Dispatch: Anti-gun Montgomery to quit governor’s race; campaign for Atty Gen

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that State Auditor Betty Montgomery, who has voiced her personal opposition to an Ohio law which allows law-abiding citizens to bear arms for self-defense, will announce later today that she will quit the Republican race for governor and announce her candidacy for attorney general.

The move comes less than three months after she told attendees at a central Ohio Republican banquet "Don’t let any of my opponents fool you — I’m in this race....Get comfortable with the fact that we’re going to have a primary fight...Pick a side." It is clear Betty now sees many have picked sides, and that the party faithful have chosen against the anti-gun candidate.

From the story:

Sources said Montgomery will announce her withdrawal from the governor's race this morning in Bowling Green during a press conference at the Wood County Courthouse, where she served eight years as county prosecutor beginning in 1981.

Mark R. Weaver, Montgomery's campaign spokesman, would not comment Monday night.

Although she could seek re-election [as State Auditor], Montgomery will opt to run for attorney general, a post she relished but had to give up in 2002 due to eight-year term limits. State Sen. Timothy J. Grendell, a Chesterland Republican, said Monday that he intended to stay in the race for attorney general. The third announced GOP candidate, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, said he was shocked by the news but that he plans to proceed with his campaign.

"I've been campaigning for nine months and I've been to 54 counties," Grendell said. "I'm running not because I need the job, but because I want the job."

Sen. Tim Grendell has twice-earned endorsements from this political action committee in legislative races. Endorsement decisions for both party primaries for the office of Attorney General will be announced soon.

The last time she was Ohio's attorney general, Montgomery fought to continue the state's ban on concealed carry, even as two courts and four judges found the law to be unconstitutional. As her excuse, she claimed that she was bound by her job requirements to defend the Constitution on the CCW matter. We're not sure which part she was defending - it certainly wasn't Article 1, Section 4.

During her 2002 campaign for State Auditor, she told Buckeye Firearms Association's Vice Chairman that she personally opposed concealed carry, and as the following stories will outline, there is ample evidence that Montgomery could do every bit as much harm in the office of Attorney General (administering Ohio's concealed carry law), as she could have done as governor.