We interrupt this election for a special announcement: There was indeed a primary in Ohio's U.S. Senate race. Now, back to your regularly scheduled high-stakes match-up between Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown.

Mr. DeWine, a two-term Republican incumbent from Cedarville, and Mr. Brown, a seven-term Democratic congressman from Avon, cruised through their respective primary races to formalize a general election that national analysts expect will be one of a handful that will decide control of the Senate.

...Mr. Brown said he planned to "talk about the corruption and the ineptitude of the Bush-Taft-DeWine government, and I also will talk about what we'll do differently" on health care, jobs, energy, and the Iraq war.

If there is one state that is most responsible for President Bush's re-election victory in 2004, it is Ohio. The Buckeye State went for Bush over John Kerry by 118,000 votes, and its 20 electoral votes are credited with putting the president over the top.

Now, if there is any state that symbolizes the fall in fortunes for the Republican Party, it is Ohio. Gov. Bob Taft may have the lowest favorability ratings of any governor in the country. Last year, he pleaded no contest to criminal misdemeanor charges regarding the acceptance of gifts. A top Ohio Republican fundraiser for the president, Tom Noe, is under a 53-count indictment, charged with embezzling millions of dollars in state investment funds

The scandals have turned Ohio, where Republicans have controlled the governorship for 16 consecutive years, into a very inviting target for the Democrats

...SENATE: Ever since DeWine decided to become one of the "Gang of 14" -- the 14 mostly centrist senators who worked out a compromise that averted a showdown over Bush's judicial nominees (the so-called "nuclear option) -- there has been talk that conservatives would take out their ire at DeWine by lining up behind a serious conservative challenger. No prominent opponent from the right stepped forward to take on DeWine, however, and the two-term Republican won 71 percent of the primary vote against two political unknowns.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-13) won about three-quarters of the vote against the owner of a trucking business. A far more serious primary challenger, Iraq war veteran and liberal activist Paul Hackett, withdrew from the race in February under pressure from party leaders.