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Jennifer Brunner Should Be Secretary of State
Dayton Daily News
October 02, 2006
It is one heck of a time to seek to be Ohio's next secretary of state. The winner of that office in November will be the state's top election official at a tumultuous time — when the state and the country are trying to adjust, and transition, to electronic voting. Meanwhile, if 2008 is as close as the last two presidential elections nationally, the state's chief elections officer will be the continuing object of national attention. When all eyes were on Florida's Katherine Harris, that state looked bad. Democrat Jennifer Brunner is an outstanding candidate for Ohio secretary of state. She has a sense of fairness and a knowledge of election law that ideally suits her for the job. An alum of Miami University, she also graduated from Capital University Law School in 1982. She spent four years as a lawyer for the secretary of state's office (when it was held by Sherrod Brown). After that, Ms. Brunner, 48, was in private practice for 12 years, where she handled major elections law and campaign-finance issues. Ms. Brunner served briefly on the Franklin County Board of Elections and, in 2000, was elected to an unexpired term on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. She was re-elected four years ago. Her background has given her a mastery of details of the secretary of state's office, and she's sensitive to the importance of ensuring public confidence in the elections system. Republican Greg Hartmann, 39, is bright and energetic. A 1988 graduate of Washington & Lee University and a 1997 graduate of Pepperdine Law School, he was an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor before becoming that county's clerk of courts. Mr. Hartmann has sensible proposals about what he would do as secretary of state, and he is a substantial candidate. Regarding some of the pending election controversies: Both Ms. Brunner and Mr. Hartmann are committed to a complete review of the security of electronic voting equipment. Neither would push to undo a recent federal court decision in Cleveland that temporarily has halted Ohio's new, onerous voter-registration procedures. And they both say that current Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell was wrong to serve as state chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign and simultaneously oversee that election. Neither would campaign for statewide candidates or ballot issues while serving as secretary of state. Unfortunately, both candidates have stooped to goofy attacks on each other. Ms. Brunner has criticized Mr. Hartmann for failing to disclose a minor brush with the law on his application to become prosecutor. The violation related to playing a stereo too loud in college — hardly an important point. But Mr. Hartmann has outdone Ms. Brunner with his negative campaigning. He complains that Ms. Brunner didn't send 20 defendants to jail for what he calls "identity theft" offenses. Most of these cases seem to involve check forgeries. The unfair implication is that Ms. Brunner, who herself pointed to identity theft as something a secretary of state can help combat, is "soft" on such crimes. Without better evidence, he's pitching a misleading interpretation of a regarded judge's record. Ohioans can be sure their next secretary of state will have to make important and contentious decisions on everything from voting machines to election administration. Ms. Brunner is most prepared to do that.
