An organizer of Greater Cincinnati's Tea Party movement is telling its members the Ohio Republican Party chairman is trying to manipulate potential candidates in the race for Ohio auditor to pit two Teabggers against each other and split the vote, clearing the path for the chairman's cousin to be the GOP's nominee in the race for another office.—-
Mike Wilson, leader of the region's Tea Party, wrote a mass e-mail Friday to followers urging them to tell Party Chairman Kevin DeWine to stop wooing Dave Yost to enter the auditor's race. Wilson says both Yost and current candidate Seth Morgan are true conservatives that the Tea Party supports; the other candidate in the Attorney General's race — former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine — is a "RINO," or "Republican in Name Only."
Morgan, a state representative from Huber Heights, decided to run for Ohio auditor when incumbent Auditor Mary Taylor decided to run as John Kasich's running mate in the gubernatorial race.
Party leaders have asked Yost, Delaware County's prosecutor, to drop his race for Ohio Attorney General and jump into the GOP primary for Ohio auditor. That's a political dirty trick, Wilson said.
"The Ohio Republican Party does not understand the grassroots revolution that is now underway and are at work manipulating statewide races to clear the field for (former Senator and cousin of ORP Chair Kevin DeWine) Mike DeWine as Attorney General," Wilson wrote. "This is deeply problematic as Yost is clearly more qualified to be AG as Delaware County prosecutor and is clearly the more conservative candidate. Complicating the issues is that current State Rep. Seth Morgan has announced for auditor and is an actual CPA."
Wilson added, "I think both Morgan and Yost are good candidates and I think it is terrible that the ORP is attempting to manipulate the outcome in these races to pit good conservatives against each other to allow a RINO like Mike DeWine to run uncontested. Ohio Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine does not understand things and needs to get the message. He even lied in a Politico article last week where he claimed that he had reached out to Tea Party leaders."
Wilson, a Springfield Township resident, is challenging State Rep. Connie Pillich (D-Montgomery) for the Ohio 28th District seat.
The GOP's inner turmoil and the ongoing tension between Teabaggers and the party's Establishment could work in Democrats' favor.
Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper, a native Cincinnatian, is the Democratic candidate for Ohio auditor.
