The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 12

TODAY ELECTION NEWS THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER 'Wednesday, November 8, 1978 Brown-Anthony Celebrezze Race Proves Fight To Finish Lukens attempted to capitalize on charges that Ferguson's employees in the Auditor's Office were guilty of misconduct, including the alleged illegal solicitation of state employees for campaign funds and the use of employees for political purposes. Ferguson declared his innocence and the Democrat charged that the controversy surrounding his office was "an attempt at political assassination," although a Franklin County grand jury is investigating. THE RACE for Secretary' of State had been enlivened by Celebrezze, who centered much of his campaign on Brown's 28-year tenure and accused Brown of having become ineffective. Although Celebrezze began his campaign as a decided he launched a heavy television campaign in the final few days, as he hoped to narrow the gap and place his candidacy within striking distance of the Republican-dominated office. Both the Secretary of State and Auditor liam J.

Brown led in the race for attorney general with 57.8 of the vote, while Smith gathered 42.2. In the state auditor's race, it was challenger Lukens, a Middletown resident, ahead with 54.2 and incumbent Ferguson with 45.8 in Hamilton County returns. The race for secretary of state had Brown ahead in Hamilton County with 53 of votes and Celebrezze garnering 47 of the vote. IN THE treasurer's race, Hamilton County returns showed incumbent Donahey easily ahead with 58.4 and Rogers pulling 41.6 Incumbents had been expected to fare well in nongubernatorial, statewide races. Those races, in the press and other media, were overshadowed by the hard-fought and well-financed gubernatorial campaign.

Perhaps the most publicized of the non-gubernatorial races were the campaigns for Secretary of State and state Auditor. came out with a 120.000 vote plurality." Brown said "I am holding my breath" for final results. With 11,933 of the state's 13,216 precincts reporting, incumbent Democratic Attorney General William J. Brown, 38, had pulled away easily from Republican George C. Smith, 43, with more than 63 of the vote.

Jim Gravelle, press aide to William Brown, said "The smartest politician in the state is William J. Brown." Brown had earlier considered running against Rhodes, but stepped aside without posing a serious challenge to Celeste. In the contest for state auditor, incumbent Democrat Thomas E. Ferguson, 47, was pulling ahead of his Republican challenger, State Sen. Donald E.

(Buz) Lukens, 49, with approximately 55 of the vote. As expected, Democratic State Treasurer Gertrude Donahey, seeking a third term, was winning easily over George Rogers of Whitehall, with more than 60 of the vote. In final Hamilton County returns, Wil BY GARY SULLIVAN Enquirer Reporter COLUMBUS, Ohio-Incumbent Secretary of State Ted W. Brown, 72, found himself embroiled in a fight to the wire with 37-year-old challenger, State Sen. Anthony J.

Celebrezze who made an issue of Brown's 28 years in office. Wtth 90 of precincts reporting statewide, Brown lost the slight lead to which he had cliing through the evening, but the race remained too close to call. Sojne incumbent candidates for non-gubernalorial statewide offices were assumed of re-election shortly after the polls closed Tuesday night. Secretary of State Brown, asking voters for aiast term in the office he first achieved in.J950, was behind Celebrezze, a Cleveland Democrat, with Brown receiving 49.48 of the vote. "This time four years ago I was 12,000 votes down," said Brown early this races had special significance this year because of their positions on the important state apportionment board, whose five members also include two members of the legislature and the governor.

After the 1980 decennial census, whichever party controls the board has the power to redistrict the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate and, in effect, the ability to Influence the political composition of the General Assembly. ATTORNEY GENERAL Brown beat Smith by a 500.000-vote margin four years ago and the present campaign bore similar trademarks, with considerable acrimony surfacing as the race progressed. Smith, Republican prosecutor for Franklin County, tried hard to link Brown to various improper activities as attorney general, Including a charge that Brown mishandled a possible securities fraud. scheme. 1 House Dems Win 1 As Upset Bids Falter Judge Palmer Wins Re -Election Easily in which no incumbent was running.

