2026 Ohio Governor's Race

  

No, the pair in the picture are not announcing a bid for governor and lieutenant governor of Ohio, USA, but it is a gubernatorial election year here, which means perhaps we can finally get rid of those stupid politician names on the welcome to Ohio highway signs.  It's been about 3 years since I ran a post about this issue on the blog (you can get caught up on the now-decade-long saga here).  Nothing good has happened in the meantime.  The funny cartoon I sent to my state rep and state senator at the time went unaddressed (both of them, Bride Rose Sweeney and Matt Dolan, kinda sucked anyway, so I wasn't surprised).  Ohio's lieutenant governor filled J. D. Vance's Senate seat, so they made the Ohio State football coach the new lieutenant governor (no, I'm not making this up--they seriously do this kind of dumb shit in Ohio--it's a bit embarrassing) and, of course, spent thousands of dollars probably to change the name on the highway signs.  Worse, Pennsylvania, probably fueled by that current governor's presidential hopes, stuck his name on welcome signs.

Sigh.  Well, let's see if any of the current candidates for governor will do away with the practice.  I'll keep you posted if I hear back from any of them.  Maybe I should hit up the new rep and senate candidates in my districts as well, but let's see how ambitious I feel this year.

If politics make you cry and you need a laugh, then read my latest novel!

Comic: No More Politician Names On Welcome Road Signs

The latest comic is a letter I sent to my state representative and state senator in hopes that Ohio can do away with wasting tax money sticking the governor's and lieutenant governor's names on the welcome to Ohio highway signs (for background, read here).   Click on the picture to make it bigger:

It will be nice to drive into Ohio and just see a welcome to Ohio sign that didn't need to be updated every few years just to tell us who the governor is.  Especially with inflation lately, it's important to spend taxpayer money wisely and not waste it on useless, vanity stuff such as making and installing a bunch of metal signs that don't need to be made.  Since DeWine's name is up there already, it can be left up there until he leaves office, and then the signs can be replaced one last time (some may be overlays that we can simply take off and not replace--even better).  It would be nice if legislation were not needed to fix this issue, but the executive branch doesn't seem to be able to restrain itself here.  I mailed the letters on April 1st since the whole situation is comedic, but I hope they don't think it's just an April Fools' joke and actually do get rid of those dang signs.

For more cranky old man ranting, read the novel Fast Guy Slows Down!

Governor's Names On Highway Signs Update For 2022 Ohio Gubernatorial General Election

 

Oof, this looks like it will be a rough election for governor in Ohio.  On the one side, we have the incumbent, DeWine, who combines the worst of blue and red states.  He panicked over the virus like a blue state governor and then wanted to prove how tough he was when his fellow Republicans ridiculed him for being a wimp and so he did stuff like force women to bury their aborted fetuses.

Dreadful.

Unfortunately, 2022 seems like an election cycle unfavorable to Democrats, so we'll probably be stuck with this turkey for another 4 years.  In any case, his name is already on the highway signs, so at least the state's taxpayers will be spared another useless expense of changing highway signs that shouldn't exist in the first place.

For some background, please check out some earlier posts on the subject:  https://www.wredfright.com/2022/04/governors-names-on-highway-signs-update.html and https://www.wredfright.com/2020/05/governors-names-on-highway-signs-update.html, but basically it's a waste of taxpayer money to stick governors' names on highway signs (ditto for mayors sticking their names on city road signs, but at least there the expense is less since there aren't as many signs).  

Of course, the Democratic candidate could win.

