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The Journal-News is giving our readers the first look at the main matchup in the 8th Ohio Congressional District race against incumbent and Speaker of the House John Boehner and Miami University professor Tom Poetter.
Like every Democratic challenger since Speaker of the House John Boehner became Ohio’s 8th Congressional District representative, Miami University professor Tom Poetter will have an uphill battle trying to unseat the 12-term congressman.
The Nov. 4 general election will be the first time Boehner will have a Democratic opponent since Justin Coussoule, of Liberty Twp., in 2010. Poetter, an education professor, said he believes the people of the six-county district want change.
“I think people want someone different in Washington, maybe someone who is good at these types of things and who is honest and has integrity and is willing to stand up for people,” Poetter said.
Boehner’s campaign committee had spent more than $2.5 million on the GOP primary as of April 16, to defeat tea party-supported candidates J.D. Winteregg, of Troy, and Eric Gurr, of Liberty Twp. As of April 16, Winteregg spent $37,500 on his bid to upset Boehner, and the Tea Party Leadership Fund PAC spent more than $300,000 on pro-Winteregg and anti-Boehner ads. Gurr spent $19,000 on his campaign.
Poetter spent more than $7,400 in his Democratic primary win, and knows he’ll be at a financial disadvantage for the November general election. According to the pre-election campaign finance report, Boehner has nearly $2.2 million on hand, while Poetter has more than $30,000. But Poetter said he has financial support lined up for his election bid.
“There are donors who are interested in our race,” said Poetter after his primary election win over his Greenville challenger, Matthew Guyette. “I think to combat (Boehner’s campaign finance war chest), you work as hard as you can to raise as much as you can and to spend it as wisely as you can.”
In order to be viable, Poetter said his campaign needs to “hit the ground running.”
Boehner said he was “humbled” after Tuesday’s primary victory, the first time his campaign spent money on television and radio ads since his 2010 re-election bid.
“My top priority is listening, and addressing the priorities of the families, individuals and the small businesses that make our area great,” said Boehner, a West Chester Twp. Republican.
Poetter said people in this part of the Ohio aren’t being represented in Washington, D.C.
“Progress happens when people have their voices heard and when they’re actually able to voice their positions and opinions, and there are a lot of people in this part of the state whose opinions and ideas and vision aren’t really talked about in the public square,” Poetter said.
When asked how to beat a congressman who is seeking a 13th term and is the current speaker of the house, Poetter responded: “You run.”
“It’s hard to say anything else other than you run, and you put your values and your ideas on the table, and you make sure the people’s perspective that aren’t getting voiced get voiced,” he said. “You work hard, you try to build bridges, and you try to earn votes. Hopefully, people will see that you have integrity and are a good candidate and decide in the polling place what they want.”
Boehner’s campaign said their candidate is “focused and working as hard as ever” to rally the Republican base for victories in November, and he expects to retain his congressional seat and his position as speaker of the house.
“I look forward to continuing to lead the U.S. House in addressing our shared priorities of jobs and the economy,” Boehner said after his primary victory.
Poetter said his campaign will focus on several things, including working to get people a “living wage” and working with the middle class, the poor, women and working mothers who are struggling to get into the middle class. He also wants to highlight that Boehner didn’t show leadership during the partial government shutdown in October that reportedly cost taxpayers $24 billion.
Poetter said compromise, negotiating, consensus-building are all tools needed in Congress, which he said Boehner has lacked.
After this primary election, Poetter said he feels Boehner is politically “vulnerable.” Though Boehner received 71.5 percent of the vote Tuesday, it was his lowest percentage he’s received in a primary since he first ran for election in 1990 as a member of the Ohio General Assembly. Prior to Tuesday, the last time Boehner received less than 80 percent of the vote in a primary was in 1992.
Poetter sees that lower percentage as a chance to “capitalize” on the perception that Boehner’s political standing is weaker than it has been.
“We’re working on building a campaign fund-raising base so that we can make voter contact and let people know that there is a really strong, viable candidate on the Democratic side that people in the middle can vote for, that independents and other Republicans can vote for,” said Poetter.
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