July 28th, 2009 01:04 PM ET 5 years ago  Voinovich: The GOP's
'being taken over by Southerners'  Ohio Republican Sen. George
Voinovich is not running for re-election.  WASHINGTON (CNN) –
Republican Sen. George Voinovich, who is not running for re-
election next year, told a newspaper in his home state of Ohio
yesterday that Southerners bore a good share of the blame for
his party's lagging popularity.  "We got too many Jim DeMints
and Tom Coburns," Voinovich told the Columbus Dispatch Monday.
"It's the Southerners….  "They get on TV and go 'errrr,
errrrr,'" he said, according to the paper. "People hear them and
say, 'These people, they're Southerners. The party's being taken
over by Southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'"
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint have
been top targets for Democrats. Over the past few weeks, the
Democratic National Committee has released spots slamming
DeMint, including a tough ad that rips the senator for saying
defeat of the administration's