Saturday, January 13, 2018

50TH OHIO HOUSE SEAT/16TH CONGRESSIONAL SEAT: TO BE "HAGAN-LESS!"

UPDATED 01/15/2018

SEE BIO OF DEM CANDIDATE 50TH:  CASSIE GABELT

ALSO, STOLTFUS (GOP/50TH) IMPRESSES WITH FUNDRAISER AT BROOKSIDE 01/24/2018

(LISTING FROM STARK CO BOE/PHOTOS/GRAPHICS ADDED)

The Stark County Political Report has been suggesting that Republican state Representative Christina Hagan will drop out of the 16th Congressional District (she lives in the 7th) race and run for two more years in the Ohio House before being term limited out.

But it now seems as if that Hagan prefers going down as the captain of a sinking ship.

Why should she think about dropping out of the 16th and dropping into the 50th?

Because, so far, she is getting out-fund-raised HUGELY by "the establishment candidate" (according to Christina herself) Anthony Gonzalez. To boot, Gonzalez (though he has never held an elective office) is far more appealing as a candidate when one compares their biographies.
And, thirdly, he actually has something his his family line that ought to separate him from Trump.

One has to wonder whether or not Trump considers Cuba a "sh*t" country (the country Gonzalez's grandparents came from)?

For besides being one of the relatively few staunch communist states in the world,Cuba is not a nation-state like Norway.  It is a diverse nation that has a substantial non-white population. As the grandson of a Swede who immigrated to America in the 1890s to pursue the American dream (he became a logging industry entrepreneur) he would be horrified to see an American president wanting to shut the doors to those who see America as a beacon drawing them to these shores.

Presumably, being the "all-out-for-Trump-person she is, Christina prefers a homogeneous to a diverse one.

To her, seemingly, there is a right way to think and be and a wrong way; pure and simple.

 Hagan is so pro-Trump she ought to apply for a White House job when she loses her primary fight with Gonzalez for she might—because of her unquestioning Trump loyalty—be in a position one day to replace presidential-shill-in-chief Sarah Huckabee Sanders someday, no?

Christina's dad, John, who represented the 50th from 2000 through 2008 (when he was term limited out and then lost a bid to become a Stark County commissioner in the 2008 elections) got Christina her state representative job by lobbying hard with the Ohio House Republican Caucus in 2011 when Todd Snitchler resigned as 50th District representative to become chairman of Ohio's Public Utilities Commission.

In a smart political move, Paris Township Reggie Stoltzfus moved quickly after Hagan announced she was not running for a fourth term in the Ohio House.

And he ain't messin around when it comes to fundraising.

Look at this:


Wow!
  • Brookside Country Club, January 24, 2018
    • Contribution Levels:
      • CHAIR$2,500
        • HOST$1,000
          • SPONSOR$500
            • PER COUPLE$150
              • PER COUPLE$100
And there's more.


Here is a SCPR calculated (correlating named persons with contribution levels as published by the Stoltzfus campaign) spreadsheet showing that Stoltzfus has "upfront" money of $25,000 without even opening the doors at Brookside on January 24th.



Only thing better is where the SCPR will be on the 24th.

Hawaii, that's where!  For two, maybe three months.  My daughter Kasi (a Lake High School, NEOMED BS/MD graduate, a USAF lieutenant colonel who is slated soon to become chief of the medical group at Hickam AFB on Oahu) and her husband Will (a mainland Chinese man who came to this country as a 9 year old not knowing word of English) are medical doctors serving in Hawaii.

They've been in Hawaii three years this July and a slated for three more.  Wife Mary and I visited them and our grandchildren Austin and Aspen last year for two months.  And we plan on going back for the duration of their time in the U.S. paradise in the Pacific.

Stoltzfus has filed, Larry Carver has not nor has as of Friday Jacob Urik of Louisville.

Talked with Carver a month or so ago and got the clear impression he is not going to file.

To the SCPR based on a conversation with him, it is irrelevant to Stoltzfus whether either of them files.

And, The Report gets the impression that should Hagan panic that she is going to be out of a public job if she stays in the 16th Congressional District race and at the last moment (being funny, let's say 4:29 on February 7, 2018) to keep her current public job, Stoltzfus is not all that concerned.

When he learned that Hagan was not doing so well in her fundraising for the 16th he began calling around to key Republican elected officials in and out of the 50th to firm up his support.

Stoltzfus has the SCPR believing that even if Hagan abandons the 16th for the 50th, it will be too late.

And the spreadsheet published above gives a lot of credibility to idea that the Hagans are finished as a viable political family in Marlboro Township and indeed in Stark County.

When one has to bring in the likes of Gorka and Scaramucci (about as extreme right as one can get except for Christina herself), isn't time for the gong to sound and politician Christina Hagan dragged off the stage?


He father, even though a seeming fixture in Marlboro Township politics, lost to incumbent Republican Ken Eddleman in November.

It was only by 5 votes.

The Report is told that John Hagan is being a "spoil sport" about the loss.  One manifestation being that he is said to be demanding that the minutes of each and every Marlboro Board of Trustees meeting be forwarded to him.

You have to wonder how he is going to react that two of his sons have lost low level official positions in Marlboro Township government.

Is the phrase "political conspiracy" going to roll off his lips?

Wouldn't surprise the SCPR from a man who used all his political clout to get Christina Hagan her start in political life.

You have to remember that the Hagan have much substantial "political" roots in Marlboro Township than Ken Eddleman.

