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Tea Party names candidate to battle DeWine for GOP nomination

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By William Hershey, Columbus Bureau Updated 11:23 PM Monday, February 8, 2010

COLUMBUS — The Tea Party movement has produced a candidate to oppose former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine as the Republican candidate for attorney general.

Attorney Steve Christopher, a founding member of the Hardin County Tea Party, on Monday, Feb. 8, announced that he would take on De- Wine for the GOP nomination to run against Democratic incumbent Richard Cordray.

“To be honest, I feel like the moderates and conservatives need to have at least one candidate for attorney general who’s not a professional politician and a liberal, which De-Wine and Cordray both are,” said Christopher, 51.

He resides in Hardin County where he is a township trustee and has law offices in Kenton in Hardin County and Findlay in Hancock County.

The theme of his campaign, said Christopher, will be “we need a conservative on the ballot, someone who understands the constitution.” He said he objected to positions DeWine had taken on guns and other issues.

DeWine, who has come under attack from Tea Party backers as not conservative enough, said he expected primary opposition. He said he has a conservative record, including help for small businesses to create jobs.

“I expect to be the nominee,” DeWine, of Cedarville, said.

The announcement is the latest development spurred at least in part by incumbent Republican Auditor Mary Taylor’s decision to join GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich as his lieutenant governor running mate.

Delaware County prosecutor Dave Yost, who had been running against DeWine for the attorney general nomination, jumped into the auditor’s race at the request of state Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine, Mike DeWine’s second cousin.

A GOP primary for auditor now seems likely between Yost and state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights.

Republicans also face a primary in the secretary of state race between Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, and former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O’Brien.

Kevin DeWine said he had never heard of Christopher, but took the trio of statewide primaries in stride.

“I’m confident that Republican voters are capable of choosing winners,” he said in an e-mail. “And we’ll give Ohioans the strongest statewide ticket that they’ve seen from our party in better than a generation.”

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