In February, Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman announced his candidacy for governor. A city councilman before being elected mayor in 1999, Coleman has served in public office for 13 years. During his tenure, he has been a strong advocate for fiscal discipline.
Coleman explains:
As Mayor of Ohio's largest city, I understand the challenge of allocating
scarce resources and still getting the job done...
We made the tough decisions... cutting $190 million from budgets... protecting
basic neighborhood services... and still hiring more Police Officers and Fire
fighters... during a time of national economic recession... the worst since the
Great Depression.
Coleman has aligned himself with the Democratic Leadership Council, a moderate pro-business group of Democrats.
In an address to the DLC, Coleman declared:
Sometimes leadership means putting politics aside and reaching out even to those
on the other side of the aisle. For example, today I am offering to help a
struggling Ohio Governor and a Republican-controlled legislature to forge a
bipartisan solution to a jobs-and-technology effort called the Third Frontier.
I'm doing so because it is good for the state, for our citizens and the future
of jobs and economic development for our state. That's what leaders do.
Coleman is very familiar with the needs of people from around Ohio. He was born and raised in Toledo, attended college in Cincinnati, went to law school in Dayton, and has made his home in Columbus.
Why is Coleman running?
Coleman answers:
For more than a decade we have watched the musical chairs of the current
statewide office holders, scheming and plotting to be governor rather than doing
their jobs. They have put ambition about the mission.
Hope and ambition should reside in the hearts of our citizens, not in the
failed leadership of those who want to serve only because they believe we owe
them the governor's office just because they are next in line. [...]
I don't just want to hold the job of Governor... I want to DO the job!
To learn more about Mike Coleman or to get involved with his campaign, visit his website at http://www.colemanforohio2006.com/
For a profile of Congressman Ted Strickland, the other Democratic candidate for governor, click here.