Just kidding.  I mean technically, she's on the ballot, and she probably has more chance than the 4 write-in candidates do (at least, one of whom is having fun), but unless DeWine starts humping a Donald Trump blow-up doll in the middle of a kindergarten class while telling the kids they all should have been aborted and that Trump should have been impeached, he isn't going to alienate enough Republican voters to clear the way for Nan Whaley, the Democrat, to win.  Her chief hope was that the patriot pastor candidate, Niel Petersen, would siphon off enough conservative votes to screw DeWine over, but Petersen didn't make the ballot (neither did independent candidate F. Patrick Cunnane, who liked to tell voters how smart he was but then was dumb enough to vote as a Republican in the primary election and thus disqualify himself from the ballot as an independent).  And I don't know what happened to the usual Libertarian and Green candidates.  Those parties seem to have become inactive if not defunct.  In any case, Whaley may be even worse than DeWine, and that's saying something.  For example, in this interview, she thinks it's a great idea to require kids to get the useless and dangerous Covid vaccine in order to attend school.  Meanwhile, in countries that actually have politicians who use their brains instead of just repeating what Big Pharma representatives tell them to say such as Denmark, they're banning the vaccine for anyone under 50.  I'm going to go out on the proverbial limb here and note that Danish anatomy does not differ from American anatomy, yet Whaley and most other Democratic politicians want to jab first graders with a harmful substance.

Sigh.  So we're down to two dreadful candidates.  I don't think I'd vote for Whaley even if she came out against sticking her name on highway signs, so I guess I should start emailing those write-in candidates to see which one can skip the ego trip and save the taxpayers some money.  Since none of them will win, maybe we can get the legislature to just ban the governor's name on highway signs practice during their crazy lameduck session after the election.

For more fun with politics, please read my latest novel, Fast Guy Slows Down!

Governor's Names On Highway Signs Update For 2022 Ohio Gubernatorial Primary Election

  

Over the years, I've always shook my head every time I drive into Ohio from Pennsylvania on I-80.  You see, driving into Pennsylvania, one gets greeted by a pleasant welcome to Pennsylvania sign, which has a motto of pursuing your happiness or something.  Then when I drive back into Ohio, the Ohio sign tells me whom the governor and lieutenant governor are.

I don't care.  Neither does any other motorist, I suspect.  It's just a waste of taxpayer money that provides free advertising for career politicians and appeals to their egos.  There's no reason for Ohio taxpayers to pay thousands of dollars for that.  Yet they do.  When last I checked, it cost $25,000 or so to do this nonsense (and that's not counting all the little mayors who emulate this practice and stick their names on the welcome signs for their cities--that also should be ended).  You can read an earlier post on the subject here (it also has links to earlier posts):  https://www.wredfright.com/2020/05/governors-names-on-highway-signs-update.html.  

Since it's another gubernatorial election year here in Ohio, I reached out to the candidates to see how they stood on the issue.  The results are dismal as usual, suggesting that Ohio will continue to be badly led whomever wins.  If candidates ignore voters at the time when they are most in need of voters, one knows they'll be ignoring the citizens while in office.  I had one candidate respond, and it was just the classic "Good point.  Let me think about that."  But, hey, that's light years ahead of everyone else.  For this election, I just focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates since the independent candidates can be dealt with in the summer or fall as the general election comes up (the deadline for them to register isn't even until the day before the primary election and none of the minor parties seem to be having a contest).  And, along those lines, why does the public have to pay for what are essentially intraparty elections?  The parties should pay for those elections on their own and not the taxpayers.  This article from last year has an interesting look at the issue:  https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/party-primaries-must-go/618428/.  The writer's solution is wrong, however.  One can dispense with the primary election entirely.  There's no reason for taxpayers to pay for dragging out the electoral process. 

So, first the Dems.  These cats essentially have no hope in Ohio in 2022, so they're running maybe to build name recognition for a Congressional seat down the road maybe or hoping the Repub nominee will run such a bad campaign that they can squeak in.  

First, there's John Cranley.  This dude at least had an email for contact on his website.  He didn't respond, of course, but that puts him ahead of his opponent, Nan Whaley, whom I had to contact via a YouTube comment.  Nan clearly doesn't care to hear from voters, so on that basis I have to hope that Cranley wins.  Given that Whaley's video only had 921 views on YouTube after being up for a month, you'd think she'd be excited to get any comment on it (personally, I'd be stoked about 921 views on one of my videos, but I'm not running for governor).  Both seem to be running terrible campaigns anyway.  I'm currently registered as a Democrat, and I don't think I've received a single piece of mail from either candidate.  Way to turn out the vote, guys!

