas County Republican Party appeared on Fox Toledo tonight with Andrew Z in his Talk Back segment. When asked directly if Stainbrook recorded phone calls:

Andrew asked, “have you taped phone calls before”

Jon said, “Oh yes, I have”

Andrew asked “Shouldn’t people be worried if they call you up?”

Jon said, “As a journalist I always tape the interviews that I do”

Andrew said, “You’re not a journalist!”

Jon said “Yes, I am, that’s what I do for a living on the side…”

Watch the video for yourself in it’s complete form…For those of you wondering about the e-mails? Here’s the text of one that went to Kevin DeWine that I was sent a copy of:

Dear Chairman DeWine-

I wanted to inform you of a situation in the Lucas County Republican Party.

The Kettering Republican said yesterday that he has begun crafting and seeking political support for a November ballot initiative that would remove the secretary of state's oversight of elections and implement a new system for drawing legislative boundaries every 10 years.

Husted, beginning his first Senate term after serving four years as House speaker, confirmed that he is interested in running in 2010 for secretary of state, the office held by Democrat Jennifer Brunner.

"I'm more interested in solving the problems we have in the way we operate state government," Husted said. "It's not about me, and it's not about Jennifer Brunner. It's about creating a new system that's not about hyperpartisanship.

Coughlin, who has represented Summit County in the Senate since 2001, has filed the necessary papers with the secretary of state to begin raising and spending money for a gubernatorial campaign.

Coughlin, 38, announced his candidacy on his Web site, saying, "The days when a handful of people in Columbus pick our candidates for us have come to an end."

Former U.S. Rep. John R. Kasich of Westerville also is considering a run for governor, but he has yet to form a campaign committee.

Kasich has been wooing support from GOP activists for more than a year, and during the next two months, he is scheduled to keynote about a dozen county party Lincoln Day dinners.

WASHINGTON -- Former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell promoted his bid for RNC chairman this morning outside a meeting where party leaders were gathering to pick a new leader.

"This is a multi-ballot process," said Blackwell, who hopes to follow the model Jim Nicholson used when he was unexpectedly elected RNC chairman in 1997, after prolonged balloting.

The first candidate to win more than half of the 168 RNC members' votes will become chairman. Incumbent Mike Duncan is entering the race with the most public backing. Roughly a dozen RNC members have announced support for Blackwell, and he's also won public endorsements from conservative leaders like Phyllis Schlafly, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene.