“Oh no,” Pryce says, laughing. “I’ve sworn it off.”

One woman who is running for the soon-to-be created seat in Mary Jo Kilroy, a Democrat who ran a heated campaign and narrowly lost to Pryce in the 2006 election. Pryce had this to say about Kilroy’s intentions.

“Mary Jo is welcome to enter the race, just like any other public-minded person,” Pryce says. “I think it will be an interesting primary and I wish them all the best.”

Kilroy eventually won Pryce’s old seat in the 15th Congressional district in 2008 before losing it to Republican Steve Stivers last year.

Deborah Pryce now chairs the Ohio Liquor Control Commission.

Flanked by bundled up, sign-waving supporters, Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy held a brief new conference outside the Franklin County Board of Elections Sunday night. Unofficial results released a few hours earlier showed Kilroy had beaten Republican Steve Stivers by more than 2,000 votes. The final outcome hinged on a month-long dispute over provisional ballots that were only counted December 6th. Kilroy says Stivers called to congratulate her, saying he would not ask for a recount.

“We have a lot of work to do when I get to Washington and I want to make sure that I hit the ground running,” Kilroy said. “We’re reaching out to Rep. Pryce to make sure that issues that constituents have brought to the attention of the Representative of Ohio 15th can continue to be worked on that we can have a smooth transition.”

Kilroy narrowly lost election to the 15th Congressional District seat in 2006 to Republican Deborah Pryce. Pryce chose not to seek re-election.

Stivers piled up large margins of victory in Union and Madison Counties, but the margin in Franklin county remains very close and the county still has absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted. If the count stands, Stivers will replace retiring representative Deborah Pryce. In other races Congressman Pat Tiberi won reelection and Republican Steve Austria captured the seat being vacated by retiring Congressman Dave Hobson.

Unofficial results completed early today show Fifteenth District GOP candidate Steve Stivers leading Mary Jo Kilroy by just 321 votes.

Stivers piled up large margins of victory in Union and Madison Counties, but the margin in Franklin county remains very close and the county still has absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted.

No matter the results, the narrow margin will trigger an automatic recount.

If the count stands, Stivers will replace retiring representative Deborah Pryce.

Stivers released the following statement:

“Unfortunately, the outcome of the race is not yet known , and the provisional and absentee ballots must be fully verified and counted. I know that the three counties? Boards of Elections will work professionally and efficiently to declare a winner, and I will look forward to them completing their excellent work in this race.”

Kilroy’s campaign released a statement as well:

“There are thousands of votes that are still being counted in the race for Ohio’s 15th Congressional district. The process is working and this election is not over. The Mary Jo Kilroy for Congress Campaign is confident that when those votes are counted, Mary Jo will be declared the winner. The thousands of votes still being counted include early votes from Veterans Memorial and legal paper ballots that were issued at the polling sites. Many of these votes were in high turnout precincts where voters wanted to cast ballots in this historic election.”

If Stivers wins, Republicans will have held on to three central Ohio congressional seats. In other races Congressman Pat Tiberi won reelection and Republican Steve Austria captured the seat being vacated by retiring Congressman Dave Hobson.

Copyright 2008, WOSU

Early in the afternoon Franklin County Board of Elections director Michael Stinziano said Republican Steve Stivers had kept a narrow lead over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy.

“The current information has Sen. Stivers about 300 votes ahead of Commissioner Kilroy. What we’re finishing up are the paper ballots that were cast on Election Day as well as the absentee ballots received the last two days – the Sunday and Monday before Election Day,” Stinziano said.

But that total won’t include other kinds of ballots such as provisional ballots cast on Election Day. The provisional ballot tally won’t be known until the end of next week and it could tip the election one way or the other. The votes are so close, Stinziano says, that a recount might be necessary.

“Since it’s in the certain, I think it’s one percent or a little less than one percent, yes, there could be challenges or it could be contested and we may have to do an automatic recount.”

The automatic recount is triggered when the margin is less than one half of one percent. Such a recount occurred two years ago when Congresswoman Deborah Pryce narrowly beat Kilroy. Pryce’s 1,000-vote margin of victory was not known for more than a month after Election Day.

The Stivers campaign has so far declined comment other than to acknowledge the closeness of the contest.

The Kilroy campaign says it’s confident of victory. It released a statement saying, “The thousands of votes still being counted include early votes from Veterans Memorial and legal paper ballots that were issued at polling sites.”

“He spent 22 years of his life fighting and working for his country in the National Guard and he has a Bronze Star to show for it,” Pryce said.

Stivers, who served a year in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq War, said his military experience would be important to voters.

“That background gives me credibility on the Number 1 issue that people care about: security,” Stivers said. “And to me security includes the war, terrorism; and it includes defending our borders from illegal immigration.”

Only months ago, Stivers said he would run for reelection to the Ohio Senate. But he said he’d discussed a Congressional bid with his fianc e and they’d reached a decision just a few days ago. Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Ohio State University, Herb Asher, says Republicans believe Stivers can be a very strong candidate in what’s sure to be a hotly contested campaign.

“As a state senator he already represents a district that has 330,000 people in it,” Asher says. “He’s a social moderate; fiscally conservative; and fits the mold of other Republicans who’ve been successful in Franklin County.”

Asher describes Republican Stivers and Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy, a Franklin County Commissioner, as “two very good public servants.” In last year’s election, Kilroy lost her bid to unseat Deborah Pryce by less than a thousand votes. Again, Herb Asher.

“We’re going to see lots of involvement by their respective national party committees,” Asher says. “Lots of people offering advice to Senator Stivers and Commissioner Kilroy about how to win the contest.”