Murdock's decision to leave the seat to run for the Hamilton County Commission gave Democrats what they felt was their strongest chance to pick up a seat in the Hamilton County delegation to the Ohio House. In two other largely suburban districts where Democrats hoped to upset Republican incumbents, the GOP lawmakers held commanding leads. Dale Van Vyven, the Republican appointed to fill Richard Finan's 19th House District seat earlier this year, had 58 of the vote to Democrat William Korte's 42. (Finan moved to the Ohio Senate after Michael Maloney resigned to become Hamilton County administrator.) And veteran, six-time state representative Thomas Pottenger, a Republian seeking re-election from the 20th District, outdistanced another Democrat. Peter Rebold, a former Green Township trustee, 56 -44.

Republicans held on to two of three Ohio House seats Tuesday in which Democrats felt they chances to pull upsets. But the GOP lost one formerly Republican district to a Democrat. Democrat Jerome Luebbers won a relatively slim victory over Republican Raymond Groneman in the battle to succeed Norman Murdock as state representative from Ohio's 21st House District. In the closest of Hamilton County's legislative races, Luebbers finished with 53 of the vote to Grone-man's 47. Groneman entered the campaign in July as a replacement for Dorothy (Peg) Garvin after she withdrew as the Republican nominee.

"I think a lot of people overestimated (the significance of) his late start," Luebbers said. "Not many politicians begin campaigning until July anyway," he said. The race was expected to be the closest of the nine Ohio House seats to be filled in Hamilton County, largely because it was the only one BY JIM GREENFIELD Enquirer Reporter With ease, Judge George H. Palmer has won re-election to a second six-year term on the Ohio First District Court of Appeals. He also may be a candidate for a federal judgeship.

It -appeared Palmer would carry at least 60 of the vote In vanquish-ing Hamilton County Municipal Judge John H. Ranz. Palmer's handsome triumph in vote-rich Hamilton County was supplemented neatly by whopping margins in outlying Butler, Warren, Clinton and Clermont counties, which are part of the First Appellate District. a Democrat, showed surprisingly well in the outlying which generally vote Republl-cam Palmer won about 62 of the vote-; in Clinton County, which he caUe.d "the most Republican of1 those counties." i HAD PALMER expected such an overwhelming vote of confidence? "Not really, not to that extent," he said. never expect to win by that kind of margin.

I'm really pleased." Calmer, 54, first was elected to the Court of Appeals In 1972, defeating incumbent Warren C. Young of Warren County. Palmer was a Hamilton County Court judge from 1957-64. At the University College of Law, from which he graduated in 1949, Palmer was editor of the Cincinnati Law Review. He was rated outstanding by the Cincinnati Bar Association.

Judge Ranz was rated qualified. Palmer confirmed Tuesday night that he has been interviewed as a possible candidate for an open seat on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Cincinnati. That court level is the nation's second highest, answering only to the U.S. Supreme Court.

An appointment to the federal appellate bench would have to be made by President Carter and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. "They (Carter administration officials) really haven't made up their minds on the last panel (of candidates) submitted to them," Palmer said. Republican Ranz, also 54, has been a municipal judge since 1975. He served as administratorreferee with the same court for five years before becoming a Judge.

Both men emphasized their qualifications In television commercials in what was otherwise a quiet, unobtrusive campaign. III I rt I I Ml tj: Ms i- Senate Incumbents Get Landslide Victories Celebrezze Leading Run or Ohio Chief Justice Democrat Clifford F. Brown, 62, a judge on Ohio's 6th District Court of Appeals, ran against Republican Justice Paul W. Brown, 63, for the other full term. Democrats now hold a 4-3 advantage on the seven-member high court.

With 7549 precincts of 13,216, or 57 of the vote for the chief justice term: Thomas Herbert had 554,047 or 42; F. Celebrezze had 760,833 or 58; For the term starting Janurary 1, 1979: Markus had 451 ,042 or 36 William Brown had 787,102 or 64. For the term starting January 2, 1979: Paul Brown had 636,528 or 56; Clifford Brown had 491,952 or .44. to become Hamilton County administrator. Finan, a 44-year-old Sharonville lawyer who was completing his third term in the Ohio House when he was appointed to fill Maloney's seat, rolled up 66 of the vote to Wiesenhahn's 34 in Hamilton County.

Wiesenhahn barely outpolled Finan, 5318-5102. in the 62 Clermont County precincts of the district, where Wiesenhahn was supposed to have made his best showing. "We made up our mind early we had to concentrate our effort in Clermont County and Anderson Township. That is where our opponent was strongest and we had to beat him," Finan said. Results in the Ninth Senate District, Bowen said Tuesday, showed that voters rejected Garr's claims that Bowen represented only the district's black residents.