That's fine.  I'll likely be registering as a Republican this time just to vote against DeWine, the current governor (I'm really an independent but if the parties are going to run their primary elections on the public dime, then they'll have to put up with people like me popping in and having my say on them), who combines the worst of blue and red since he panics about the virus just like the Dems and then has to prove how Repub he is by making women bury their abortion fetuses.  DeWine's name is up on the signs, so I didn't bother contacting him, assuming he is not going to be in favor of losing his taxpayer funded campaign signs.  Unfortunately, my guess is that DeWine will win again since he has so many primary opponents that the vote against him will be split and in 2022 it is unlikely for a Dem to win statewide in Ohio (or anywhere, given Biden's unpopularity).  So I contacted his three opponents.  Only Joe Blystone's campaign responded.  Even with the classic stall response, he still stands out as the best since he, you know, actually responded to a voter.  Jim Renacci probably has the best chance of unseating DeWine, but the tanned guy who looks like a used car salesman even had the wrong election date on the email he sent me (he threw me on his fundraising email list instead of responding to my question).  I replied to let them know to fix the date, but they didn't respond to that either.  Good luck, dude!  You'll need it.  In 2018, Cordray, who ended up being the Democratic nominee, also had simple dumb typo type stuff plaguing him (for example, the email address he had listed on his website was wrong) and ended up losing, so making elementary mistakes is usually a good way to lose.  The last Republican candidate, Ron Hood, also didn't respond.  I'm not even sure why he's in the race.  He appears to just be someone who likes to run for public office.  He's not even likely to be enough of a factor to split the vote.  Like the Dems, maybe he's just trying to improve his statewide recognition, so he can run for auditor down the road or something.

So from the primary perspective, things look grim for getting rid of those dang names on the highway signs.  Maybe Blystone will pull off a miracle and then pull off a bigger miracle by pulling off those signs.  Anyway, I'll try to check in with the candidates on the general election later this year, but if you want to help, then you can contact these boneheads as well (or even better your state rep. or city council person to band this practice in your state or city or, even better, both) and let them know we're tired of paying for inflating the egos of politicians.  Also, in the meantime, you know, I can't specifically encourage anyone to do the dangerous and illegal action of say replacing either DeWine's or Husted's name with that of Satan Tortilla (pictured above) or something, but I sure would have a smile on my face if next time I drive into Ohio on I-80, some graffiti artist had done just that.

Do you fantasize about pooping on the heads of egotistical politicians?  If so, you may want to seek some mental health help, or, better yet, read my latest novel, Fast Guy Slows Down, in which a character does just that!

Oh, and here's some soundtrack music for when you're asking the politicians to stop wasting out money:

Yeast? · Bloomsday

Last Week On The Stack

Last week on my Substack, I published two pieces.  The first was "Grop The Neanderthal Announces Bid For Senate" and the second was "How To Do A Hollywood Celebrity Twitter Account By Howard Ibe Trans, Social Media Consultant".  

Yes, since there is no equivalent now to the National Lampoon of the 1970s, I have to do it myself apparently.  It's been fun experimenting with The Stack.  More will come this week.  To get it emailed to you, just sign up here:  https://wredfright.substack.com/.  Half of the stuff is public, so it's free.  The other half you'll have to pay for, which is good because then that frees up time from work and gives me more time to write silly stuff for you, but you can subscribe for free and get the free stuff if you're having budget problems.  And, of course, as usual, the blog will be featuring stuff.  More music is coming up, with luck some more drinkdrankdrunk, probably another tale from the virus panic, and it is, of course, time for our quadrennial attempt to get those darn governors' names off the highway signs in Ohio.

If you need something to read while you're waiting, I suggest Fast Guy Slows Down!

Governors' Names On Highway Signs Update

Over the past decade, I've commented several times on a pet peeve of mine, which is politicians sticking their names on highway and other road signs paid by taxpayers (see the following posts:  2014A, 2014B, 2014C, 2014D, 2014E, 2018A, 2018B, and 2018C).  Basically, the politicians are trying to get free political advertising at taxpayer expense.  I suspect no motorist really cares whom the mayor of a city is or the governor of a state is, and if any of them do care, it certainly isn't worth the expense of the sign (for states, sticking a governor's name on a sign can run to thousands of dollars).  This should be an easy fix, right?

