Why bother buying the Dayton Daily “News” when posturing and conjecture by the local GOP gets more column inches than people who’ve taken out petitions?

Why answer a reporter’s inquiry when you send a quote via e-mail, but instead she uses the word lost like a vowel in your description- even adding a race you weren’t in?

GOP ‘fresh faces’ likely to make bids to unseat incumbent Democrats.
DAYTON — The Montgomery County Republican Party plans to burst “fresh new faces” onto the Dayton political scene with first-time candidates for mayor and two seats on the city commission, but those endorsements likely won’t be finalized until after the March 6 filing deadline.

“Until I have that person who says 100 percent ‘yes,’ I don’t want to throw anybody out there. Every (candidate) I know of has not been in public life,” Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman Gregory M. Gantt said.

Republican candidates hoping to win endorsements were interviewed last week, Gantt said. Some were told they needed more experience. Others haven’t fully committed to a run.

Democratic incumbents Mayor Rhine McLin, along with commissioners Nan Whaley and Joey Williams received endorsements from the Montgomery County Democratic Party in December.

“In these tough economic times, they’ve stepped up to the plate and kept the city afloat,” party Chairman Mark Owens said.

Candidates must submit petitions with 500 valid signatures to the Montgomery County Board of Elections by March 6 to participate in the May election. The two mayoral candidates who get the most votes in the primary will be on the fall ballot with the top four contenders for city commission.

Others who have taken out petitions to challenge McLin include:

Gary Leitzell, 114 Volkenand Ave., a self-employed, professional miniatures painter, a home renovator and home-schooling parent. He has served as president of the Walnut Hills Association for five years; and, he has been a member of the Southeast Priority Board for 10 years.

Tojuan W. Minus, 2535 Bridgeport Drive, is the director of the Info Kids Early Learning Center. She has served on the Northwest Priority Board for about a year.

Other candidates for mayor include: Jerome Franklin Savage, 400 N. Cherrywood Ave., who also took out petitions for mayor in 2005, and Jamie M. Simpson, 53 Birchwood Ave.

Candidates vying for the city commission seats held by Whaley and Williams include:

Donald Allen Domineck Jr., 1035 Superior Ave. Domineck took out petitions for the 2007 city commission race, but dropped out before the filing deadline.

David Esrati, 113 Bonner St., a local activist and owner of an advertising agency, ran an unsuccessful primary campaign for mayor against former Mayor Richard Dixon and now Congressman Mike Turner in 1993. He lost city commission races in 1997 and 1999. Esrati also lost a bid for the 3rd Congressional District seat in the March 2008 primary election.

Lorana M. Kelly, 2235 Ravenwood Ave., is the community development coordinator for the Montgomery County Community Action Partnership. Kelly has run for a city commission seat three times. If elected, Kelly said she would focus on reducing crime and vacant housing, along with building opportunities for youth.

Mark Anthony Newberry, 910 Crestmore Ave., is director of marketing for Jeni King, a commercial cleaning service. Newberry lost a run for a Montgomery County Commission seat in November. He also took out petitions for city commission twice.

Jeffrey L. Wellbaum, 437 Shroyer Road, a U.S. Army reservist and Iraq War veteran working at Walmart, said his first bid for an elected office has been frustrating.

“I was the only one that I know of who was screened (by the Republican Committee) for city of Dayton commissioner,” Wellbaum said. “It seemed like the main question they had for me was how much money I had for the race.”

Dayton Police Officer Douglas S. Brandenburg withdrew his name as a candidate after learning a department policy prohibits his running for city office. Sandra Brasington, chief of staff for the county Republican Party, also took out petitions, but is not a candidate.

via Mayor, commission races taking shape.

Note, Wellbaum dropped out by posting on this site on Saturday, yet he got more inches than a 5 time candidate. As a reminder, even Abe Lincoln lost more races than I have. There are other candidates for Mayor who are Democrats still on the horizon (I’ve seen a website already), but the DDN doesn’t have them on their radar yet.

The part about the Democratic Party endorsing incumbents in December was reported here first as well.