Seth Morgan
Age: 32
Home: Huber Heights
Education: Park University, B.S., management/accounting; University of Dayton, master of business administration
Family: Wife, Debra, three children.
Political experience: Huber Heights City Council, 2002-2009; Ohio House, 2009-present, lost race for Montgomery County auditor in 2006
Dave Yost
Age: 53
Home: Delaware Twp.
Education: Ohio State University, B.A., journalism; Capital University Law School, doctor of laws
Family: Wife, Darlene, three grown children and one grandchild
Political experience: Delaware County auditor, 1999-2003; Delaware County prosecutor, 2003-present
COLUMBUS — The Republican primary for Ohio auditor has consequences that could go far beyond who gets to peek under the financial covers of state and local governments, the auditor’s basic job.
Not only could the race impact the GOP’s ability to maintain control of the state Apportionment Board, which will draw new state legislative districts next year, but it provides a test of the strength of the Tea Party movement among Ohio Republicans.
State Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, is a Tea Party favorite. His opponent, Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost, 53, angered some of the Tea Party faithful because they wanted him to run against Mike DeWine for attorney general.
The two candidates took different roads to the statewide contest.
Morgan, whose youthful nickname was “Mumbles,” cracked out of an introverted shell and, at 23, became Huber Heights’ youngest-ever council member.
Last year he moved on to the Ohio House, where he’s become a top ally of Minority Leader William Batchelder, R-Medina, and a thorn in the side of Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.
Along the way, Morgan, 32, became a certified public accountant, a credential that he says makes him particularly qualified to be auditor.
Yost, 53, played guitar in the rock band the Pink Flamingos. Dana “Buck” Rinehart, Columbus mayor in 1985 when Rinehart hired Yost at City Hall, said he was a “rambunctious” fellow. As a rocker, Yost “wasn’t bad”, said Rinehart.
Since those days, Yost went to night school to get a law degree and built a resume as Delaware County auditor and now prosecutor in the fast growing suburban county north of Columbus. All this gives him the judgment and experience needed to be the state’s financial watchdog, Yost said.
A punch in the face
Yost had the blessing of the Tea Party — when he was running for attorney general. The other Republican in that race, DeWine, the former U.S. senator, is considered by the Tea Party as a Republican-in-name-only, or RINO, because of his record on campaign finance reform, immigration and a few other issues.
At the time, incumbent Republican Auditor Mary Taylor was considered a safe bet for re-election. But on Jan. 14 a hole in the GOP ticket emerged when Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich announced that Taylor would be his lieutenant governor running mate. Morgan quickly announced his intention to run for auditor, but instead of endorsing Morgan, Ohio Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine asked Yost to move from the attorney general’s race to the auditor’s race.
To some, it looked as if Kevin DeWine was sacrificing Morgan to protect Mike DeWine, his second cousin, who would then have no opposition for the Republican nomination for attorney general.
Morgan said he started “exploring” a run for auditor, which currently pays $107,786 a year, even before the Taylor announcement.
The timing did not work in Morgan’s favor, however. After formally launching his campaign for attorney general, Yost reversed course and said he would run for auditor, setting off howls from the Tea Party.
“It was just like punching people in the face,” said Chris Littleton, co-founder and president of the Ohio Liberty Council, which includes many, but not all of the state’s Tea Party groups.
The Ohio Tea Party PAC, the Liberty Council’s political action committee, has endorsed Morgan, the group’s only endorsement in a statewide race. Yost has plenty of endorsements of his own beyond the state party’s, including one from a group called the Darke County T.E.A. Patriots.
The outcome of the race, “is likely to be the best indication of Tea Party strength in the May 4 primary,” political scientist John Green said.
“It will be a test of the management of the factions in the state GOP,” said Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. “On the one hand, it will reflect the ability of state party leaders to build a strong slate of candidates for the general election and on the other hand, it will reflect on the capacity of the party to unite after the primary.”
Credentials
Yost and Morgan both say they have noble reasons for entering the race.
“I think my experience as a state legislator and on city council gives me unique insight into state and local government,” said Morgan. He noted that Republicans in 2006 touted Taylor’s CPA credential as a reason for electing her and he brings the same status to the race.
Yost, a former newspaper reporter, said the auditor’s watchdog role is tailor-made for him.
“My passion has always been clean government, from the days I started my career as a newspaper reporter, all the way through my service as county auditor and now county prosecutor,” said Yost. “I’ve fought for clean, accountable, transparent government.”
Backers say both candidates have independence. Morgan has suggested that as auditor Yost would be beholden to state GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine.
Yost’s switch to the auditor’s race “has to call into question who’s pulling strings here,” Morgan said at a joint appearance before the Dayton Daily News editorial board.
Yost fired back.
“I made this decision based on what I thought was the best route for me to make a contribution to my state,” said Yost. “I have never worried about offending other interests. I have always done my duty as I saw it. Frankly, if Mr. Morgan really knew me, he’d know better than to make such an absurd assertion.”
Rinehart, the former Columbus mayor, seconded that. Even when Yost worked as Rinehart’s aide at City Hall, he argued vigorously with the boss when he thought it was necessary, Rinehart said.
“You don’t change the spots on the leopard. He is what he is. He’s not going to kowtow to anybody. That’s why he was so successful as a prosecutor in Delaware County,” said Rinehart.
Morgan, too, is his own person, said Dayton-based political consultant Jim Nathanson, a former political director for the Republican National Committee, who’s been running campaigns for more than 40 years.
“I think he’s the kind of Republican that really excites individuals and makes them feel that the Republican Party has not lost its focus and direction,” said Nathanson.
The Morgan-Yost battle has given David Pepper, the Democratic candidate for auditor, a chance to focus on raising money and he’s piled up a big advantage. Campaign finance reports filed last week showed that Pepper, a Hamilton County commissioner, had $785,534 on hand, compared to $63,766 for Yost and $27,582 for Morgan.
The winner of the auditor’s race in November will sit on the Apportionment Board along with the governor, secretary of state and a member of the legislature from each party. The party which controls two of the three statewide offices on the board will determine how new state legislative districts are drawn based on the 2010 census.
Jason Mauk, executive director of the state GOP, predicted that Yost would prevail in the primary but said whatever happens, “the party will unite behind our nominee.”
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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