Pictured is newly elected Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Paduchik
By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-Chief
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com Columbus, Ohio- The Ohio Republican Party on Friday elected a former president Donald Trump ally to lead the state political party in the post Trump era, Trump losing the presidency last November to Democratic nominee Joe Biden, the nation's 46th president and a former vice president who served under former president Barack Obama, America's first Black president.
Bob Paduchik, a political operative for more than three decades and a former longtime member of the Republican National Committee, will succeed Jane Timken as chairman of the ORP, a move lauded by Trump, sources said.
“As a strong ally of President Trump, I look forward to leading the party through these coming years," Paduchik said Friday in a statement.
He was the early favorite for party chair and won over former state representative John Becker.
Timpken resigned as chair last month to make a bid for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Rob Portman who announced earlier this year that he would not be seeking reelection in 2022.
Also up for grabs in 2022, among other offices, are Ohio governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, and attorney general.
All of those offices have been held by Republicans since 2010 when former governor John Kasich unseated Democrat Ted Strickland.
Others announcing that they will run for Portman's seat include former state treasurer Josh Mandel, a Republican, and Dr. Amy Acton, a Democrat and former director of the Ohio Department of Public Health who was director under GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.
Paduchik is credited with helping the Trump campaign win Ohio in 2016, and assisting relative to wins in Ohio for former president George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, who also won the pivotal state for election, and for reelection.
Though he lost the presidency, Trump won Ohio last November by eight points over Biden, the same margin he won the state over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 when he was first elected president
The Cuyahoga County Republican Party is led by two women, one of them Black, a party leadership shakeup that occurred last June where long time party chair Rob Frost lost his party chairmanship to Lisa Stickan , and activist Donna Walker -Brown, who is Black, beat Strongsville Mayor Thomas Perciak to win the executive committee chairman seat, both of the positions paid positions.
Stickan is the first woman elected to the powerful post and was also supported by Trump following insider criticism that Frost was not as enthusiastic about Trump, a Republican real estate mogul and former television personality.
The second largest of 88 counties in Ohio, Cuyahoga County includes Cleveland and is roughly 29 percent Black.
It is a Democratic stronghold as registered Democratic voters in the county outnumber Republicans two-to-one.
Stickan is the first woman elected to the powerful post and was also supported by Trump following insider criticism that Frost was not as enthusiastic about Trump, a Republican real estate mogul and former television personality.
The second largest of 88 counties in Ohio, Cuyahoga County includes Cleveland and is roughly 29 percent Black.
It is a Democratic stronghold as registered Democratic voters in the county outnumber Republicans two-to-one.
The Ohio Democratic Party also has a new leader as chairwoman Liz Walters was elected last month to replace outgoing chairman David Pepper, who quit after the November election.
Clevelandurbannews.com and-Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