Commissioner Kilroy says it makes no difference who her opponent is. She says the reasons she’s in the race have not changed.

“People are concerned about their jobs. They’re concerned about health care. They’re concerned about the abuse of predatory lending; whether they are going to have retirement security,” Kilroy said. “I am the candidate that has stood up and fought for central Ohio families on all of those issues.”

In a question-and-answer session following Stivers’ announcement, the state senator disagreed with a reporter’s assessment that he is a strong supporter of President Bush’s. With regard to the war, Stivers said he believes lots of mistakes have been made.

“I have agreed and disagreed with President Bush on social issues and the war in Iraq so I don’t think it’s fair to call me a strong supporter of everything that he’s done,” Stivers said. “There are things I support and things that we differ on.”

One thing is sure; Ohio’s 15th Congressional seat could easily tip in one direction or the other; helping Republicans regain control of the House or widening the Democratic majority. It’s a race that, according to Herb Asher:

“…guarantees that the Congressional race in the 15th district will be one that’s closely watched not simply here in Ohio but throughout the nation.

Drivers along Front Street responded to signs that urged them to honk if they support children’s health insurance. The signs were carried by a handful of volunteers with MoveOn.org. Volunteer Jill Boyer and her children were among those taking part in the rally. Matthew is nine years old and Alexander is seven. Boyer says both have autism.

“My children need the Medicaid to pay for services that most insurance companies won’t cover,” says Boyer. I’ve tried to get private health insurance for them but the insurance companies won’t touch them because of a pre-existing condition – autism.”

Spokesman David Ploskonka said Boyer and others wanted to thank 15th District Congresswoman Pryce for her vote in favor of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. President Bush has vetoed the $35 billion expansion of SCHIP. The Senate has enough votes to override his veto. The House does not.

“We’re here to ask her to lobby more Republicans to get the veto overturned and the kids the health care they need,” said Ploskonka.

Pryce Press Secretary Ron Nichols says his boss voted her conscience on the measure and supports the rights of other House members to do the same. He also questions how effective any lobbying effort would be.

“Many Republican moderates ended up voting in favor of the SCHIP expansion, and there aren’t that many Republican moderates left to lobby,” says Nichols.

Nichols says MoveOn.org’s thank you effort seems weak given that the organization spent $480,000 to unseat Pryce in 2006.

“Everything they do is 100% politically motivated and contrived,” said Nichols. “Nothing is done out of benevolence.”

Ploskonka disagrees. “I would not say there’s a political reason,” he says. “It’s more of a moral reason. She voted for the health care and that’s something we really stand behind.”

Ploskonka said similar rallies were held elsewhere in Ohio and around the U-S in an effort to find the House votes necessary to override the president’s veto of SCHIP.

Pryce was once the most powerful Republican woman in Congress but nearly lost her seat in the 2006 Democratic surge.

In a news release, she says there’s never a good time to leave a job you love, but for her, the right time is now. Pryce points out that she has two elderly parents, as well as a daughter who starts kindergarten next week.

Her announcement sets off a scramble by both parties in one of the most competitive House districts in the country. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Pryce, from Upper Arlington, has served in Congress for 15 years. She barely won re-election in 2006 after a tough fight with Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy. Kilroy has announced her intentions to run for the seat again in 2008.

A spokesman for Pryce declined to comment but said the Congresswoman’s office would release a statement later today.

Among the Republicans mentioned as considering a run for Pryce’s seat: Former Attorney General Jim Petro, and State Senator Steve Stivers. Another top local Republican – Franklin County Auditor Joe Testa says he is not considering running.

“Anybody see Morton Kevall?”

“How are you spelling it?”

“It’s down the middle there.”

Last Friday Al Tyroler was using a checklist and a map to help find graves that needed to be honored, something he says he’s been doing for the past 53 years. He and Joe Cohen are members of Capital Post 122 – Jewish War Veterans.

“It’s normally the responsibility of veterans organizations to foresee the decorating the graves on Memorial Day,” Cohen says. Early Saturday morning a couple working by themselves were placing flags in Section 105, decorating the graves of World War 2 and Korean veterans.

“My name is Paul Gardner.”

“And I’m Gloria Ballard.”

“We are just showing our gratitude to these soldiers who gave their lives for our country,” Gardner said.

Said Ballard, “Well, I tell you what. I’d want somebody to remember me.”

Civil War veterans were saluted Saturday morning by members of the Sons of Union Veterans with ceremonies that included readings, a rifle salute and with Taps.

Congresswoman Deborah Pryce was the featured speaker at a Memorial Day ceremony Monday morning at Green Lawn. In her remarks she remembered Ohioans who served in the Civil War and more recent veterans.

“During the American Civil War Ohio was third only to the more populous states of New York and Pennsylvania in the number of men proudly serving,” Pryce said. “During World War 2, roughly 839,000 Ohioans – 12 percent of the state’s entire population in 1940, served in the armed forces during that conflict. And more than 23,000 of them died or were missing in action by the war’s conclusion.”

Pryce, a Republican, was the featured speaker in the program that was sponsored by the American Legion, the Franklin County Veterans Service Commission and Green Lawn Cemetery.

“We pause to honor those brave service men and women who dedicated their lives to the freedom of others; for our freedoms. From the Revolutionary war to today’s heroes in the war on terror, Memorial Day is America’s sacrosanct remembrance of men and women who perished in our struggles to defend our nation and to preserve freedom all around the world. And it’s truly appropriate that we are here to honor them,” Pryce said.

At the close of the ceremony, the 2nd Brigade Honor Guard and Firing Party, commanded by Col. John Fair, gave the deceased a 21-gun salute.