Connie Pillich vs. Portman?

[henster]

She's a retired Air Force vet who ran against Mandel in 2014 but lost. Looking at Joni Ernst I don't think it's such a bad idea for Dems to dig deep for low profile pols to run for high profile races.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Pillich

[LeBron]

I guess she could if she wanted to. She has the legislative experience, she now has the name ID from running statewide, if you've ever heard her speak at fundraisers she's really pumped up with the crowd and can definitely excite voters, and she wouldn't have to worry about the "Mandel 2012" stuff if she ran because she won't be our Treasurer (which admittedly really sucks).

Oh, and there's also the fact that she has good crossover support among rural and urban and is from the same region as Rob Portman himself, Southwest Ohio. Turnout will be much better in Ohio in 2016 than it was this year, of course, and 2016 will have Hillary at the top of the ticket, not FitzGerald, so there are a lot of upsides to her running.

The field could definitely be cleared for her in the Democratic primary because there really isn't an accepted frontrunner yet to challenge Portman, but you know, she has two kids going off to college and she just had an exhausting campaign so it's really up to her.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

She could run and would be a respectable candidate.  However, we're not beating Portman without either Strickland or *maybe* Ryan.  I doubt either runs though

[Mister Mets]

Do they want someone who just lost pretty convincingly in a race for lower office? She only got 43 percent, although to be fair she did outperform candidates for Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State and Auditor.

I doubt she'd embarrass the party in the event Portman scares off tougher opponent.

Tim Ryan seems to be the Democrat's best choice, their youngest member of the Ohio congressional delegation.

[KCDem]

Since Portman will lose his primary, glorious news!

[publicunofficial]

Do they want someone who just lost pretty convincingly in a race for lower office? She only got 43 percent, although to be fair she did outperform candidates for Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State and Auditor.

She had to run in 2014, and had to run under the banner of Ed goddamn Fitzgerald. She was easily the best statewide candidate in Ohio this year.

[TJ in Oregon]

Pillich is an okay candidate but not a great one for the Dems. She's a bit of an abortion crusader but otherwise somewhat moderate. She'd probably beat a poor Republican candidate in a neutral year. As long as Portman can prevent a leakage of votes on his right and 2016 isn't an epic disaster for Republicans nationwide, he'll defeat Pillich soundly.

[Vosem]

Since Portman will lose his primary, glorious news!

Who remembers the confident predictions that Susan Collins would lose her primary? Good times.

[tmthforu94]

Connie Pillich...you mean Helen Hudson!!

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=106874.0

[henster]

Pillich is the type of candidate who could ride Clinton's coattails if she is doing well and Portman is an anonymous enough Senator that could be defeated in a wave.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Pillich is the type of candidate who could ride Clinton's coattails if she is doing well and Portman is an anonymous enough Senator that could be defeated in a wave.

Actually Portman is a strong and incredibly disciplined campaigner.  He's the type who could survive even in a wave.  As for KCDem's post, Ohio is one of those states where a tea-party challenge would be a massive flop.  Ohio Republicans, even rank-and-file ones, tend to be pretty establishment-flavored.