Howard Wilkinson

Republicans and Democrats on the Hamilton County Board of Elections are split over a county prosecutor’s opinion which says dozens of voters who cast two ballots in last year’s election should be referred for potential criminal prosecution – even though the board has already exonerated most of them.
 

Near the end of a board meeting that last three-and-a-half hours Wednesday, the two Democrats and two Republicans on the board discussed  an opinion from Prosecutor Joe Deters, but decided not to actually vote on whether  approximately 67 cases should be sent to the prosecutor.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is going to have his hands full running for re-election in Kentucky next year, according to a poll released Tuesday.

And the same poll showed the junior senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, is far more popular among Kentucky voters than McConnell, the leader of Senate Republicans.

Beyond Civility, an organization that promotes civil discourse and understanding among people with differing political views, has something different planned for the next discussion in its "Back-to-Back" series - a debate on issues between a Democratic legislator and a former Republican lawmaker.

State Rep. Denise Driehaus, a Clifton Democrat, and former state senator and representative Lou Blessing, a Colerain Township Republican, will "present their opposing parties' arguments on some of the hot button public policy issues of the day."

A first-time candidate, businesswoman Melissa Wegman of East Price Hill, will kick off her campaign for a seat on Cincinnati City Council with a reception Thursday at the Incline Public House in her home neighborhood.

Wegman - who is vice president of The Wegman Company, a commercial furniture services company - is a first time candidate for elective office; and she will run with an endorsement from the Hamilton County Republican Party, according to GOP county chairman Alex Triantafilou.

Andrew Hounshell of Middletown is no career politician; he’s a steel worker, an Army veteran and father of three-year-old triplets. A self-described regular guy.

And now he is about to try to climb one of the highest mountains in politics – running for the 8th Congressional District seat held by the Speaker of the House, John Boehner.