Primary foes aim to harness anger, oust Kaptur

Enlarge

The national movement known as the Tea Party will get a good workout this year in Ohio's 9th Congressional District where two Republicans are hoping to ride Tea Party anger into the Capitol in Washington.

But some on the Democratic side don't believe the Tea Party label poses a serious political threat to Marcy Kaptur, despite her support for the health-care reform bill backed by President Obama.

Rich Iott, 58, of Monclova Township, a former grocery chain executive and now science fiction movie producer, faces Jack Smith, 61, of Springfield Township, a Marine Corps veteran and former Toledo police chief.

Voting has already begun in the primary that ends May 4 and that will decide both parties' nominees for the 9th Congressional District, as well as the Democratic nominees for an open U.S. Senate seat.

"She has really not voted for things that have been in the best interests of the district. She is very disconnected from her district," Mr. Iott claimed of Miss Kaptur. "One of the things I hear most frequently is, 'we call, we write, we never hear anything.'•"

He accused Miss Kaptur of compromising her anti-abortion stance to vote for the health-care reform bill that opponents said allows federal funding of abortions.

Mr. Smith made similar criticisms, telling a debate crowd in Maumee on March 29 the health-care reform bill was "a knee to the crotch" for the United States.

"She's got a right to vote what she thinks. I think there is a shading of hypocrisy though. They took cover behind that executive order the President signed, which everyone knows is not law," Mr. Smith said.

Both candidates have spoken several times at Tea Party events and say they share its vision of reducing federal power and interpreting the Constitution conservatively.

Mr. Iott is former president and chief executive officer of Seaway Food Town Inc., a grocery store chain that was sold in 2000 to Spartan Stores of Grand Rapids, Mich. The chain went out of business in 2003.

More recently, Mr. Iott has been executive producer on eight science fiction films through a company he owns, Braeburn Holdings, Ltd.

As a candidate, he appears to have money to spend, and has hired a campaign consultant and a polling firm, and has aired television commercials.

Mr. Iott tells audiences that he has had nearly 30 years in the military, referring to the little-known Ohio Military Reserve, a volunteer unit under the office of the Ohio Adjutant General that exists to respond to natural and man-made disasters.

The group trains one weekend a month and one week a year, and Mr. Iott's resume lists dozens of courses he has taken from the Army and other federal and emergency-related entities.

Mr. Iott holds the rank of colonel, but acknowledges that he has never seen active duty, or been mobilized into any action.

One questioner at the political forum in Maumee March 29 called Mr. Iott's claims "disingenuous," and Mr. Smith said Mr. Iott gives the false impression that he is a veteran.

"That organization is strictly voluntary, it's unpaid, and cannot be assigned outside the state of Ohio, as opposed to the National Guard that can be activated by federal decree. It stretches the point about being military and I think people are picking up on that," Mr. Smith said.

Mr. Iott acknowledged he is not a veteran.

"I'm still presently involved in the military," he said.

Mr. Smith enlisted in the Marines in 1966 and served 13 months in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. He returned to the Marine Corps Reserve in 1978, seeing active duty during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and retired in 1997.

Mr. Smith became a Toledo policeman in 1973, captain in 2002, and police chief in 2006, but retired abruptly in June, 2006, after a confrontation with then-Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.

Mr. Smith was a speaker at the original Tea Party meeting April 15, 2009, and at a Tea Party event in Maumee in November, 2009, before Mr. Iott surfaced as a candidate.

Scott Allegrini, founder of the Sylvania-based Children of Liberty group, one of the loosely organized Tea Parties, said the group holds an "originalist" view of the Constitution that sees legislation such as the recently passed health-care reform as government overreaching.

"The Tea Party is a lot of people that up to this point haven't been active in politics. We've been too busy living our lives. We've turned a blind eye, we've elected these people thinking they had our best interests at heart and woke up and realized we've got a $12 trillion debt and it's a bigger hole that we're sinking into," Mr. Allegrini said.

Lucas County Republican Party Chairman Jon Stainbrook said voters are looking for an alternative and either of the GOP candidates could tap into that.

"There is huge buyers' remorse against the President right now, and the President forcing this health-care bill down our throats has infuriated people," Mr. Stainbrook said, adding that Miss Kaptur is identified with that because of her vote for it.

He said both candidates are "card-carrying conservatives," and said the wild card will be whether the enthusiasm now in the conservative ranks will stay strong.

State Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said there are at least three congressional Democrats in tough fights in Ohio, but that Miss Kaptur's re-election is not one of them.

"Everyone knows that Marcy Kaptur has got a well-oiled machine in the Toledo area that she has never ignored, and that she cultivates," Mr. Redfern said.

He said the Tea Party is a group of fallen-away Republicans who were never going to vote for Miss Kaptur, and he said Mr. Iott is a country-club - not Tea Party - Republican.

"He's about as much a member of the Tea Party as I am," said Mr. Redfern. "This is someone who's pandering to the hard right because he sees an opening."

The district includes most of Lucas County, Ottawa and Erie counties, and part of Lorain county.

In the 2008 general election, Miss Kaptur received almost three times as many votes as her Republican opponent, Bradley Leavitt.

Miss Kaptur's spokesman, Steve Fought, said she will hold her political fire until after the primary.

"They're running to the right as fast as they can. Apparently they believe that's the way to win a majority in the fall," Mr. Fought said. "We'll just have to see."

He said the health-care bill does prohibit federal funding of abortion, and that the executive order promised by President Obama also maintains existing law against federal funds being used for abortion.

He said executive orders can be as powerful as law, citing as an example President George W. Bush's 2001 order banning the use of federal funds for research on stem cells, which stood until President Obama signed a revision in 2009.

Miss Kaptur faces a May 4 challenge from fellow Democrat Dale R. Terry, of Huron, Ohio.

In other federal primaries:

•U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green) is facing a GOP challenge from Robert Wallis, a retired instructor at the University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima, in the 5th Congressional District.

Caleb Finkenbiner of Defiance is unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 5th District.

•Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher are vying for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican George Voinovich, who is not seeking re-election.

Rob Portman, a former Ohio congressman and budget director under President George W. Bush, is unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Contact Tom Troy at:

tomtroy@theblade.com

or 419-724-6058.