Schmidt's Top GOP Challenger Drops Out Of Race

Former GOP Hamilton County commissioner Phil Heimlich, who was mounting a serious challenge to Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) in the March primary, today announced he was withdrawing from the race.

Heimlich cited the fact that his home county’s Republican party committee recently endorsed Schmidt for re-election as the primary reason for his withdrawal.

“In light of the outcome of the Hamilton County endorsement, and with the late entry of Tom Brinkman into the race, I am announcing today the end of my candidacy for Congress,” Heimlich said in a statement.

His decision will give a significant boost to Schmidt’s chances of winning her party’s nomination.

Heimlich had put together a well-organized campaign, and had banked more campaign cash than Schmidt at the end of the last fundraising quarter. He had been in good position to draw a significant share of the vote from Hamilton County, the largest county in the district and his political base.

Schmidt’s campaign recently released an internal poll, showing her leading Heimlich by a 52 to 31 percent margin. A third candidate, state Rep. Tom Brinkman, was in third with 9 percent.

With only one anti-Schmidt candidate remaining in the race, Brinkman could potentially benefit from Heimlich’s withdrawal. But with a fundraising disadvantage and a poor showing in Schmidt’s internal poll, it appears that Brinkman will have a difficult time unseating Schmidt in the primary.

For his part, Heimlich took a pointed shot at Brinkman in his withdrawal announcement, which sounded like an implicit endorsement of Schmidt.