State Sen. Steve Stivers (R) has been endorsed by Vets for Freedom in his campaign for the open seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce (R). Stivers serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard.

“Steve recognizes and acknowledges the success of our current military strategy implemented by General [David] Petraeus, and has been a steadfast source of support of all the men and women who are fighting courageously and winning the Global War on Terror,” Vets for Freedom Executive Director Pete Hegseth said in a statement. “Our country needs more people like Steve in Congress.”

Stivers will likely face 2006 Democratic nominee and Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy this November, though he must first win today’s GOP primary against little-known Ohio State University professor Robert Wagner.

Kilroy ran against Pryce in 2006 in the Columbus district that the Republican Congresswoman has held for eight terms, losing by a little more than 1,000 votes. Pryce announced her retirement in August 2007.
— Shira Toeplitz