A challenger for Wulsin?

The Jean Schmidt-Victoria Wulsin rematch in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District may not be a sure thing.

Schmidt picked up a Republican primary challenger last week in the form of Phil Heimlich, who became unemployed last fall when David Pepper up-ended him in the Hamilton County commissioner's race.

Now Wulsin, who came within a hair of an improbable upset win in the tradtionally Republican 2nd District last fall, may soon have yet another primary opponent.

Steve Black - lawyer at Graydon, Head & Ritchey and son of retired federal appeals court judge Robert L. Black - has been making the rounds among Democratic leaders in the seven-county district and is on the verge of announcing his candidacy.

Monday, he was out in Eastgate, working the crowd of Democrats who had gathered to greet Gov. Ted Strickland, who had come for a roundtable discussion of child health care. All he would say Monday was that he'll make an annoucement later this week.

Wulsin was going to have a primary anyway - Jeff Sinnard, the civil engineer and stay-at-home dad from Anderson Township says he is running - but Sinnard has run in the basement the last two times around and doesn't have two nickels to rub together.

Black, on the other hand, poses a different set of problems for Wulsin. He, like Wulsin, is from Indian Hill; and he, like her, can probably tap into some considerable money.

Black has one more thing that Wulsin might end up wishing she still had - Wulsin's 2006 campaign manager, Mary Huttlinger, who signed on to run Black's campaign.