(I’m adding links to audio @ each section - Editor)

Complete Audio Part 1
Complete Audio Part 2

Hey gang, Mrs. E here andI’m going to try my hand at live blogging here or some version of as I dont know if i have connection yet.

We just go here and a fierce speaking african american woman is speaking now. Whew it’s too early for me to be excited.

Each candidate gets 15 mins to speak.

Lots of people here.

1 - House Democratic Leader Rep. Joyce Beatty
2 - Judge William O’Neill, Candidate for Supreme Court

10:20- standing room only. No big names here yet. Well I dont think they anticipated this many people. I dont know who i speaking now. He’s going for supreme court judge i think.

Ya’ll forgive my typos…i hate laptops. Curse my big hands.

10:23- O’Neil is his name. He’s talking about the whole Noe scandal. He says judges do raise money. Chandra is here.

William O'NeillO’Neil is good. Common sense…knows the boundries of the courts.

Lots of Hackett shirts filing in alittle late…no sign of the man yet.

O’neil says he isnt taking money from anyone. “No money from no body” is his actual line. Very funny comming from a guy ina suit. He’s a strong beliver in grassroots effortHe is going to print from his home and hope to get volunteer help to distribute.

10:33- Jeff Laser, a law student, is speaking for Judge Jennifer Bruner running for Sec of State. sorry if i mispell. She was an election lawyer for years and served with Sherrod Brown. She’s running against a republican from Cincinnati. She actually has experience in election law. He says there were only 4 counts of voter fraud. That’s interesting. They make it sound like its running rampant.

10:38- Speaker for Mark Dan,Richard Ole? is speaking.. Dan is a cndidate for AG. He wants to get rid of the play to pay system. Dan has a lawsuit against Taft. Someone asked if Dan would fire all the attys currently working at the AG(most are outsourced). Richard thinks he wouldwant to keep it in house.

3 - Subodh Chandra, Candidate for Attorney General

Chandra 10:44- Subodh Chandra is on now. His name means good knowledge. Ive never heard Chandra before. He’s a fun guy..father of tripplets. Few people know about what the AG office doesor how important the office is. He is engaging the audience. He says HB3 is unconstitutional….big round of applause. He would join the lawsuit saying NCLB sucks….wow this guy is on fire. I cant type and listen. Chandra beat jim petro in court over predatory lending but now in the supreme court. “Maybe what we need now is an american indian to go against the sacred cows”…or something like that…..great line! He has a record of being fiscal conservative. Petro spent 48mil on outside councils??….Seriously?

Someone would ask how he would get Ohio to start funding the education system as required by law. He says he would try to create a factual background of an intention disregard for the law.

Oh I suck at this….multi-talented I am not. Chandra has alot of good things to say. He is making perfect sense. I am impressed. He’s very into upholding the word of law.

Standing room only now.

4 - Rep. Ted Strickland, Candidate for Governor

Ted Strickland11:03- Ted Strickland is up….alot of supporters. Ive never seen him before either….ooo comming close in a election isnt good enough we cant come close anymore, we have to win….hmm…who is he talking about. He wants Dems to be just as commited as any right winged zealot. We’ve got to have an agenda. The republicans greatest sin is their failure to the people of ohio. His main agenda is jobs are read for ohioian and ohioians are ready for jobs. He’s a good speaker. He will require an energy audit for Ohio,if elected. Conservation is important. He thinks Ohio can be innovators on new energy plans. Ohio is the 3rd user of ethanol but we dont produce.. Eww..is he for ethanol? ok,production would be good. He wil deal with education on every level. Starting with the first years as they are most important. Ohio state state funding is about 13%. Somebody has to pay for all the things we need to do. It’s not free. Great! Will move the tax burden from the working to the wealthy. Question- hiow can we vote for him without honest elections. Answer:-elect jennifer bruner.- hesays we have time to audit the system and see what we can do. We need to educate the members of the board of elections. He has raised about 3 million dollars.Theres a woman standing over my shoulder while Ted is talking. very funny.