"He was trying to play on the white-black bit," Bowen said. (Both Bowen and Garr are black.) Bowen added he was elated with early results, which he said showed he had a good cross-section of voter BYTOM GILLEAA Associated Press Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio-Ohio Democrats and Republicans fought for -domination of the state Supreme Court Tuesday in three races two for full six-year terms and one to fill the unexpired chief Justice's Of the six candidates, three of them were named Brown -and two ran against each other. -Seeking the job of chief justice to 'fill the unexpired term of the late C. William O'Neill were Justice "Thomas M. Herbert, 50, a Republican, and Justice Frank D.

a Democrat. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard M. Markus, 48, a Republican, opposed one-term Derrpratic Justice William B. Brown, 65, for one of the full six-year slots. Incumbent State Sens.

William Bowen, D-Cincinnati, and Richard Finan, R-Cincinnati, breezed to easy victories Tuesday night, Bowen swamping two challengers and Finan overwhelming his opponent by almost a 2-1 margin. Bowen, 49, won a third four-year senate term over two independent challengers, piling up a whopping 70 of the vote in the Ninth Senate District, which includes most of central Cincinnati. Independent Joseph Garr, who was endorsed by the Republican Party, ran a distant second with 18 of the vote and Robert Green-berg of the U.S. Labor Party, had a surprisingly strong 12 of the vote. Finan, who was appointed to the Seventh District Senate seat earlier this year to replace Michael Maloney, handily held off the challenge of Democrat Jerome Wiesenhahn, an Amelia pharmacist.

The Seventh District includes northern and eastern parts of Hamilton County as well as a small slice of Western Clermont County. Maloney resigned from the Senate Ry. Voters OK TANK Tax By More Than 2-1 Margin Incumbents Have Easy Wins In County's House Contests Enquirer photo BY DICK SW AIM BEFORE THE COUNT: Robert Uth, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, prepares his work place for the crush of people who would soon flood the board office on Main Street to learn election outcomes. Approval of Issue One would drop the number of signatures on petitions required to change a form of county government from 10 to 8. The amendment also would in inquirer Reporter 'The' long, lingering struggle to obtain permanent funding for public transit in Northern Kentucky is t.By.

a margin of slightly more than to and Campbell County voters Tuesday approved a .4 earnings tax to support operations of the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky vote on the controversial tax, levied by the two fiscal courts in June, ran strongly in favor from the 6 ri AM Just elated," said Lambert Herd, judge-executive in Campbell County, where opposition to the tax was most vocal. this terrific. Despite Proposition 13 and the library tax. the people of Campbell County voted for a service to their neighbors," he said. In Kenton County, where opposition was muted and the favorable vote stronger, Kenton Judge-executive James Dressman Jr.

expressed similar sentiments. "I think the people realized how important this is to our community in all ways," he said. The tax will take 40 cents per $100 from all wages, salaries and net profits earned in either county to a limit of $100 for individuals and $150 for businesses. Revenue from the tax can be spent only on transit-related expenses with the approval of the fiscal courts, to which TANK will submit annual budget requests. The money will ensure availability of local funding required to obtain federal subsidies for public transit.

crease the the tinme between a Hamilton County's eight incumbent state representatives all succeeded in their bids to win new, two-year terms in the Ohio House Tuesday. In traditionally Republican suburban districts, GOP incumbents ran well ahead of their Democratic challengers, led by State Rep. Robert A. Taft II, who finished with an overwhelming 75 of the Hamilton County vote in the 65th District. Edith Mayer, a 49-year-old former president of the Greenhills-Forest Park Board of Education who was appointed to the 22nd District seat last year, defeated Democratic challenger John Gutzwiller 58 -42.

State Rep. Helen Fix, another Republican incumbent, easily beat back the challenge of Democrat William Cunningham in the 26th District, 71 -29. Similarly, incumbent Democrats in districts dominated by Cincinnati neighborhoods had little trouble overcoming their GOP opponents. House Majority Floor Leader William Mallory had 67 of the vote. Republican Ann Hanke had 33.

