Monday, February 07, 2000
Suburbs leave Democrats lonely
Few contested primary races
BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — Bernard Eichholz still plans to vote March 7 — even though it'll be a quick trip in the booth.
The 85-year-old Democrat has only one race to decide: Al Gore or Bill Bradley. That's it for the Democratic primaries in Warren County.
In fact, other than the presidential race and a handful of tax levy issues, there's not much incentive for Democrats to turn out for primaries in any of the fast-growing suburban counties of Warren, Butler and Clermont, where the continuing influx of new residents means more fortification of a Republican stronghold.
Only Butler County has a contested Democratic primary other than the Gore-Bradley choice this March.
And of the three counties, the only elected Democratic officeholder is Butler County Prosecutor John Holcomb. With Butler fielding the only sizable Democratic slate in the November election, not much is likely to change, leaving the Democratic Party on life support in the crescent of counties north of Cincinnati.
The prognosis isn't good, either. The people flocking to
Warren, Butler and Clermont tend to be upper-middle class with conservative, often Republican, voting patterns, political watchers say.
As a result, suburban politics is increasingly monochromatic, a one-party system critics charge could result in lackadaisical government.
“I think it's very unhealthy for a democracy,” said Gene Beaupre, a Xavier University political science professor. “The public debate (becomes) a shadow of what it should be.”
Mr. Eichholz, involved in Warren County government since 1968, called the lopsided political scene “a big mistake.
“The thing that has made this country great is competition,” he said. “When you eliminate the competition, you eliminate an awful big factor.”
A Covington mayor and city commissioner in the 1960s, Mr. Eichholz lost to Pat Arnold South for Warren County commissioner in 1992.
“It's kind of lonely and cold,” Mr. Eichholz said of being a Democrat in a Republican stronghold.
Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in Warren County by 4:1. The vast majority of voters are listed as independent, which means they didn't vote in the last primary. Both sides agree the independents tend to vote conservative.
Republican leaders say voters have a choice.
“If it's a one-party control, it's because of people's choice,” said Carlos Todd, chairman of the Butler County Republican Party. “It's a very open process.”
If voters didn't like the leadership of Republican officeholders, they could support Democratic candidates. Because they haven't, Mr. Todd regards the Republican majority as a thumbs-up from voters.
So does Warren County Republican Party Chairman Leslie Spaeth. Republican officeholders are dedicated to serving the best interests of the county. That's why they have been so successful, he said.
Such a dearth of Democratic opposition propels the primary election up a notch in the political hierarchy. In Warren and Clermont, the candidate who wins the primary election generally becomes the officeholder.
To make sure Warren County voters make the decisions on who serves them, the Republican primary is open. The central committee doesn't endorse.
“As long as the Democratic Party wants to spend, spend, spend, they're not going to get any place in our county,” Mr. Spaeth said.
Warren County Democratic Party Chairman Earl Sizemore agrees the race is about money. He said he could have recruited a full slate of candidates to run. But they wouldn't win.
It would take too much money to fight the well-entrenched officeholders and the firmly established Republican Party, he said. Until the economy takes a downswing, Democrats don't have much of a chance.
“When you're outnumbered, you don't charge the hill,” Mr. Sizemore said. “If a candidate has an "R' (for Republican), it doesn't matter if he's breathing.”
Clermont County Clerk of Courts David Caudill takes exception to being considered a shoo-in just because he's Republican.
“I don't have a Democrat opposing me in the fall, but I can guarantee you I'm still going to work hard to do the best for the county,” he said. “I think if we ever forget that we're serving the people in the county, then we could be in trouble.”
Although Republicans have held all the county jobs in Clermont since 1991, the party will clean house if necessary, Chairman Tim Rudd said.
“I think when this party has had problems in the past, we've dealt with them” by endorsing nonincumbents, he said.
Some former Democrats have switched alliances in midstream, claiming the Republican Party more closely matched their ideology.
Warren County Common Pleas Court Neal Bronson was appointed in 1987 to the post and elected twice — in uncontested races — as a Democrat. This year, he petitioned to run as a Republican, spurred by character flaws he saw in the ultimate leadership of the Democratic Party, President Clinton.
“I think character is very important, especially in my job,” Judge Bronson said. “We have people coming in every day from all walks of life and place them under oath, and our expectation is that they will tell the truth.”
The judge conceded Democrats have a hard time getting elected in Warren County but stressed his motivation was personal, not political. The emerging one-party system is “probably not good for voters,” he said but declined to elaborate.
In Butler County, former Hamilton Mayor Greg Jolivette pledged his loyalty to the Democratic Party a week before switching his affiliation. Republicans then appointed him to a vacant state representative's seat.
Mr. Jolivette said the timing was unfortunate but stressed the switch was not solely political. He had felt disillusioned with the Democratic Party for three years.
Suburban counties in Indiana and Kentucky also are seeing the Republican Party gain momentum. In Dearborn County, elected offices still are filled with a mix of the two parties, but the people moving in are predominantly Republican, Clerk of Courts Gayle Pennington said.
Dearborn's population jumped 22 percent from 1990 to 1998, from 38,835 to an estimated 47,206.
In Campbell County, Democrats dominate. But the Republicans are gaining a foothold.
“We have more people moving from other areas where the Republican conservative view is stronger,” County Clerk Jack Snodgrass said. “And they bring their politics with them.”
Twenty years ago, Democrats outnumbered Republicans 2-1. Today the numbers show the gap is closing, with Democrats at 26,300 and Republicans at 21,300.
Despite lifelong involvement in the Democratic Party, Mr. Snodgrass said voters should have a choice.
Without choice, “it would be a very dull world,” Mr. Snodgrass said. “If all we had was white bread, and no wheat or rye, we wouldn't have much of a choice.”
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