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Two deaths in Congress earlier this year have left open two Republican seats that will be filled in Dec. 11 special elections — one in Ohio and one in Virginia. Ed Morrissey of Heading Right Radio interviewed both GOP candidates this week.

Ohio state Rep. Bob Latta is running to fill the 1st District seat left open by the death of Rep. Paul Gillmor. Twenty years ago, Latta ran for that seat when his father retired after 30 years in Congress but lost the primary by 27 votes to Gillmor. Latta has served in the legislature since then but will be term-limited out of office this year.

“Unfortunately, term limits does not add stability to the system,” Latta said in a recorded interview when quizzed about that subject. “We lose a lot of folks that have great knowledge in certain areas … in the legislature.”

Morrissey also interviewed Rob Wittmann, who is running to replace Jo Ann Davis in Virginia’s 1st District.

Producer’s note: Through a partnership with BlogTalkRadio, AirCongress is promoting federal policy and political content produced by the company’s Internet-based talk-show hosts.

Categories: Politics, Government Reform, Bob Latta, Paul Gillmor, BlogTalkRadio, Jo Ann Davis

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Republican State Sen. Bob Latta of Ohio is billing himself as a “true conservative” in his bid to replace the late-Rep. Paul Gillmor in Congress, who died in office this year.

But the Club For Growth sees things a bit differently. Its test of conservatism is based in economics, and as far as the club is concerned, Latta failed when he “voted to slap Ohio taxpayers with astronomically high sales and business taxes” back in 2003 as part of a budget plan by then-Gov. Robert Taft.

The club prefers Steve Buehrer, the GOP rival of “tax-and-spend Latta,” and is footing the bill for an advertisement to draw a distinction between the two as the Nov. 6 Republican primary nears.

Categories: Ohio, Taxes, AdWatch, Special Elections, Bob Latta, Steve Buehrer, Paul Gillmor

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