MOUNT VERNON — Freshman Democratic Congressman Zack Space of Dover is defending his seat as representative of the 18th Ohio Congressional District against Mount Vernon’s own Fred Dailey, a Republican newcomer to elected office who nonetheless has decades of experience moving in political circles as director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture and other high-ranking organizations.
“The 18th District is a sprawling, rural district,” Dailey said in a telephone interview earlier this week between campaign runs. “I’m a product of eastern Ohio, I share the values of the people in this district.”
Dailey said that the district is a predominantly Republican one which the party only lost because former Republican Rep. Bob Ney abused the public trust. After Ney withdrew from the 2006 campaign, Space defeated Republican Joy Padgett.
Dailey derided Space as liberal Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “favorite freshman.”
Space chuckled when reached on the road between campaign stops.
“I don’t answer to Nancy Pelosi,” Space said. “Look at my record, not rhetoric.” He cited the “National Journal” ranking of all the members of Congress from most liberal to most conservative. This ranking placed Space close to the center of the political spectrum. Space said that the problem with Dailey is that his opponent embraces the policies of George W. Bush and former Ohio Republican Gov. Bob Taft, such as NAFTA and other trade agreements which Space said should be renegotiated because they have drained the district of manufacturing jobs.
Dailey charged that Space has not lived up to his much-touted pledge of not accepting funding from lobbyists and special-interest groups. Space denied the charge, saying that he had not accepted any funds from special interests and that his pledge was the most restrictive one in Congress. He added that it was ironic that Dailey would make any comments at all about upholding such a pledge when Dailey himself does not have any such pledge and does accept money from special interests.
Space said that he is pursuing re-election in hopes of continuing projects he has been working on, such as the Renew OH-18, a program which aims to systematically identify, support and develop areas such as energy, health care, technology and agriculture in the district. Both candidates have spoken in favor of developing clean coal technology which would help the coal-mining sections of the district by making their natural resources more lucrative than they currently are. Both candidates also advocate offshore oil-drilling and additional domestic exploration, a position that national Democratic leadership has only more recently embraced.
“He and Barack Obama are cut from the same broad cloth,” Dailey said, comparing Space to the Democratic candidate for president. “I don’t think he’s the sort of person people of the 18th District want.” Dailey pointed out that Space voted in favor of the $700 billion emergency financial rescue package recently passed by Congress. Dailey said that when these costs are combined with current taxes, entitlements and debts, the burden on every household in the United States is $450,000. He said that pork-barrel spending is a form of governance that is unsustainable and makes the U.S. financially dependent on China.
Dailey describes himself as an avid hunter and supporter of Second Amendment rights, though Space, who also supports the right to bear arms, won the coveted endorsement of the National Rifle Association. Dailey has endorsements from National Right to Life and the Ohio Right to Life Political Action Committee.
Space attended Kenyon College and received All-American honors while playing football for the Kenyon Lords. He has a law degree from OSU, and served in private practice with his father in eastern Ohio for 20 years before successfully running for Congress in 2006. He also served a number of years as law director of the city of Dover.
“I want to continue forward with the work I’ve begun, and I hope the voters of the 18th District will allow me to do that,” Space said.
Dailey was director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture from 1991 to 2006. The longest-serving director in the history of the state, he was appointed by then-Governor, now-Senator George Voinovich (R). Dailey has degrees from Anderson University and Ball State University (graduating summa cum laude), and has also worked as a sky marshal, director of the Indiana Division of Agriculture, executive vice-president of the Ohio Beef Council and executive secretary of the Ohio Cattlemen’s Council. The Vietnam veteran also served as advisor to the Bush-Cheney administration’s agricultural transition team and as chairman of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation.
“I’ve worked hard all my life to give my family a better life and I look forward to working with the people of the 18th District,” Dailey said.
