Two Christian Evangelists aim to take over the state's Republican Party

Bill Berkowitz
September 6, 2005

Ohio Players

Two Christian Evangelists aim to take over the state's Republican Party

Despite the subsequent controversy over widespread abnormalities on Election Day 2004, late in the evening of November 2, it was determined that Ohio voters had delivered the final dart to the heart of the presidential hopes of Democratic candidate, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

Now, Christian evangelical ministers in Ohio are teaming-up to form a network intent on building on their constituency's extensive contribution to both President Bush's victory and the passage of Issue 1 -- an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage -- and help Christian conservatives take over the state's Republican Party. The Reverend Rod Parsley and the Rev. Russell Johnson are two key players in an effort to wrest control of the GOP from so-called Party moderates. Their job has no doubt been made easier by the fact that Republican Party officials have been enmeshed in a series of political scandals that even includes the state's Republican Governor, Bob Taft. (For more on the governor's troubles, see, MoveOnTaft.org, a website recently jointly established by the conservative American Policy Roundtable and the liberal Ohio Citizen Action).