Toledo Blade - Republican Embraces Conservative Stances

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Toledo Blade - Republican Embraces Conservative Stances

BOWLING GREEN — State Rep. Bob Latta keeps the hours of a farmer. He wakes up at 5 a.m. and then jogs 3 miles.

His sneakers are whatever was cheapest at the store. Mr. Latta has almost no loyalty to brand names, other than those tied to Ronald Reagan or the Republican Party. The jog wards off the damage of chicken dinners, where a politician's body and ego can balloon to hazardous dimensions.

Mr. Latta, 51, still looks as slim as he was in 1988, when he tried to succeed his father, Delbert, in Congress.

But Bob Latta lost the 1988 Republican primary by 27 votes. He has been running for office, for himself, and, as he claims in interviews, for the people ever since.

"My philosophy has always been: Get out there; run your campaign; run as fast as you can, and don't look over your shoulder because they might be catching up," Mr. Latta says.

With the death of Rep. Paul Gillmor, who bested him in the 1988 primary, Mr. Latta has another shot at the U.S. House of Representatives. Opposing him in Tuesday's election is Democrat Robin Weirauch, a Napoleon resident who confidently embarked on this campaign after challenging Mr. Gillmor in 2004 and 2006.

It was almost a 20-year wait for Mr. Latta's second chance. During that time, he became a Wood County commissioner in 1993, a state senator in 1997, and a state representative in 2001. He also had two daughters with his wife Marcia, a fund-raiser for Bowling Green State University.

Their white brick home borders the Stone Ridge Golf Course in Bowling Green.

Inside the house are posters and maps from World War II, a hobby Mr. Latta maintains with an eBay account.

Fred Jackson was surprised when Mr. Latta, his best friend since childhood, researched the ships Mr. Jackson's father served in the South Pacific.

"That's something he didn't have to do," said Mr. Jackson, a project manager for Rudolph-Libbe. "He does things like that. He's big on sending out thank you notes, sincere thank you notes."

Ask Mr. Latta about his time in Columbus, he will discuss late nights delving into bills that took as long as 18 months to clear the legislature. Mr. Latta, a lawyer, is chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, in addition to having posts on the judiciary and alternative energy committees.

Elizabeth Bostdorff, a former legislative aide, remembers him as having a packed schedule because he insisted on looking through each piece of mail sent to his office.

For his legislative colleagues and their staffs, Mr. Latta has thrown five potluck dinners a year, usually to celebrate an upcoming holiday. They talked about anything other than politics at the dinners, Ms. Bostdorff said.

"He'd always bring in venison," she said. "He's a big hunter. I don't know if you've picked up on that."

But a single vote has made Mr. Latta a target for criticism in this congressional race. With the urging of then-Gov. Bob Taft and the Republican leadership, Mr. Latta voted to raise the state sales tax in 2003.

Mrs. Weirauch labeled it the "largest tax increase in Ohio history." So did State Sen. Steve Buehrer (R., Delta), who challenged Mr. Latta in a ruthless primary that ended with wrist slaps given to both candidates by the Ohio Elections Commission.

In the primary campaign, Mr. Latta's sales-tax vote became a blot on the reputation he had cultivated as a conservative who favored low taxes, limited government, and pro-life values.

He has defended the vote by saying that economic troubles and an order by the Ohio Supreme Court to fund public schools left him with no other real options.

Criticism about the vote forced Mr. Latta to look over his shoulder during the primary campaign. He usually refrains from mentioning his opponent, but in this case he released a series of equally negative ads about Mr. Buehrer.

Amid the tension, Mr. Latta talked about the movie Kelly's Heroes, in which Clint Eastwood leads a pack of GI misfits behind enemy lines to steal $16 million in Nazi gold. One line really makes him chuckle. Sometimes after a frustrating day, he cues up the video just to watch it.

"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?" asks Sergeant Oddball, played by Donald Sutherland. "Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?"

Mr. Sutherland is sunning himself when he delivers the line, but, for Mr. Latta's purpose, he might as well be running.

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