Mike DeWine did keep his Lt. Governor pick a secret until he and Jim Tressel walked before cameras on Monday morning. To the surprise of everyone, he announced the former OSU football coach and former Youngstown State University president was his nominee to be his right-hand office holder.
Tressel stood beside him, dressed in a politician's dark blue suit and not his trademark red sweater vest. He admitted DeWine's request came out of the blue, and he was a bit out of his element.
Tressel was easily confirmed by the Ohio House and Senate.
Speculation was that DeWine would name someone from his cabinet or maybe a sitting state lawmaker to replace former Lt. Governor Jon Husted, but he went with the coach, who many called the "Senator" when he was answering, or should we say, failing to fully answer, reporters' questions when he was leading Ohio's most famous football team.
So seeing Jim Tressel enter the political ring has not been all that inconceivable. We just wonder if this is an interim gig or if Tressel has plans of his own.
Reporter David Skolnick of the Youngstown Vindicator joins the show.
Snollygoster of the week
Niraj Antani, the former state senator and unsuccessful congressional candidate, had announced he would run for Secretary of State. However, the current state treasurer, Robert Sprague, announced he would run for Secretary of State instead of governor. So, Antani dropped out of the Secretary of State's race and announced he is now running for state treasurer.
In doing so, he criticized current statewide Republicans for playing "musical chairs," just swapping roles because of term limits. If voters agree, Sprague would go from treasurer to Secretary of State, Keith Faber would go from auditor to attorney general, and Dave Yost would go from attorney general to governor.
Antani has a point, but for quickly swapping races when faced with a strong primary challenger, Niraj Antani gets our Snollygoster of the Week Award.
If you have a suggestion for our "Snollygoster of the Week" award, a question or a comment, send them to snollygoster@wosu.org.