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Former Lawmaker Withdraws from Consideration for State Democratic Party Chair

In a written statement, former Ohio Democratic state lawmaker and former lobbyist Dennis Wojtanowski said he recently learned his previous work, supporting people on both sides of the aisle, has raised concerns. Wojtanowski had the backing of Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown.

One person who would like to be considered for the post is Janet Carson, the chair of the Geauga County Democratic Party and of the organization that represents chairs from all 88 counties. Carson said she'd like to see the selection process slow down.

“I think we are moving too quickly," Carson said. "I think that haven’t had time to even settle after the election from Tuesday. We haven’t had time to review and to actually listen to the people that do the work and are our partners in our efforts to move forward.”

Carson said the party needs to be more inclusive of Democrats throughout the state. And she wants a full review of the party’s finances and thinks a strong finance group to focus on fundraising.

Another name being mentioned for the chairman’s post is David Pepper, the Democratic candidate for Attorney General, who lost that bid to Republican Mike DeWine Tuesday. Pepper has not yet publicly expressed interest in the position.

Nick Castele was a senior reporter covering politics and government for Ideastream Public Media. He worked as a reporter for Ideastream from 2012-2022.