Ohio Sen. Joy Padgett has spent the campaign for the 20th District blasting her Democratic opponent Terry Anderson for blaming America for the Sept. 11 attacks and attacking his voting record.
The candidates last appeared together at a debate in Marietta on Oct. 19, where Anderson read a statement denouncing a flier Padgett and the Ohio Republican Party made picturing him with a member of the Lebanese group Hezbollah -the same group that held him hostage for seven years.
The flier also portrayed Anderson as a liberal who blamed America for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Padgett, R-Coshocton, said terrorism is an important issue in the election and to the region. We are not exempt from the issue in Southeast Ohio
she said. We are on the target list.
Anderson called Padgett's actions despicable.
Her campaign tactics do voters a great disservice he said. I'm not soft on terrorism. How could I be? They locked me up for seven years.
Padgett, 57, also questioned Anderson's record in the voting booth.
Since registering in Athens County in 1998, Anderson has voted only in the 2000 general election and in the 2004 primary.
As I've said I did not vote in between
Anderson said. I was wrong -I know that.
Padgett, who earns $59,942 annually as a senator, was appointed to the seat in January after her predecessor James Karnes, R-St. Clairsville, took a job with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. She also served in the Ohio House from 1992 to 1999.
Padgett said her experience with the Coshocton-based business she and her husband own -Main Office Supply -and her five years in the Governor's Office of Appalachia have helped her to understand the economy of the area.
All economic development is local. It is the responsibility of the government to provide tools and resources to the community to encourage economic development, she said.
Anderson's plan for improving the region's economy calls for expanding the tourism industry, improving the area's technological infrastructure and bringing in more manufacturing jobs.
Padgett said Ohio needs to use its natural resources, such as coal and timber, and to encourage small business to help the state's economy shift from a heavy reliance on manufacturing.
Anderson, who has never run for a political office before, said his life experiences -having been a journalist, a veteran and a small-business owner -qualify him for the position.
There are people who believe that not having been a professional politician is a benefit in itself
he said.
At 57, Anderson now works as a horse rancher in Guysville, where he lives, and co-owns the Blue Gator, 63 N. Court St., and Skipper's Bar and Grill, 22 W. Union St.
The 20th District comprises half of Athens County and all of Belmont, Coshocton, Holmes, Monroe, Morgan, Muskigum, Noble and Washington counties -with some of the highest unemployment rates in the state.
As of September, Coshocton, Monroe, Morgan and Muskigum counties all had unemployment rates higher than 10 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Morgan County has the highest rate in Ohio -15.8 percent -while the statewide average is 5.7 percent.
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Chuck Bowen