To The Report knowledge, he only got started in Marlboro Township in 2009 when former trustees Tim Wise and Dave Wolf got themselves in a political mess by deciding to take on highly respected Marlboro police chief Ron Devies and his son in what the SCPR thinks was a miscommunication problem but which the Stark County's sheriff's office at the time (i.e. Chief Deputy Perez) and Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero seemingly worked "overzealously" together "make a mountain out of a molehill."

In the end, the Devies father and son were vindicated by Stark County Court of Common Pleas judge V. Lee Sinclair, Jr.

Ken Eddleman and Marlboro citizens (with his election) were true winners with his election (Wolf did not run and Wise came in dead last).

Eddleman was a winner again this past November of father John Hagan and he may have put the Christina Hagan braggadocio about being a Stark County political power that was going to raise $15 million for the 16th District Republican primary and another  $1.5 million for the general election "out-of-commission."

So the SCPR sees no problem at all for Reggies Stoltzfus becoming the Republican primary winner on May 8, 2018.

Despite his early start and impressive fundraising, he may struggle actually succeeding the Hagans in the Ohio General Assembly.

It could depend on how closely he aligns himself with President Trump.

The Report senses that this could be a very, very, very bad political year for Republicans who abandoned authentic Republican conservatism for "all-in-for-Trump."

Time will tell with Candidate Stoltzfus.

The SCPR has spoken with the Democratic candidate Cassie Gabelt.

Not endorsing the respective political viewpoints is impressed with her and Stoltzfus.

She tells The Report that she indeed will file her petitions by February 7th and put together a campaign that seriously  threatens the Republican hold on the 50th which, of course, has been gerrymander to keep a Republican in the slot for eternity.

Democrat Gabelt has provided this self produced biography for voters of the 50th Ohio House District to get to know her, her mettle as a human being and her aspirations should she be elected as state representative for the 50th, to wit:

My name is Cassie Gabelt.  I was born in Alliance, Ohio, and I’ve lived here all my life, with the exception of the time I spent enlisted in the Navy, stationed in California.  My father was a teacher with the Marlington Local School District for 30 years.  My mother was an office manager for a local attorney.  I have three sisters, Carrie, Anna, and Emma.  I had a relatively normal childhood, until I didn’t.  

In March of 2004, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I was a 15-year-old Sophomore at Marlington High School.  My older sister was 22, just engaged. My younger sisters, Anna and Emma, were 13 and 11.  

We knew of many women who had survived the disease, and we were sure the doctors would save her as they had so many others. We soon learned, however that what my mother had wasn’t just any breast cancer; it was a rare form of Inflammatory cancer, the most aggressive to combat; hers was at Stage 4.  The next seven months were filled with surgeries, chemotherapy, and watching my mother, my father, and my sisters come to the realization that she wasn’t going to be a survivor.  We lost her, at age 43, on October 19, 2004.  And while that pain will stay with me for a lifetime, the experience also gave me strength.  It taught me to cherish those who are dearest to me, to always attend to unfinished business, and, because we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow, to find out what it is in this life we want to accomplish; And work hard to see it through. 

My father continued supporting my sisters, and me on his teacher’s salary, and we were fortunate to live with my maternal grandmother.  I got my driver’s license and helped shuttle my sisters to, and from sports and choir practices, as my father and I were trying to keep their lives as normal as possible.  After I graduated from high school, I enrolled at the University of Mount Union, then Mount Union College, thinking I would follow the same path as most of my friends.  
Once I got to college, I realized that even as a kid, I’d felt the desire to join the military, and I could no longer ignore the call.  The opportunity to serve my country, to gain valuable training and experience, was too tempting to resist.  So I enlisted in the Navy, and left for bootcamp at the end of my second semester.   

I spent my first two years stationed in Monterey, at the Defense Language Institute where I learned a bit of Arabic, and the second two of my enlistment at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.  In San Diego, one of my many duties was acting as a liaison between the United States Navy and Government Contractors where we completed over $12 million in repairs in record time.  I spearheaded a Quality Assurance program, and I developed a Departmental Limited Duty Status program.  I also spent time drafting correspondence between my unit and another unit senior to mine, in Washington D.C.  These, and other aspects of my position, introduced me to the inner workings and nuances of the US government.     

When I separated from the military in 2012, due to injury, I returned to Ohio, where I re-enrolled in the University of Mount Union, and finished early with a bachelor’s in French.  Due to my early graduation, I was able to apply the remainder of my GI Bill towards additional studies.  I finished a Master’s Degree in Political Management through The George Washington University this December. 

My military experience combined with my post-graduate studies, IBM Analyst Certification, and work in the field of mediation, have led me to my true passion-public service.  Elected officials impact every aspect of our lives, whether they're voting on the type of gas you put in your car, or the healthcare we receive-or, in some cases, don't receive.  Their decisions will determine what kind of life my son, and all of our children, will come to know. 

I've experienced things in my life no one can control, and for whom no one is to blame.  But I've also experienced, firsthand, the exorbitant cost of college in the 21st century.  I've experienced the value of having healthcare when you need it.  I've experienced jobs that pay less than a living wage.  Those things we can control.  It is my greatest hope, that our children will benefit from positive changes I can make.

I believe that the government should work for you and your family- and represent your best interests. Economic rights are often overlooked as civil rights, but like all civil rights battles and movements of the past, if we work together, we can make sure all of us reap the benefits in the future. Our decisions determine not only our today, but also our tomorrow

To the SCPR, John Hagan and his daughter Christina are in politics mostly motivated out of political opportunism and not public service.  It is all good and well for Representative Hagan to have her religious faith, but it is not okay that she use government to impose her religious values on the rest of us.

What appears to be the end of the Hagan family as a factor in Stark County politics should be viewed by voters of all stripes as a blessing.

A gift from Heaven, if you will!!!

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