Jones for Lieutenant Governor?

Democratic gubernatoral candidate Ted Strickland has endorsements from 26 county party organizations around Ohio, but he picked up an endorsement Thursday from a single Ohio Democrat that might carry more weight than all of those counties put together.

Two Cuyahoga County commissioners - Tim Hagan and Peter Lawson Jones - said Thursday they are backing Strickland's bid to become the Democratic nominee for governor, a dual endorsement that can't be good news for fellow Democrat and Cleveland area state senator Eric Fingerhut, who is expected to announce his gubernatorial run next week.

Having an endorsement from Hagan is a good thing for Strickland - he is a popular Cleveland politician and, after all, one of every four Democratic voters in Ohio lives in Cuyahoga County.

But picking up the backing of Jones, a former state legislator and well-known African-American urban Democrat may be even more help for a candidate like Strickland, a small-town, southern Ohio politician who is little known among black voters in Ohio's largest cities.

Jones may end up offering more to the Strickland campaign than just an endorsement. Many Ohio Democrats believe that if Strickland is the party's candidate for governor next fall, he will need a black running mate - someone who can gin up some enthusiasm among black voters, particularly if Republican primary voters make Ken Blackwell Ohio's first African-American gubernatorial candidate.

Jones has running mate experience. Back in 1994, when Republican governor George Voinovich was running for re-election, most Ohio Democratic politicians fled for their lives when the Democrats' unknown and under-funded gubernatorial candidate, Rob Burch, approached them about becoming his running mate.

But Jones accepted the offer; and campaigned like a good soldier in what turned out to be one lop-sided gubernatorial contests in Ohio history.

Jones may well want to try it again - this time with a candidate at the top of the ticket who actually has a chance of winning.