Republican Sen. George Voinovich is up for a second term in 2004. The popular former governor has dominated Ohio politics for the last 13 years.

Voinovich will face Democratic State Rep. Eric Fingerhut, a state senator from Cleveland since 1998 and former Congressman.

Speculation surfaced in the summer of 2003 that television talk show host Jerry Springer would run against Voinovich. But Springer, a Democrat who served as mayor of Cincinnati from 1978-81, said his message would be overshadowed by his show.

Democrats are hoping to increase their office-holdings in the state by recruiting and grooming candidates for races at all levels. Republicans hold Ohio's governorship, state Legislature, all statewide offices, both U.S. Senate seats and 12 of 18 U.S. House seats.

This year, all congressional Republicans have a competitor for the November election.

Democratic mayors now run the six largest cities in Ohio: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Akron and Dayton.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, won his party's primary for his Congressional seat from Cleveland. Edward Fitzpatrick Herman beat three other Republicans for the right to challenge him.

In the Legislature, Terry Anderson, former chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press who was held hostage for nearly seven years in Lebanon, will run as a Democrat for a state Senate seat. He faces an uphill battle in the fall against incumbent Joy Padgett in the reliably Republican district near Athens.

In the 2002 elections, GOP Governor Bob Taft, great-grandson of President Taft, beat Democrat Tim Hagan. Ohio became the first state to have a black female lieutenant governor, Jennette Bradley.

In the House races, Democrat Tim Ryan cruised past Republican Ann Womer Benjamin and his former boss, former Rep. James Traficant, who ran from prison as an Independent. Traficant was expelled from the House in July 2002 after his conviction for taking kickbacks. In the fall of 2003, Traficant's supporters, who had formed a presidential exploratory committee for the ousted Democrat, announced they would end their hopes of a presidential bid because of lack of support.