DeWine running for judge, Hartmann for commission

Commissioner Pat DeWine announced he will not seek re-election to county commission. Instead, he's setting his sights on a Common Pleas Court judgeship. We have the story here.

DeWine says he is changing his political path for "personal and professional" reasons. Read his statement here.

Now, Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann is expected to run on the Republican ticket for DeWine's commission seat and former Senator Patricia Clancy, also a Republican, will take a shot at the Hartmann's clerk of courts seat.

The Democrats say the Republicans decided to play "musical chairs" with the race because DeWine's polling was bad. The GOP disagrees, claiming DeWine would have been easily re-elected.

Now, though, the Democrats have about a day and a half to figure out who to run against DeWine, Hartmann and Clancy in light of this shake up. They still plan to put Democrat Greg Harris, fresh off an unsuccessful City Council bid, up for the county commission seat.

Here's what Harris had to say about the shake up and the upcoming race:

"This musical chairs may be understandable. Its politics, but Greg Hartmann is going to have to make a more compelling case," he said. "I’m going to put out some pretty strong policy statements on how we can reinvent county government and revolutionize public safety in the county and create a workforce education guarantee for every citizen in aHamilton County and not only how to do it but how to fund it where to get the money. I’m going to offer a pretty compelling vision for Hamilton County going into the 21st century and invite (Hartmann) to present his own vision It's not just going to be about Republican musical chairs, but you’ve got to put ideas on the table and I look forward to doing it."

Hartmann is holding an 11 a.m. press conference to announce his candidacy.