A Mini-Interview With Rightroots Endorsed Candidate, Chuck Blasdel

Chuck Blasdel is in a dogfight with Democrat Charlie Wilson for a seat currently held by Democrat Ted Strickland. Blasdel is in a tightly split district that went for Bush 51%-49%, in 2004.

Yesterday, I did a short interview with Chuck, who is a Rightroots endorsed candidate in Ohio’s 6th District. Here’s an edited transcript of our conversation.

John Hawkins: If a voter from your district walked up to you and said, “Give me three differences between you and Charlie Wilson that would convince me to vote for you,” what would you say?

Chuck Blasdel: …I would say that the first thing Charlie Wilson is going to do is try to elect Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House. …The direction that Nancy Pelsoi would take this country in is not in the best interests of the constituents in the sixth district.

Secondly, …we’ve both been in the State House for a number of years and if you look at my track record versus his, he’s been putting in time and cashing a paycheck (while) I’ve been getting things done.

…Thirdly, on some of the things at the Statehouse, there are the different positions we’ve taken. I supported comprehensive tax reform, cutting income taxes 21% across the board, and (wanted to remove) the tax on capital and net worth in the state of Ohio. He voted against it.

I voted to reform our worker’s compensation system. He voted against it. I voted for tort reform, medical malpractice and comprehensive tort reform. He voted against it. Those are some very clear differences between myself and Charlie.

John Hawkins: Now, I understand (that Charlie Wilson) had to do a write in campaign because he failed to get 50 legitimate signatures to get on the ballot in the primary. Tell us a little bit about that.

Chuck Blasdel: In Ohio, it’s unlike many other states where it requires a significant number of signatures to run for Congress. All you have to have is 50 signatures.

…Number one, he doesn’t live in the district. …You don’t have to in Ohio. So, he lives right outside the district and he got most of his signatures out of two counties that are only partially within the district. When he turned them in, I think he turned in ninety-some signatures and of those, only 48 were even in the district, and only 45 or 46 of those were valid. The interesting thing about that is it’s the third time he’s done it…

John Hawkins: (Laughs) What? The Third time? Good grief…

Chuck Blasdel: In 1994, …there was a petition problem and he was thrown off the ballot. He took it all the way to the Supreme Court and lost. He never ended up on the ballot…Then again, I think it was in 2000, he was running for the State House and had a petition problem. He contested that and ended up being on the ballot. But, it’s the third time he has had some sort of petition snafu.

John Hawkins: That would speak to his competence level, wouldn’t it?

Chuck Blasdel: That’s for the voters to decide, I guess.

John Hawkins: (Laughs) You sound pretty strong on tax issues. There are a lot of readers out there who are going to be wondering, “Ok, if this guy gets into Congress, what would he be like?” What could (conservatives) expect from you on issues beyond taxes?

Chuck Blasdel: I very consistently support pro-life positions. …I supported the Constitutional Amendment to outlaw gay marriage in Ohio. …I think tax issues are important, but I think one of the biggest challenges we face in Ohio is that our regulatory agencies are completely out of control. I have a very strong track record of standing up against the EPA, some of the bureaucrats in Columbus… some of our regulatory agencies. I even put in writing to the Governor of Ohio that I thought the EPA in Ohio was engaged in…legalized extortion against the business community.

John Hawkins: Now, you’re fighting to pick up a seat held by Ted Strickland, a Democrat. How do you think you’re doing so far and do you think you’re one of Republicans that has the best chance to pick-up a Democratic seat in 2006?

Chuck Blasdel: When you look at what’s happening in our race over the last year, …it speaks volumes (about)…the #1 opportunity for a pick-up. …Cheney has been here. Boehner has been here. (Dennis) Hastert has been here. We’ve been getting significant national attention and more (big name guests) are being lined up to come in as we go through our campaign. …It looks like the NRCC (has made a big) buy here as well.

John Hawkins: Chuck, I appreciate the time. Take care!

If you’d like to make a contribution to Chuck Blasdel’s campaign, you can do so here, through Rightroots.

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