Nope.  Politicians keep doing this.  And if they don't, some gal or guy in the highway department or whatnot who wishes to suck up to her or his new boss does.  I had a small hope that Ohio USA would take the opportunity to not to do so when a new governor took office in 2019, but, nope, they did it again.  This time, they just made new highway signs overall at greater expense (possibly to camouflage the costs of putting on the new governor's and lieutenant governor's names since they didn't make new overlay signs just for that).  Unfortunately, at some point, someone will have to paint over those names when the officeholders change or they'll be back to the overlay signs, so nothing really changed.  Also, unfortunately, though Pennsylvania still has a good I-80 sign at the spot I typically pass, I did spot a turnpike sign with the governor's name on it last year.

All these politicians obsessed with quarantines ought to quarantine these type of highway signs.  A plain welcome to wherever sign will suffice.  We don't need to know whom the governor is.  Of course, given the disastrous decisions many of these governors have made overreacting to COVID-19, they may regret having their names up on these signs.

After all, some irate folks who have had their lives destroyed by the lockdowns may follow Elon Musk's advice about tarring and feathering the politicians who panicked about the virus and use the signs as a reminder of whom exactly to boil the oil for.

If the continued existence of these highway signs depress you as well, cheer up with my latest novel!

2018 Ohio Race For Governor

What a pleasure it was a couple of weeks ago to drive to Pennsylvania and see a welcome sign that just had the usual stupid state tourism slogan ("pursue your happiness" or some similar nonsense) and didn't provide free advertising for politicians.  This spring, when Ohio takes down the current governor/lieutenant governor highway overlay signs, we shall see if they get replaced by new signs with the names of the new officeholders on them.  Odds are, they probably will, for the vanity of politicians holds few limits.  I did seek out the candidates on Facebook to see where they stood on this small but easy issue.  Most ignored me, of course, but the Libertarian candidate said that he also thought it was a stupid waste of taxpayer money and was against it.  So, here's a shoutout to Travis Irvine for taking the right stance.  I was a little surprised the Greens didn't go anti governor's name on the welcome sign, as they did last election, but maybe they are just too disorganized this time to respond.  The Democrats ignored me, which was no different from their stance in the primary election.  At least, I could message them though.  For the Republicans, I was reduced to just posting a comment on one of their posts.  If this is any indication of how they will govern, then we can look forward to being ignored.  Unless, of course, we're a big campaign donor.  Politicians . . . sigh.

Update On Governor Highway Signs

In my seemingly nonstop Quixotic quest to get vain politicians to stop wasting taxpayer money by needlessly putting their names on highway signs, I thought I'd provide an update of the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial campaign.  At this point, I've emailed or called all the primary candidates that I could track down.

Of course, none of them have responded.

This is because:

a) politicians are vain and want their names on highway signs;

b) campaigns are busy;

c) they think I'm a crank;

or d) all of the above.

Ah, well, soon the primary will be over, and I can concentrate on fewer candidates.  Maybe then, I can email and call instead of one or the other.  My hope is, of course, some journalist or state representative will pick up the cause, and I can go back to just exclusively writing about silly stuff such as comic books and rock music.  Until then, the quest continues . . .

Here's what I have done so far.

Democratic Candidates

Dennis Kucinich/Tara Samples - Emailed/ No response

Analysis - I like Dennis, but he is undoubtedly an egomaniac, so I don't see him going for this, though, like all candidates, he should.

Bill O'Neill/Chantelle C. Lewis - Emailed/No response

Analysis - Given that O'Neill once printed all his campaign material in his own garage, I would have expected he would be all about saving money, but so far, it's crickets from Geauga County.

Paul E. Ray/Jerry Schroeder - Couldn't find any contact information

Analysis - If you run for governor, at least get a Go Daddy website or something.  Given this candidate has no chance, I didn't bother following up.

