Local party leader recorded making threats to elected official

http://www.wkyc.com./news/news_article.aspx?storyid=49671

Local party leader recorded making threats to elected official


Created: 3/21/2006 6:50:13 PM
Updated:3/21/2006 7:11:39 PM


AKRON - ...

Alex Arshinkoff is president of the Summit County Republican Party, a member of the Board of Elections and most recently took charge of the gubernatorial campaign of Ken Blackwell.

Insiders say Arshinkoff even has a direct link to the White House.

But is he really a bully when it comes to doing business? Decide for yourself.

To view the full report, click on the video link

© 2006

WKYC-TV



Summit County's godfather of GOP
Alex Arshinkoff: adored, feared, effective

http://www.cleveland.com/summit/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/114302025883700.xml&coll=2

Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Michael O'Malley
Plain Dealer Reporter

President Bush called him the most effective county chairman in America, praise that a good number of Akron Republicans would merrily second with a hearty "Hear, hear!"

But behind the political scenes, whispers abound about Alex R. Arshinkoff, a mercurial firebrand who has maintained a tight grip on Republican money and patronage in Summit County for nearly 30 years.

To Democrats, the Summit County Republican Party chairman is the devil himself. To Republicans, he is a brilliant tactician, raising millions of dollars to battle Democrats in a Democratic-heavy county, though he is not without enemies in his own party as well.

Arshinkoff's critics liken him to Tammany Hall's Boss Tweed or television's Tony Soprano...


http://www.clevescene.com/issues/2003-06-11/news/feature.html

The Godfather In the Closet
The Republican boss of Summit County revels in crushing his enemies. Now his private life might crush him.

By Sarah Fenske
Article Published Jun 11, 2003


It was past 2 a.m. when the kid left the bar and headed for home. Back from college for Christmas, he'd met up with his high school buddies at Annabell's, a neighborhood watering hole in Akron. Frustrated for reasons that no longer seem important, the 21-year-old Kent State student had been too annoyed to wait for a ride.

It wasn't long before he wished he had. It had been a white Christmas. The ground was still blanketed, early that morning of December 27, 2002; the air, frigid. Maybe a stranger would give him a lift.

As the kid would later explain in an interview with Scene, he tried to flag down the first car he spotted, a souped-up Mitsubishi, neon underbelly aglow. It didn't stop. But when the new Audi behind it did, the kid got in.

The driver was a middle-aged white man. Dark hair, well dressed. He asked the kid how he was doing; the kid said OK, then offered a few dollars for gas. The man said not to worry...

That's a prerequisite for holding office in the party of "compassionate conservatism".