Mary Jo Kilroy

The campaigns of Franklin Co. Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) and state Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) fought over Kilroy's position on oil drilling after her second TV ad today on energy.

In the ad, Kilroy said she supports domestic driling and alternative fuels. Kilroy has stated that her energy plan supports drilling on federal lands currently leased by oil companies.

Stivers campaign manager Mike Hartley said Kilroy's support of drilling on already-leased federal land doesn't constitute increased oil production because the land has little, if any, oil. Hartley points to a Washington Post editorial that lambasted the notion that oil companies are sitting on leased land that has oil.

"Kilroy needs to explain specifically where she plans to increase drilling. Would she vote to lift the moratorium on off-shore drilling? Would she allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Is she for drilling in the Rocky Mountains, or any other federal lands? Or is Kilroy deceiving voters by suggesting that the “use-it-or-lose-it” concept constitutes increased drilling?" Hartley said.

Franklin Co. Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) took a veiled swipe at state Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) at the beginning of her second television ad, released today.

"Exxon and Halliburton support my Republican opponent," Kilroy said at the start of her new 30-second spot on energy and gasoline prices. 

Stivers received $4,500 in campaign contributions from Exxon and Halliburton's political action committees last quarter.

Kilroy then pivots to her energy plan, first by saying, "I support increased drilling but we need a balanced approach." 

Kilroy's energy plan supports oil companies drilling on land that the companies currently lease from the federal government for oil exploration.

Watch the full ad and hear about Kilroy's emphasis on alternative energy below.

COLUMBUS - State Sen. Steve Stivers' (R-Columbus) spoke about the economic priorities he would have if elected to Congress after receiving the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Stivers first said an energy plan that moves the country away from dependence on foreign oil is critical.

"That is creating causing real strains for individuals at the gas pump. That's causing a strain for business people as they see their input costs rising. And it's causing inflation in our system," Stivers said, adding later that his energy plan is more balanced than his opponent's, Franklin Co. Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus).

State Sen. Steve Stivers' (R-Columbus) responded to Mary Jo Kilroy's (D-Columbus) campaign accusing Stivers of lying about his cash-on-hand figures to the Federal Elections Commission.

An amendment filed to Stivers quarterly report listed the campaign as having $721,431 in cash, down from $879,753 in cash from the previous report.

Campaign Manager Mike Hartley said  there was an error when the amendment was filed that misstated the cash on hand amount, which remains $879,753 as was reported in July.

"I appreciate the Kilroy campaign demonstrating to the voters of the 15th Congressional District that they will continue their daily negative attacks on Senator Stivers.  Sadly for the Kilroy campaign, Senator Stivers has indeed outraised Kilroy by over $116,000 since he entered the race in November of 2007. This was a computer error in filing the amendment.  A corrected version has been filed today that will state that Senator Stivers had $879,753 cash-on-hand at the end of June as originally reported," he said.

The congressional campaign for Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy is questioning an amendment filed by Republican opponent, state Sen. Steve Stivers with the Federal Elections Commission stating that his actual fundraising collections were $150,000 smaller than previously reported.

In its July filing, the Stivers campaign reported having $879,753 cash on hand. An amendment filed last Friday said the campaign actually had $721,431.35.

Kilroy's campaign issued a statement Monday demanding to know details about the reasons for the change.

"First, he claimed not to be a lobbyist even though his lobby disclosure form is a matter of public record, and now he has misfiled an FEC report so voters don't truly understand how much he has in his campaign coffers," Kilroy spokesman Brad Bauman said in the statement. 

"While FEC amendments are common, this one raises serious questions about his behavior and (Stivers) should come clean and clarify the discrepancy."

COLUMBUS - State Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) admits that Franklin Co. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) is better known among voters than he is from her failed bid to win the seat two years ago, but Stivers' campaign is out to change that beginning tomorrow with a television ad.

The 30-second spot airing tomorrow morning on broadcast television introduces Stivers as a man of solid character, a message vouched by those who served with him in Iraq and Kuwait during his National Guard tour there four years ago (see the ad below).

The campaign moved up its tentative start for television ads to this week from Sept. 9, as PolitickerOH.com reported earlier. Stivers ad comes a week after Kilroy's ads began airing and also after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began attacking Stivers on television last week.

National Republicans have been talking up state Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) as one of their top congressional recruits this cycle. But in a new television advertisement hitting the central Ohio airwaves, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is trying to puncture Stivers’s balloon.

Democrats insist that Stivers is nothing more than a George Bush-style Republican who is a former lobbyist. The message comes through loud and clear in the new 30-second spot.

“Steve Stivers wants to go to Washington. But he already sounds like George Bush,” an announcer says in the ad, which then cuts to Stivers saying: “unemployment is low.”

“Steve Stivers supports taxpayer giveaways to big oil,” the announcer continues. “He said it would be morally wrong to repeal any tax cuts for the wealthy. And Steve Stivers is a former banking lobbyist who is one of only for state senators to vote against cracking down on predatory lending.”

COLUMBUS - Franklin Co. Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) made a direct appeal to families and the middle class today by releasing her tax cut proposals, which would be made for specific financial priorities rather than income tax relief.

Kilroy wants a college tuition tax credit worth up to $5,000 annually; increasing the child tax credit to 35 percent to a maximum of $2,100 for families earning up to $200,000; a $1,200 credit for the first $6,000 in elderly care expenses; $1,000 per person credit ($2,000 per family) for health insurance coverage otherwise lost between job, and finally a 401(k) match from the federal government of 25 percent up to $1,000 per year.

"You know I remember the month of August very well when my two daughters were in college because that meant a big payment we had to make - writing those checks to help them pay their tutition, pay their room-and-board, get those books purchased," Kilroy said, adding she understands families want help to pay for college.

Two weeks ago both candidates for the 15th Congressional District argued over whether one candidate voted to strip municipalities of their abilities to regulate agriculture. The ability to regulate farms has become part of a hot-button issue in Union County, some of whose residents oppose the construction of a 6-million chicken farm for eggs. They argue it will create air and water pollution from chicken manure.

On Monday, the campaign of Franklin Co. Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) reiterated its attack on state Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) for voting on H.B. 152 while in the Senate. Kilroy’s campaign said the bill “stripped local governments of their ability to issue permits for large factory farms.”

Stivers has said that this 2003 bill that he voted for did not remove local control, but that a 2000 bill was to blame for the absence of local control – adding that he wasn’t a member of the legislature at the time.

However, it appears that neither side was correct.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is out with its latest round of independent expenditures, this time targeting Republican seats in Alaska, Illinois, and Ohio.

In the Buckeye State, the committee is investing nearly $17,000 in mailings and phone banking in the race for the 15th Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus). In that race, Democratic Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy is taking on state Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus).

Kilroy narrowly lost to Pryce in a heated 2006 battle for the Columbus-area seat. The campaign for the seat this cycle is among the most closely-watched in the country.