Ohio, Georgia GOP to team up for March 6 Super Tuesday primary

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CGE) - Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine, who was not present in Steubenville, Ohio, Tuesday when Gov. John Kasich, who wants to oust him from his job, delivered a 13,000-plus word monologue that while short on specifics, was long on all the wonderful things he and his team have accomplished in his first year, has announced that the Ohio GOP will partner with the Georgia Republican Party for CNN's 2012 Super Tuesday Republican Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Georgia. 

 

In a media release, DeWine, who succeeded long-time chairman Bob Bennett, said, "The Ohio Republican Party is very pleased to take part in this special partnership with Chairwoman Everhart and Georgia Republicans."

 

"As residents of the quintessential battleground state, Ohio voters have always taken their role in vetting and electing presidential candidates very seriously. We look forward to working with the Georgia Republican Party, and Republicans across America, to renew our party's conservative vision and usher in a new generation of economic prosperity by fighting to ensure that Barack Obama is a one term president," the chairman said.

 

Reciprocating, Georgia GOP Chairman Sue Everhart, said, "I am thrilled that Chairman DeWine and the Ohio Republican Party will be joining us in hosting the 2012 Super Tuesday Republican Presidential Debate. With a combined 142 Delegates up for grabs on March 6th, Georgia and Ohio are truly the power brokers in this year's Republican presidential contest." 

 

According to the Ohio GOP, voters across the country will be watching the March 1st debate closer than ever, because it will provide the premier forum for Speaker Gingrich, Congressman Paul, Governor Romney and Senator Santorum to make their respective cases in the 11th hour of the race in two of our country's most pivotal states.

 

With 76 and 66 National Delegates, respectively, Georgia and Ohio are the two largest delegations that will be holding their Presidential Preference Primaries on March 6th, Super Tuesday. 

 

Co-hosted by CNN, the Debate will air live on Thursday, March 1, at 8 p.m. ET on CNN, CNN en Español, CNN International and streamed on CNN.com. An announcement on the venues will be forthcoming. A location will be set aside in Ohio where participants, in conjunction with the Ohio Republican Party, may ask questions of the presidential candidates as well. 

 

 

DeWine and Kasich have been at odds with each other when Ohio's new Republican Governor, following his narrow victory in 2010, called for DeWine to step down.

 

Usually present at State of the State addresses, DeWine didn't make the 150-mile drive from the capitol to Steubenville, where a city that has fallen on hard times for decades now is still best known as the birthplace of Rat Pack crooner Dean Martin.

 

DeWine and Kasich forces have taken each other on as recently as last week when, by a one vote margin, DeWine was able to keep his job, at least in the short term.

 

But after the March 6 primary, DeWine may have to contend with another vote to oust him from his job. Kasich campers have recruited loyalists to replace DeWine backers, and a vote of the 66-members of the party's central committee could, if 44 votes can be reached, displace DeWine, a cousin to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, from his job.

 

Kasich didn't call for DeWine's removal before the 2010 elections, only after it, when his win, by 2 percentage points over former incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, installed him as the state's go-go CEO, a position he can enjoy for another three years because Ohio has no provision in its constitution to recall him, as many Ohio voters with a severe case of buyers remorse want to do, based on poll results that show Kasich would lose badly to Strickland if the hands of time could be turned back.

 

Recent polls show President Barack Obama leading all GOP presidential contenders in Ohio.