The year 2012 was a good one for Democrats in Ohio -- President Obama won the state, and voters reelected Sen. Sherrod Brown.
The question now for both parties is whether 2014 will resemble 2012 -- or whether it will look more like 2010, when voters ushered Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland out of office and brought in Republican John Kasich.
DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz praised Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, who is running for governor, and State Sen. Nina Turner – running for secretary of state against incumbent Jon Husted. Both candidates joined Schultz for a brief press conference at the new Global Center for Health Innovation.
Wasserman Schultz said Ohio will be part of the Democrats’ national push in the 2014 elections.
“We’ll be registering voters across the state of Ohio, across the country, and then focus on investing in turning them out," Wasserman Schultz said. "And then we’ll focus on continuing to hold Republicans’ feet to the fire."
A national Republican spokesman, Ryan Mahoney, said in a phone call that the national GOP will soon be launching its own state-by-state operation.
“And obviously with Ohio being a crucial battleground not only for presidential years but for midterm elections, Ohio’s going to be a big focus of that," Mahoney said. "And we’re going to have staff and offices in Ohio earlier than we’ve ever had before.”
Mahoney says that effort will begin in the fall.