Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Klinger v Arshinoff: Mano et Mano

The die may be cast with plenty of debate ahead in the hallways of Cuyahoga Falls City Hall as Carol Klinger, at-large GOP member of City Council will face-off as the standard bearer for the New Summit Republicans in their bid to depose Alex Arshinkoff as chairman of the county party.

The primary election March 4th only set the table for more moves by both sides; Arshinkoff says he picked up the majority of contested seats among the 470-or so Central Committee members but the group backed by State Senator Kevin Coughlin claims a secret ballot will show their support runs much deeper so long as voter choices won't be public knowledge.

In the middle of all this: Cuyahoga Falls, ground zero for Summit County's GOP. It's not Hudson, Bath Township, Twinsburg or Green that play big (although new Board of Elections member Don Varian is from Bath). The Falls is where the heavy lifting comes to play, complete with Arshinkoff loyalist Mayor Don Robart now in the position of working against one of his own City Council allies in Klinger. Add Coughlin as a Falls resident to the mix and you really get a sense of how this battle is more like a siblings war then a simple neighborhood brawl.

Still waiting to hear on when the local party moves beyond the certifications from the Board of Elections and sets a date for the full Central Committee to meet and vote.

2 comments:

  1. I thought Coughlin could have come up with a better choice. She isn't even known in republican circles outside of the falls

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  2. I think the choice is good. But in the end it is a referendum on Alex more than anything else.

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