In the 24th District, incumbent Democrat Terry Tranter handily defeated Republican Nick Visnic 71 -29. And Helen Rankin, who was appointed to fill the 25th District seat when her husband, James Rankin, died last summer, held off the lenge of Republican David Al-banese, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor. Rankin had 69 of thevotetoAlbanese's31. Both Issues Gaining Nod In Ohio Vote COLUMBUS-Voters in Ohio were approving both state Issues on the ballot with 57 of the state's 13,216 precincts counted Tuesday night. On Issue One the Yes vote totaled 672,871 or 55.

A total Of 560,344 No votes 45 were counted. The tally on Issue Two read: Yes 666,339 or 53, and No 581,542 or 47. board-of-elections' certification of such petitions and the date of the election. The amdendment would increase the wait from 60 to 95 days. Passage of Issue Two would re move the constitutional require ment that the general assembly must pass laws on the on the employment of state prisoners.

The state now has laws governing the employment of prisoners. Gradison Sees Big Victory As Voter Approval Of His Record on the ballot for, Tuesday's election, was running a distant third with less than 2 of the vote. UP AGAINST the overwhelming power of incumbency and his opponent's well-known name in Cincinnati politics, Burke never was in the race. He was able to raise only $9181 by two weeks before the election, compared to $101,710 collected by Gradison. The Congressman reported spending only $51,958 of the money he raised.

The balance was earmarked for television advertising which Gradison found uneces-sary and unjustified. It will be carried over for the 1980 racein the First District, Gradison said. He accepted contributions only from individuals and rejected campaign gifts from corporate political action committees. Burke, 30, accused Gradison, 49, of representing only the interests of the wealthy in Congress and of benefiting the family busi ness, Gradison Co. stock brockerage, by voting to deregulate gas and oil prices.

The company has financial interests in the gas and oil industry. THE CONGRESSMAN defended his record saying he has "not cast a vote on taxes, or any other issues, that I would not feel comfortable in defending as being in the interests of the average working man in this district." A member of the powerful tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Gradison already has announced his candidacy for one of the House Republican leadership posts. He is seeking the chairmanship of the GOP Research Committee when Congress reorganizes later this year. His major legislative initiative the past two years was a proposal to adjust federal Income tax rates annually to protect wages from inflation. Gradison, an Investment broker, has de sion, we were about done In.

The critical thing was the lack of television time." GRADISON REGARDED the election as a referendum on his record representing the First District the past two years. "My record was the issue. My votes have been hammered away on, as a challenger should do," Gradison said Tuesday night. "I feel the way things are going tonight it is an Indication people, by and large, are satisfied with what I'm doing." Political observers regarded Burke as a sacrificial lamb put up by Hamilton County Democrats to prevent Gradison from getting involved in the close race between Incumbent Rep. Thomas A.

Luken, a Democrat, and Republican Challenger Stanley J. Aronoff in the Second Congressional District. Independent candidate Joseph May, who had to get a court ruling ordering the county Board of Elections to place his name grees from Harvard and Yale Universities. He was first elected to Congress from the First District in November 1974 after losing a special election earlier that year to Democrat Thomas A. Luken.

Luken has since moved across county and was elected to the U. S. House there. Gradison received 66 of the district's votes two years ago defeating well-known State Sen. William F.

Bowen. THE FIRST District, the most prosperous and affluent of the two in the county, traditionally sends Republicans to Congress. Only one Democrat, John J. Gilligan, has held the seat the past 40 years. William J.

Keating held the seat from 1970 until he retired in mid-term at the end of 1973. Robert Taft Jr. represented the district from 1964 until he was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1970.

Keating received the largest majority of the votes in the district since 1938, winning 70.3 in 1972 and 69.3 two years later. BY WARREN WHEAT Washington Bureau Chiet U. Si Rep. Willis D. Gradison, R-Ohio, bowl-.

ed over Democrat Timothy M. Burke Tues- lay to win a third term representing eastern Cincinnati and Hamilton County in Congress. WOn with 64.5 of the vote. The Incumbent polled 73,320 votes to "Burke's 38,490. Gradison defeated Ohio Sen.

William F. Bowen two years ago witU 64.5 of the votes. Burke, a Cincinnati attorney and former campaign manager, was making his first bid for elected public office against the weUVknown, popular former Cincinnati and Mayor Gradison. uf Burke told The Enquirer Tuesday night when the results of the race were apparent, "We've been very comfortable with the kind of campaign we had, but once we knew for sure we didn't have the money for televi.