Petro wants court, not Congress

The Associated Press reports:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, prominent among potential contenders for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Rep. Deborah Pryce next year, says he would prefer to lead the Ohio Supreme Court.

Petro, 58, the state’s top lawyer from 2002 to 2006, said he would need to rule out a position on the court before he would pursue Pryce’s seat.

“Certainly, if I don’t run for Congress, one of the reasons I would’ve made that decision is because I’m thinking of other opportunities, and the Supreme Court in 2010 would be one of them,” he said.

“I look down the road and think about courts,” said Petro, who lost the Republican gubernatorial nomination last year to then-Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, the longest-serving chief in the country, will be forced from the job in 2010 because he will be over the age limit of 70.

His departure will leave open the most coveted judicial post in the state, and already other justices are positioning themselves to run.

Justices Maureen O’Connor and Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, both up for re-election in 2008, have both been named as potential candidates. O’Connor said this week that she hasn’t ruled out a run for chief. Stratton, meanwhile, said a recent family illness has caused her to question whether she could mount two campaigns in two years.

Justice Paul Pfeifer, like O’Connor and Stratton a Republican, could also seek the top post. He is up for re-election in 2010. Some observers have suggested Pfeifer, a frequent and outspoken dissenter on the court, might even consider switching parties in a run for chief.

But Pfeifer said he has not advanced his own name for the job: “Folks tell me my name is mentioned, but it isn’t me promoting it.”

If a sitting member of the court becomes chief justice in 2010, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland would appoint a justice to fill the vacancy that was created. All seven sitting justices are Republicans.

Petro, now a lawyer in private practice, said Thursday that he’s been approached by Republican leaders, including Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, about running to replace Pryce in the 15th District in central Ohio, one of the most competitive districts in the country. He said he would decide whether to get back into politics within two weeks.

Pryce, who faced the toughest race of her career in 2006, said Thursday she would not seek a ninth term.

Democrats are backing Mary Jo Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner who narrowly lost to Pryce last year, to run for the open seat in 2008.
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