The Ohio Chamber of Commerce is endorsing the Republican slate in state House and Senate races.

The Chamber's endorsement list includes state Sen. Gary Cates, state Rep. Courtney Combs from Hamilton, state Rep. Bill Coley from West Chester Twp. and Tim Derickson, candidate for the state House in Middletown.

In the March primary, Hanover Twp. Trustee Tim Derickson narrowly defeated Middletown accountant and former Middletown City Council member Paul Nenni for the Republican nomination to run for the Ohio House seat now held by Rep. Shawn Webster, R-Hanover Twp., who cannot run for re-election because of term limits.

A third Republican candidate in that heated primary, attorney Terri King, attracted enough votes that elections officials needed weeks to figure out whether Derickson or Nenni was the official winner. With a final winning margin of 54 votes (out of 12,030 votes cast in the primary race), Derickson won the right to be his party's nominee in the 53rd Ohio House District contest on Nov. 4.

Butler County — In the race to replace term-limited State Rep. Shawn Webster for the 53rd Ohio House seat, both Republican candidate Tim Derickson and his Democratic opponent Rocky Day cited the same issues that will be on the minds of voters.

Derickson, 48, a local businessman and Hanover Twp. trustee who battled two other opponents for the GOP nomination in the primary, said "you don't need to look beyond the district to see how the economy is affecting jobs in general."

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 22 -- The Ohio Nurses Association Political Contributing Entity (ONA-PCE) has endorsed the following candidates for the November 2008 General Election.

 "These ONA-endorsed candidates for the Ohio General Assembly have demonstrated support for nurses and their healthcare concerns for the public," said Aimee Vance, RN, Chair of ONA-PCE. "We are pleased to be able to urge nurses and others to vote for them on November 4th," Vance said.