economy

U.S. Sen. George Voinovich stepped into the national spotlight that’s shining on the teetering automotive industry during a press conference in Washington on Thursday.

Voinovich (R-Cleveland) helped draft a plan to make auto companies eligible for $25 billion in loans to support the operations of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler before they exhaust their cash reserves. The plan Voinovich worked on aims to free up $25 billion already approved by Congress to auto makers in pursuit of “green” car technology.

The campaign of state Rep. Steve Dreihaus (D-Price Hill) is ecstatic about his win Tuesday night unseating U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood).

Congressman-elect Driehaus won the race for Ohio's 1st Congressional District 51.49 percent to Chabot's 48.49 percent, and received 143,743 votes compared to 135,376 for Chabot.

"Unbelievable would be a stretch because I think we all believed it was going to happen," said Driehaus spokesperson Joe Wessels. "But somebody's going to win and somebody's going to lose and it felt like a close race. It was a close race."

CINCINNATI -- State Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) is keeping a busy schedule in the final weekend of his campaign for Ohio's 1st Congressional District. He's out on the trail doing retail politics, making contact with as many people as possible before voters head to the polls on Tuesday.

Driehaus said that many people he talks to are happy to tell him they've already voted for him.

"It's amazing to me the number of people who've already voted," Driehaus said. "It's tremendous, and we're seeing that all over the place."

Driehaus said the economy is still the dominant issue on voters mind and said change is what voters are looking for this election season.

 Sherrod Brown, Chris Redfern, Sharen Neuhardt and David Robinson: Politicker Photo

COLUMBUS - Ohio Democratic leaders gathered in the Alcatel-Lucent Columbus plant's parking lot Tuesday afternoon on the first stop of what's being billed as "Bush/McCain/NAFTA: The Job Killers Tour."

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain), Ohio Democratic Party chair Chris Redfern, along with Congressional candidates Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) and David W. Robinson (D-Columbus) gathered with local union members to rally at the Alcatel-Lucent parking lot, as the telecommunications equipment company continues plant shutdown procedures and nears the end of a layoff of nearly 200 electronics manufacturing employees.

"Ohio's economy is on the wrong track after years of Republican indifference and incompetence have brought us to the brink of economic disaster," said Neuhardt. "We need the right leaders, working together in Washington, to rebuild our state and the nation. But if we're ever going to change how things work in Washington, we have to change who we send there."

The National Republican Congressional Committee is going after Dr. Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) as a "one person economic crisis" in a new ad being aired in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District.

Wulsin is challenging U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) along with businessman David Krikorian (I-Madeira).

The NRCC ad says that Wulsin wants to raise property taxes, income taxes, gas taxes, as well as increased taxes to cover universal healthcare.

The Wulsin campaign responded by saying the criticism was also suited for U.S. Sen. George Voinovich and Scioto County Republicans.

Dr. Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) is continuing to hammer on U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) on the issue of the economy.

Wulsin went up with a TV ad last week hitting Schmidt for a comment made during a debate saying that the economic crisis came around two weeks ago.

Now Wulsin is jumping on comments the Wulsin camp said Schmidt made to a local television station. The Wulsin camp quotes Schmidt as saying "people need to stop panicking" about the economic crisis.

Attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) is out with a second attack ad on state Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek), hitting him on the issue of jobs leaving Ohio.

The ad is reflective of others being run by the Ohio Democratic Party blaming Republican leadership for the loss of jobs in Ohio.

"Steve Austria had ten years to get it right yet Ohio's economy is on the wrong track," said Neuhardt spokesperson Jessica Kershaw. "Sharen's new TV ad shows just exactly who Austria left behind when he consistently voted against the interests of Ohio's working families."

Barack Obama gained support amid the financial crisis and presidential debates in a poll conducted by the University of Cincinnati’s Institute for Policy Research.

Released yesterday, the poll shows Obama standing at 46 percent and McCain at 48 percent – a statistical tie when considering the 3-point margin of error. Last month the Ohio Newspaper Poll showed Obama at 42 percent and McCain at 48 percent.

The poll delved into economic issues deeper than most Ohio polls. Twenty-two percent of likely voters are very or somewhat worried about losing their job. Eighteen percent are “not too worried,” while 35 percent aren’t worried at all and 24 percent are retired or without work.

A majority of respondents said they are “not at all worried” about losing their homes.

Republican polling firm Strategic Vision surveyed likely voters in Ohio the day before, day of and day after the second presidential debate.

The race is within the margin of error, showing Barack Obama at 48 percent to John McCain's 46 percent. Four percent are undecided.

A majority believe Obama is the better man to handle the economy, while 34 percent believe the same for McCain. Ten percent are undecided.

Stivers' shirt (l) and Kilroy's shirt (r): Stivers campaignMary Jo Kilroy's t-shirts have become a campaign issue in the race for the 15th Congressional District.

Canadian-based Gildan Activewear makes the shirts and Stivers' campaign points to accusations that the company uses under-paid, maltreated sweatshop workers in Haiti to produce their products, including Kilroy's shirts that say they're made in Haiti.

Stivers (R-Columbus) campaign said Kilroy's (D-Columbus) practicing hypocrisy in a press release by claiming to put American workers first on her website and buying campaign materials from overseas.