Ohioan to lead state GOP

The political director of the Ohio Republican Party has been selected to lead the Republican Party of Virginia, officials of the state GOP announced yesterday.

Shane Ostrowski, 32, has been named executive director of the state party and is expected to lead grass-roots efforts to re-elect President Bush and win congressional seats for Republicans this year. One of his goals is to unite Republicans in the metropolitan and rural areas across the state, he said.

“You have to bring them all together for victory,” Mr. Ostrowski said yesterday. “I will help to do that and get people involved at the local level.”

Mr. Ostrowski replaces Aaron Leibowitz, who resigned at the end of last year after 18 months to join a political direct-mail firm in the District.

Mr. Leibowitz had replaced Edmund A. Matricardi III, who resigned in 2002 after he was charged in an eavesdropping scandal. Matricardi pleaded guilty to illegal wiretapping, admitting that he secretly listened to a Democratic Party conference call, recorded it and later reported the contents to others.

Mr. Ostrowski, who begins his new job on Monday, was political director for the Ohio Republican Party for the past three years and has been with the state group since 1996. He also directed the youth movement for the Dole-Kemp presidential campaign that year.

In 2002, Mr. Ostrowski was credited with helping Ohio Republicans gain seats at every level of government, from the state Supreme Court to county offices, while maintaining control of every statewide office.

“I don’t like to lose,” Mr. Ostrowski said.

He was born and raised in Bowling Green, Ohio. In 1993, Mr. Ostrowski ran and lost by 42 votes for a City Council seat there.

That’s as far as his political aspirations go, although politics has been at the center of Mr. Ostrowski’s life from an early age. Bowling Green had a “great” conservative base, he said, noting that his mother is a staunch Democrat and his father is a Republican.

Virginia GOP Chairwoman Kate Obenshain Griffin said she and a search committee chose Mr. Ostrowski from a pool of nearly a half dozen candidates. They chose Mr. Ostrowski for his experience and his work at the grass-roots level.

“Ohio’s is one of biggest parties in the country, and he’ll be able to hit the ground running in the very areas we need to be focusing on,” Mrs. Griffin said. “His strengths meet our needs for the coming year. People all over the country all have great things to say about him.”

Party spokesman Shawn Smith declined to disclose Mr. Ostrowski’s salary.

Ohio politics are dominated by Republicans, but the state is considered slightly more liberal than Virginia, which has a smaller population. Virginia has about 8 million residents, and Ohio has about 11.5 million, according to the most recent Census figures.

Some conservative Republicans have criticized second-term Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, for raising taxes, and Lt. Gov. Jennette Bradley, also a Republican, for supporting abortion rights.

The Ohio General Assembly is dominated by the GOP. Sixty-three of the 99 delegates and 22 of the 33 senators are Republicans.

In Virginia, Republicans hold a 23-17 majority in the Senate and a 64-34 majority in the House, where there are two independents.

Virginia’s Republican leaders said yesterday they aren’t worried about Mr. Ostrowski coming from a more liberal state.

House Speaker William J. Howell, Fredericksburg Republican, said that the state’s GOP is a diverse group and that he looks forward to working with Mr. Ostrowski.

“He sounds like he’s very capable. He isn’t going to be hired if he’s a Howard Dean Democrat,” Mr. Howell said.

Delegate Robert G. Marshall, Manassas Republican, said he doesn’t see much of a difference between Virginia residents and Ohio residents. “They’re Americans,” he said. “If [Mr. Ostrowski] is qualified, I don’t care what state he’s from.”

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert T. Bennett said he was impressed with Mr. Ostrowski from the moment he met him. Mr. Bennett said if Mr. Ostrowski would have stuck it out in Ohio, he surely would have become executive director there someday.

“Shane doesn’t get flustered very easy. He kept things running smoothly,” Mr. Bennett said. “They are getting a great individual in Shane Ostrowski.”

Mr. Ostrowski said he considered taking a similar position with Maryland’s Republican Party, but never applied for the job.