Mary Jo Kilroy, left, and Steve Stivers
Republican: Steve Stivers (State Senator)
Democrat: Mary Jo Kilroy (Franklin County Commisioner)
After a very competitive re-election campaign, Representative Deborah Pryce decided to retire in August of 2007, opening up another House seat in closely contested central Ohio. Pryce's 2006 opponent, Mary Jo Kilroy, is running again for the seat, but is being challenged by state senator Steve Stivers. Kilroy, already familiar to many voters in the district, has shown herself slightly stronger in fundraising than Stivers, and her campaign released an internal poll showing her up ten points. But Stivers' campaign believes those numbers only reflect Kilroy's currently higher name recognition, and that the final tally in November will be far different.
2004 Presidential Vote: Bush 50%, Kerry 50%
-James Downie and Marti Covington/Washington