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GOP Picks Cleveland for Convention; Republican Reps Race to Replace Retiring Speaker

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The Republican National Committee says it's selected Cleveland over Dallas to host its 2016 presidential nominating convention. But the announcement had people south of Cleveland wondering what this might mean for Columbus, which is one of now five cities in the running for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Former national Democratic party officials David Leland and David Wilhelm weigh in.

The campaign for governor is underway on both sides. Incumbent Republican John Kasich appeared at his first major campaign events in southwest Ohio, where he accepted the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business Ohio. Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald sat down with a group of reporters for a wide-ranging discussion on his positions, his proposed policies and his perspectives on the state of the Ohio economy, on marriage equality and on the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case. But as he was talking with journalists, the news broke that the Ohio Republican Party is suing FitzGerald to force him to release the records of key card swipes and his parking card records for the last two years.

The race to replace retiring Republican Rep. Bill Batchelder as Speaker of the House appears all but over – maybe. The contest had been between longtime Rep. Ron Amstutz of Wooster and Rep. Cliff Rosenberger of Clarksville, who’s in his second term. And to the surprise of some but not to others, Rosenberger appears to be the winner. But as often is the case, there’s more to this story. Columbus Dispatch reporter Jim Siegel has been following the race.

The question of who will be Speaker and why comes up with some regularity now, thanks to term limits. And the Speaker has often been a very visible force in Statehouse politics over the years. Statehouse Bureau reporter emeritus Bill Cohen talks about that.