Voters go to polls in primaries to replace Ohio Gov. Kasich

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s roller-coaster gubernatorial primary season will be decided Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats vote for their nominees to replace term-limited Republican Gov. John Kasich.

Republicans will choose between Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a former U.S. senator, and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a former state auditor who’s spent the year distancing herself from Kasich’s administration.

Democratic candidates include Richard Cordray, who served as consumer watchdog under President Barack Obama; former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich; state Sen. Joe Schiavoni; and former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill.

Kucinich has challenged Cordray for supporting gun rights and campaigned to his left on such issues as civil rights and environmental protection. Kucinich has been questioned after receiving a $20,000 speaking fee from a group sympathetic to Syrian President Bashar Assad. He said he plans to return it.

National Democrats view opportunity in the seat being vacated by Kasich. Once the crowded primary concludes, Republicans hope to hold onto the seat held by the two-term governor and 2016 presidential contender who’s term-limited.

But the strikingly nasty Republican primary between DeWine and Taylor has buoyed Democrats’ hopes of facing a damaged candidate for the open seat this fall.

In a $10 million-plus ad war between the campaigns, Taylor, 52, has labeled the former U.S. senator and lieutenant governor “DC DeWine” and painted him as a liberal the likes of Obama and Hillary Clinton. DeWine, 71, has called Taylor a “phony conservative” who’s unqualified and often was absent from her job.

With support from conservative and Tea Party groups, Taylor pledges to support Republican President Donald Trump’s agenda and to roll back Medicaid expansion. The Kasich administration she currently serves supports the extended insurance benefits, which were made an option for states under the federal health care law. DeWine, the party’s endorsed candidate, has walked a more careful line on Trump in anticipation of needing to win a statewide election in politically divided Ohio in November.

Republican voters Tuesday are also choosing a Republican nominee to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in the fall.

Polls are open until 7:30 p.m.

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Julie Carr Smyth can be reached on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/jcarrsmyth .

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