Sharen Neuhardt

The campaign of attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) is saying that opponent state Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) has thrown family values out the door in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. David Hobson (R-Springfield).

The Nuehardt campaign is saying they've exposed Austria for taking thousands of dollars from a conservative PAC they call notorious for its annual fundraisers at Las Vegas strip clubs. 

"So much for family values, Steve Austria," said Neuhardt spokesperson Jessica Kershaw. "The voters of the 7th District deserve much better than someone who is willing to take thousands of dollars from a PAC that solicits money from professional gamblers. This is an act of desperation. You should be ashamed, Steve Austria." 

A radio ad playing during "The Rush Limbaugh Show" is tying 7th Congressional District candidate Sharen Neuhardt (D) to Barack Obama on abortion.

Made by National Right to Life's political action committee, the ad says Obama and Neuhardt "support abortion on demand for any reason."

Congressional candidate Steve Austria (R) and John McCain "voted to end partial-birth abortion." The ad asks people to vote for the "pro-life team" of McCain for president and Austria for Congress.

COLUMBUS – Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) received high-profile help from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Tuesday in her race for the 15th Congressional District.

Pelosi and Kilroy focused on winning female voters Wednesday by meeting with local mothers at a women’s business roundtable at the Capitol Club. Pelosi and Kilroy also attended a closed-door fundraiser.

Pelosi’s pitch for Kilroy is that her joining a Democratic Congress will help America’s children.

“People ask me what the three most important issues are in Congress, Mary Jo, and I always say the same thing: our children, our children, our children,” Pelosi said.

The Columbus Dispatch editorial board endorsed state Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) in the race for Ohio's 7th Congressional District on Tuesday.

Attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) is vying against Austria to replace retiring U.S. Rep. David Hobson in Ohio's 7th.

The Dispatch wrote that Austria is preferred because of his 10 years of experience, compared to the political newcomer Neuhardt.

Attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) added her two cents to $700 billion federal bailout issue on Thursday.

Neuhardt called on Congress to "protect the taxpayers and hardworking American families" as the bailout of financial firms is debated.

"This economic crisis is a perfect example of why Washington needs new leadership," Neuhardt said. "Years of Republican indifference and little oversight put Wall Street first and have resulted in our nation's largest financial meltdown since the Great Depression.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee weighed in on Ohio's 7th Congressional District race Wednesday afternoon by calling the latest hits from its counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the campaign of state Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) "shameful."

DCCC spokesperson Ryan Rudominer commented on the NRCC and Austria's hitting attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) for "harboring an illegal immigrant."

"Steve Austria smearing Sharen's family for helping a Rwandan refugee who escaped a mass genocide is one of the most shameful and despicable moves made in any race this cycle," Rudominer said. "Clearly, Steve Austria spit on John McCain and Sarah Palin's request to keep a candidate's family off limits.

After the campaign of attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) accused opponent state Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) of being "desperate" for their "cowardly attack" on a Rwandin genocide refugee, the National Republican Congressional Committee decided to press the issue.

The NRCC sent a release the afternoon slamming Neuhardt for "illegal Rwandan immigrant on her farm for the last six years."

Neuhardt said earlier Wednesday that her family took the refugee in during Christmas in 2002 when they found he had no place else to go.

The campaign of attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) is blasting state Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) for launching what they called a "cowardly attack" on a Rwandan genocide refugee, who has been living with the Neuhardt family since 2002.

At issue are comments made by Austria campaign manager Brad Mascho, who told Cox News, "harboring an illegal immigrant with a criminal record is a serious matter."

The Rwanden, Ishema Umuhoza, is 26 and has had one application for political asylum denied. Neuhardt and her hustban are both attorneys and are appealing the denial in federal court.

WASHINGTON – Steve Austria is a Republican running for Congress in a reliably conservative district, but that isn’t keeping him from showing his independence.

“Of course I’m a Republican, and I also support the party, but I’m also an independent thinker. I will represent my district first,” Austria said during an interview this week at the Capitol Hill Club.

Austria is competing for the seat of U.S. Rep. Dave Hobson (R-Springfield), who is retiring after serving nine terms in the House. The central Ohio district, which spans a strip of central Ohio between Greene and Perry counties and includes Springfield and parts of suburban Dayton and Columbus, has been Republican territory. In 2000 and 2004 voters there gave Bush 55 percent and 57 percent of the vote, respectively. Republicans have held the 7th Congressional District seat since the Great Depression.

But in a cycle in which the GOP brand is suffering, running on the party label in a conservative district isn’t always enough. In the interview Hobson presented himself as an independent who could tackle the problems facing voters in the economically struggling district, particularly when it came to the area’s job losses and skyrocketing energy prices.

The National Rifle Association, as well as the Buckeye Firearms Association, has endorsed state Sen. Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) in the race for Ohio's 7th Congressional district.

Austria is running against attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) to replace retiring U.S. Rep. David Hobson (R-Springfield) in the seat.

In addition, Austria's legislative record in the Ohio statehouse earned him an "A" grade from the NRA's Political Victory Fund.

In accepting the endorsement, Austria said that protecting second amendment rights has always been a top priority of his.