Question about abortion. Not sure if answered the questions. Question- does he support single payer healthcare— he is becomming convinced we must. He’s opposed to vouchers. Charter schools should be held accountable as the same standard as public schools. He got the endorsement of ohio teachers association? alot of applause. Hard to hear. $250k to production and research of EDA fuel?~~ bio disel?

He left to a standing O…cool. It’s lunch time,pizza comming. man this is too much work. not sure how Mr. E does it.

11:27- min wage petition.Ohio is below the govt standard at $4.25. Wow…really?? They want to raise min wage to $6.25.

11:33- bad idea to have pizza moving while someone is trying to speak. Peaple have to talk while they eat. Alot info to process. Im going to go back to Strickland.

It’s very cool to see so many dems around. All walks of life and i do believe there are more than 3 black people here. Cool…. I do get lonely sometimes. I’ve been asked if I wanted to a Brown Sticker. No thanks. I need a Hackett sticker. ( I didnt really say that, I just said no) 11:41- We’re free to talk among ourselves….opp nope.. free mike now…pretty dangerous.

Lots oh Hackett shirts walking around…very cool.

Now that I can think some, I must say Chandra is very passionate about the law. Do smart people like him actually get elected? That would be way neat. There is a guy running for the 7th district congress. Dan Sars, I think. We’ve met him before at DFA events, very smart, good guy.. He’s got a long haul over there but he’s upbeat and realistic. Sooner or later he says. It’s a big republican stronghold over there.

Mr. E has left me to go mingle. I gotta gooo

Fingerhut is scheduled to speak at 2:30, I want to hear him. I think I was one of the four who voted for him last cycle. Counters say about 250 here. It’s a decent modest number.

5 - Bryan Flannery, Candidate for Governor

12:27- Brian Flannery running for Govenor. He’s a regular guy with passion. He works in healthcare industries. He’s not wearing a tie…or a dress shirt. He kinda seems mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. He says we are being buried by lack of leadership. Thinks he can fix school funding by defining what education mean. He says you dont run for office just because. This man wants to make a difference.

The difference between he and strickland. He has a plan to make school funding constitutional. How will he fund it? change the tax code. oo someone has asked him about immigration.- forcing a prevailing wage. he running out of time couldnt really answer.

6 - Hugh Quill, Candidate for Treasurer

12:43- Hugh Quill- for treasurer. Hes been Montgomery County treasurer for about 12 years. He wants to walk around and talk but too many cant hear him. He’s a stand up guy, humble. He thinks you must trust the voters. He’s made some decisions that people werent happy about but it was in their best interest. He is all for competition in order for taxpayers to get the best deals. Not one dime in principle has been lost in investments on his watch. He’s earned a half million dollars for Mont co in investment and hes never invested in beanie babies or gold coins. He’s got a long history of getting stuff done. Very cool. He’s got alot of examples and getting the job done. He is very much a boss. He’s got everyone full attention here. We understand him. The job’s very simple, not pleasant all the time but hes the doer. This is a man you want in charge of your money. Neat. Someone asked about using state fund for faith based initiatives. He says we dont think we need to use state means to get closer to God. Excellent. This guy is dollar and cents, bottom line.

12:58- Quill is using more time because Sherrod Brown is late. Looks like his people are here huddled in the hall.

7 - Rep. Sherrod Brown, Candidate for U.S. Senate

1:04- Sherrod Brown has entered the building About 6 people stood up for Brown clapping. The same people who are wearing Strickland shirts as well. He starts off with the story about the bird pin and the miners and union. I think im going to listen and then comment. Throwing out the great deeds of the progressives. clean water, social security, civil rights, air bags in cars. Question- politicans and lobbyist. should congressman be allowed to be lobbyist. he says no. Union guy asked what he could do for labor now. Bernie Sanders pushed him to get into this race and is one of his best friends in congress. He says in the senate he would be against future trade agreements. Question-how important is it to work with the international community. ……They hate this administration not the US people. We should have a play in soving the healthcare and econmic problems around the world like AIDS or TB. Introduces his wife, who won a pulitzer. Whew…trade trade trade….not telling me anything. Question on caring for service men and women…..its going to expensive to help them, didnt answer the question. Question- how can he help education- fully fund NCLB and IDDA. title 1 and 9. talking care of pell grants.

