Cleveland Plain Dealer - Redfern to lead Ohio Democrats

(Cleveland Plain Dealer)

House minority leader to lead Ohio Democrats

Columbus- The Ohio Democratic Party elected House Minority Leader Chris Redfern as its chairman Monday night, but not before a raucous executive committee spent more than an hour battling over how to hold the election.

The 120 delegates were divided in their support of Redfern and Dennis Lieberman, the longtime chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party. In the end, Redfern got 88 votes, Lieberman, 31. Steve Reece, a Cincinnati businessman, got a single vote.

"The work begins tonight," said Redfern, 41, of Catawba Island.

Supporters of both candidates burned up the phone lines over the weekend, and the behind-the-scenes struggles have badly splintered the party.

But the 800-pound gorilla in the room Monday, though he wasn't present, was U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland.

Strickland, the party's presumptive nominee for governor, endorsed Redfern soon after former Chairman Denny White's resignation.

Many Democrats feared that a Redfern loss would severely hamper Strickland's candidacy at a time that appears to be a golden opportunity for the party to take back the governor's office for the first time in two decades.

Rhine McLin, Dayton's mayor and the party's interim chairwoman, compared the party of the past to a malfunctioning car, and it didn't get far last night before sputtering. Catcalls, boos and angry raised voices drowned out speakers. U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Lieberman supporter, and others said some committee members had been intimidated about losing their jobs if they voted the wrong way.

Much of the battle over the vote was whether it would be public immediately by a voice vote, a position sought by Redfern's supporters, or whether it would be by signed ballot, which meant the outcome wouldn't have been made public until today. In the end, Democrats stood and were counted with no record kept.

Redfern, who has been criticized because he will not give up his House seat, said he would relinquish his leadership position.

Both he and Lieberman pledged to work hard to unify the party.

"The battle is over. Chris Redfern is the chairman," Lieberman said. "One thing about Democrats, we can yell and call each other names, but on the issues we are all there."

Ohio Democrats have been long-suffering and have held only one statewide office, the seat occupied by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick. Redfern's leadership will be crucial in gaining seats statewide, especially in light of this year's series of Republican scandals.

The party's old-guard leaders, at the helm during years of miserable results at the polls, threw their weight behind Redfern. His campaign was orchestrated by Columbus labor leader Ron Malone, an informal adviser to Strickland.

Lieberman drew his backing from the party's minority leaders, some labor leaders and big-city Democrats, including Tubbs Jones and Jimmy Dimora, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.

Initially, eight people applied to lead the Democratic Party but one by one were influenced to drop out and lend their support to either Redfern or Lieberman.