In reading this article in The Hill – “Candidates shun party labels” LINK it starts out stating:
Many Democrats and Republicans running for Congress this year are hiding their party affiliations.
About one-third of Democratic and GOP candidates in battleground House races do not openly reveal which party they represent, according to a review by The Hill of candidate websites.
This made me curious about Ohio, since a few Ohio congressional candidates are mentioned but not all. So…Using this LIST I googled each candidate looking for their congressional campaign website. I noted the first page and their about page if one existed. If a mention was made in a news clipping put on the front page or if the party they were a member of was listed in their bio – I noted it, if they had it listed as a part of their website I listed it – those are in bold. Here’s what I found:
Kaptur – Democrat for Congress
Iott – No mention of Republican
Steve Driehaus – No mention of Democrat
Steve Chabot – No specific mention of Republican
Jean Schmidt – No mention
Surya “Chili” Yalamanchili – No mention
Mike Turner – references Republican endorsement
Joe Roberts – side reference media mentions Democrat
Jim Jordan – no specific mention though “bold energetic Conservative”
Doug Litt – no website found though signs have donkey
Bob Latta – no specific mention though “United Conservatives of Ohio” mentioned
Caleb Finkenbiner – no mention of Democrat
Charlie Wilson – mentions being part of the Democratic majority
Bill Johnson – no mention of Republican
Steve Austria – buried in Message from page Republican
Bill Conner – mentioned in endorsements on front page as Democrat
John Boehner – mentioned in about page as Republican
Justin Coussoule – not mentioned
Dennis Kucinich – mentioned in news clips on front page as Democrat
Peter J. Corrigan – tells you he’s got Irish ancestry and is a Roman Catholic
Marcia Fudge – mentioned in news clips on front page as Democrat
Thomas Pekarek – doesn’t appear to have a website
Pat Tiberi – no mention of Republican
Paula Brooks – Midwestern values, strong work ethic – no mention of Democrat
Tom Ganley – No specific mention but ad for event suggests he’s a Republican
Betty Sutton – Democrat for Hard Working Ohioans
Steve LaTourette – No specific mention but fiscally conservative values in bio
Bill O’Niell – Democratic Candidate listed
Mary Jo Kilroy – Democrat for Congress
Steve Stivers – has sidebar button “endorsed Republican”
Jim Renacci – mentioned Republican in news piece & bio
John Boccieri – mentioned Democrat in news pieces – strong supporter of the Second Amendment
Tim Ryan – mentioned Democrat in news pieces
Jim Graham – tea party video & on bio says he is a conservative
Zack Space – mentioned Democrat in news pieces
Bob Gibbs – no mention but angerous National Energy Tax (Cap-and-Trade) and United Conservatives of Ohio in bio
Steve Stivers would be the only Republican that makes it quick and easy to determine which party he’s from on the Republican side.
Thirteen out of 18 Ohio Democratic candidates either list their party affiliation clearly or make it very easy to discover which party they are. Six out of 18 Ohio Republican candidates specifically mention their party affiliation, five list the word conservative, so if you count conservative as referencing party affiliation…that makes eleven out of the 18 that easily provide information in skimming their websites to discover their party affiliation.
