Columbus Dispatch: Libertarian Candidate Puts GOP on Edge

By Jim Siegel

The fact that Chad Monnin is chatting in his second-story campaign office in Gahanna is a sign that the 19th Ohio House District race will be anything but typical this year.

For most legislative candidates, including incumbents, a campaign office is often little more than a cluttered dining room or basement. For Monnin, his multiroom suite on Granville Street is just his Gahanna office. He has another one in Westerville. He also has five paid staffers — four or five more than most legislative campaigns.

“I’m in it to win it,” said Monnin, a businessman from New Albany who has already put more than $100,000 of his own money into his campaign and plans to spend $250,000 before it’s over.

“I believe anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

Perhaps never before has an Ohio legislative incumbent faced such a well-funded challenge from a Libertarian. Monnin said he has resisted pressure from GOP leaders to drop out of the race, including, he said, an offer of close access to the man who could be Ohio’s next House speaker.

Read the full article here.

Thanks to Kevin Knedler for the link.