Hagan to declare bid for Ohio governor

9/28/2001

COLUMBUS - Democrat Tim Hagan plans on Oct. 5 to announce formally his campaign to unseat Gov. Bob Taft next year.

Mr. Hagan, 55, said he will make the announcement at his home in Olmstead Township in Cuyahoga County, surrounded by his 13 brothers and sisters, his mother; and his wife, actress Kate Mulgrew, who played Starfleet Capt. Kathyrn Janeway on television's Star Trek: Voyager.

“These times call for reflection, not bells and whistles,” Mr. Hagan, a former Cuyahoga County commissioner, said. “The public is not in a mood for politics as usual, but I think they are desperate to hear people express to them what they believe is the truth instead of the spin of political life.”

As part of his theme, Mr. Hagan said he plans to make an issue out of Mr. Taft's press secretary, Mary Anne Sharkey, a former Columbus Bureau chief of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.

Mr. Hagan questioned whether Ms. Sharkey, whose annual salary is $101,000 a year, is on the state clock when she portrays him as a liberal to reporters.

“If I continue to make statements and I have to talk to Governor Sharkey, maybe I should run against Sharkey,” Mr. Hagan said.

Ms. Sharkey said: “I can clearly defend the governor's record and discuss state issues, which is what I'm doing.”