Super Tuesday won't just settle the feud between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, but it could determine who leads the Republican Party in Ohio.
A meeting Friday of Republican central committee members could set the stage for a showdown between Gov. John Kasich and Ohio GOP chairman Kevin DeWine.
What should be a united meeting in a major presidential election year could expose the level of infighting eating away now at the state GOP.
DeWine wants to keep his job during this critical presidential election year. Kasich and his team want DeWine gone, reported ONN's Jim Heath.
Committee members will decide if they'll endorse incumbent members and, if so, whether they'll provide financial contributions.
None of this is unusual, and it's been done in the past. But because most incumbents support DeWine, the Kasich team is trying to stop it.
A vote that will be unusual on Friday is whether central committee members should be required to have voted in three consecutive Republican primary elections.
If that rule change is approved, and according to sources that's a big "if", anywhere from 5 to 10 of the Kasich candidates could be ineligible.
State Democratic leaders are enjoying the rift on the Republican side. Less than two years ago, Republicans under the chairmanship of DeWine, swept every statewide office.
Kasich often tells reporters and audiences that he's not interested in politics. Strategists, however, in both parties agree privately that this is a brutal grassroot political war initiated by Kasich.
There are 66 votes on the central committee, two members from each of the 33 districts. Both teams are fielding candidates in most of the districts.
Kasich's team is even challenging DeWine in the 10th District. Challenger Michael Boerger is a Madison County commissioner, reported Heath.
Sources told ONN-TV that if the Kasich group picks up a majority on the central committee on March 6, there could be a call to remove DeWine as early as the next day.
Nothing in the Ohio Republican Party bylaws prohibit a call for such a vote. DeWine was reelected chairman in January, 2011.
With Ohio potentially holding the electoral votes that will determine the next president, a major shakeup in the state GOP is viewed as an unexpected bonus for Democrats and the Obama reelection effort.
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