20-or so folks stand for him as he leaves. ooo…too many people in my way…I probably wont get to meet Brown. ahhh…probably just as well.

8 - Rep. Barbara Sykes, Candidate for Auditor

1:25- Barbara Sykes for auditor from Akron ohio. She was councilwoman in 1983-first african american woman to do that. She want to do the auditing to restore the trust back the citizens. If you give me your money, I will report back to you whats happening with your money. Yeah!! We need to stop wanting to be things and start wanting to DO things. This woman is TOUGH and means business. Few will cross her. She’s exciting. 20 peeps standing O as she leaves.

1:45-AJ Wagoner- Supreme court judge. “Justice belongs to God, men can only uphold the law.’…..nice. Lots of qoutes. MLK soft spoken guy. very nice.

I’m feeling it’s almost Hackett time!!

9 - Richard Cordray, Candidate for Treasurer

Richard Chordray? for State Treasurer from Franklin County. Black caucus has endorsements and Strickland and personal endorsements for 74 of the 88 counties. Still going on about who endorses him and how much money he has. Doesnt compare to Quill. Alot of talking about family values and wedge issues. Not sure what any of this has to do with treasurer.

10 - Paul Hackett, Candidate for U.S. Senate

Hackett TIME! 2:27- Paul is standing by the door now waiting for his turn to speak. Tan wool sportscoat and light blue shirt. I havent seen Paul in awhile. Yep, he is still a nice specimen.

2:29- He’s up- his humble beginings.
Doesnt need washington to tell him how to worship his God.

He’s calling out Brown..not sure why….What can Brown do in Senate that he didnt do in crongress…lots of boos. Someone yelled he should attack the republicans and not fellow democrats. Hackett supporter vs Brown supporters in the seats…whoo maybe a catfight. Nevermind….both sides backed down. Question time! This should be fun.

If Sherrod Brown wins he will support all the great democrats. Until then he is playing to win and has an opponent The hecklers apologized. Paul is unfazed says that is what America is about. I do love this man.

Asked how he vote on NCLB-he wants to see the proposal. He is open to change it if not down right get rid of it. Depends on the approval of other teachers and educators.

What would he do first as a legislator. He would revamp themilitary spending. and then the tax code.

How will help college student with loans. Girl from Kent state has $45k in loans. ……not sure what he said on that.

Question on cleaning up nuclear waste from woman from Pike county.. He admits not being knowledgable but knows there some containable stuff.

Question- how can we prove we are stronger on national security. He wont let anyone question his service.

Question….what will you do to hold the republicans who are corrupt. He will continue to hold them accountable and shed light. Asked to expand on his small business idea.

Question about how he would handle the war. Paul-”Bring them home”

He is turning them around. alot of energy in the room now. Very interesting. alot of applause. no one standing except me.

11 - Sen. Eric Fingerhut, Candidate for Governor

2:51- Eric Fingerhut- We have to grow the economical base of ohio. Make Ohio the choice for Business We need to focus on making Ohio a place companies want to be. freeze college tution, include adults up to 200% of proverty line in medicare, doesnt want to wipe out residency laws, for the cleanup of vacant industrial sites. He really wants to win. He is very enthusiastic. Lots of ideas. He differs from the standard democratic line but different ideas are good.

12 - Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune

Todd Portune-

Im sorry yall babygirl is tired of sitting here. I dont want to hear anymore republicans..blah blah blah. I’ll see ya when we get home. I need the drive to process what I think about what happend.