Under fire, Schmidt will swear in Ghiz

Councilwoman-elect Leslie Ghiz (left) and Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. (Photos by Tara Bricking Carvalho and Michael E. Keating/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt has been trying to keep a somewhat low profile after her remarks on the floor of the house caused a national uproar last week.

But next Thursday, she'll make an appearance in Cincinnati City Council chambers, where they have a word for the kind of ruckus that happened in Congress last week. They call it "Wednesday."

Schmidt will swear in Councilwoman-elect Leslie Ghiz, a Hyde Park Republican who said she considers Schmidt a political mentor.

"I'm sure I'’m going to catch 10 kinds of hell, but since when have I started worrying about that?" Ghiz said. "She's a good person. She's a female Republican. We have to support each other."

Schmidt might need that support if there's a Republican primary for her congressional seat next year. The night of her election victory, former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwen-- one of Schmidt's opponents in a special primary in June -- showed up uninvited at Ghiz's victory party at Andy's Mediterranean Grille in Walnut Hills.

That's a move that can only be interpreted as laying the groundwork for another 2nd district congressional run, said former GOP Vice Chairman Charles H. "Chip" Gerhardt III.