Appeals to the Christian right in state gubernatorial races seems to be producing mixed results. Yesterday in Ohio, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a favorite of Ohio's "Patriot Pastors", won the Republican primary, defeating Attorney General Jim Petro, who had also made appeals to religion in his campaign ads. On the Democratic side, voters nominated Ted Strickland to run for governor. Currently a member of Congress, Strickland is an ordained Methodist minister. Today's Columbus Dispatch reported on the primary results.
Meanwhile, in Alabama, former state chief justice Roy Moore who is running in the Republican gubernatorial primary on June 6, is trailing his primary opponent, Gov. Bob Riley, by a 2-1 margin according to today's Washington Post. Moore achieved the status of a hero among the Christian right after his defense of a 10 Commandments monument he placed in the rotunda of the state judicial building in 2001. Riley, however, has not ignored the religious issue. He holds weekly Bible study classes with his staff.