Joe Schiavoni/Stephanie Dodd - Emailed/No response

Analysis - If I were this guy from the Youngstown area, I would have held a press conference on I-80 in front of the Ohio border and pointed at Kasich's and Taylor's names on the sign and then the closed rest stop immediately after it and drawn the implication about misplaced budget priorities.  This guy is probably running just to get wider name recognition, but if you can't recognize the mileage you could get from a cheap political stunt like that, maybe you shouldn't bother running next time anyway.

Richard Cordray/Betty Sutton - The email bounced back, so I called and left a voicemail.

Analysis - This guy seems like he has pennypinching potential, but if you can't get your website email working, should I really trust you with running a state government?

Larry Ealy/Jeffrey Lynn -  See Ray/Schroeder above.  Supposedly, Ealy is a former male stripper.  He should have done a striptease by the Welcome to Ohio highway sign outside Cincinnati and said he would strip out unnecessary spending.

Green Party

Constance Gadell-Newton/Brett R. Joseph - Emailed/No response

Analysis - Given that she's running unopposed, maybe the campaign is on cruise control until the fall, but this was still a disappointment.  The previous Green Party candidate earned my vote by being the sole candidate to pledge to do away with the governor's name on the Welcome to Ohio highway signs.

Republican Party

Mike DeWine/Jon Husted - Emailed/No response

Analysis - Given the pissing match over who is most primitive going on right now, DeWine should have beaten up Taylor over this fiscal responsibility issue.  After all, her name is currently on the signs.

Mary Taylor/Nathan Estruth - Couldn't find any contact information.

Analysis - Given that Taylor's name is up on the signs currently, I didn't hold much hope here, but one would think she would have an email or phone number listed on her campaign site.  Apparently, you can give her money, but otherwise she doesn't want to hear from you.

It's 2018. Can We Finally Take The Stupid Signs With The Governor's and Lieutenant Governor's Names Off The Welocme To Ohio Highway Signs?

A few years back, I complained about Ohio sticking the names of the governor and lieutenant governor on the welcome to Ohio highway signs.  Upon further investigation, I found out that it cost about $25,000 for those signs.  Last time, only The Green Party candidates pledged to do away with that waste of money.  Well, it's 2018, so let's see if we can finally get rid of those signs.  I will be asking the various gubernatorial  campaigns if they will be doing away with this practice.  We'll see what they say!  I will keep you posted.

Christmas Wish Lists

Apparently, Ohio Governor John Kasich wants a balanced budget amendment in the U.S. Constitution.  Well, that may indeed be on his Christmas Wish List, but I suspect it's mainly just an opening gambit as he jockeys for position in the 2016 Republican primaries for President of the United States of America.  I found it a bit ironic.  Here's a dude who spends 25 grand of taxpayer money to stick his name on highway signs, and yet he tries to pretend to be a frugal public servant.  Well, if he were smart, then he'd ditch the names on the highway signs before some rival for the Republican nomination calls him on it.  Stopping that waste of taxpayer money would be grand.  I would love to not see those stupid overlay signs with the governor's and lieutenant governor's names on the "Welcome to Ohio" signs next year.  That's on my Christmas Wish List!

Cost Of Governor's And Lieutenant Governor's Names On Highway Signs In Ohio

I heard back from the Ohio Department Of Transportation (ODOT) about the cost for putting the governor's and lieutenant governor's names on the "Welcome To Ohio" highway signs.  Steve Faulkner wrote, "No new signs are installed. We simply place overlays on existing signs. Cost is about $25,000."  I assume by overlays, he means the little signs they stick on the big signs, which is what I meant, but these people know their sign terminology, I'm sure, so fair enough.  $25,000 is even more than I thought it would come in at.  I hope this tradition can be abandoned.  In a state budget of billions, 25 grand every four or eight years might not be much, but it's still money that could be better used for other purposes.  Like I wrote before, I'm fine with buying new letterhead and business cards for the new governor.  Highway signs or overlays, not so much.  Actually, not at all.

The Green Party Knows How To Save Taxpayer Green!

I heard back from the Green Party candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, Anita Rios and Bob Fitzrakis, about their policy on putting the names of the governor and lieutenant governor on the "Welcome to Ohio" highway signs.

They are against it.

Hooray!  Finally, some politicians with sense.

I asked, "If elected, will you be spending taxpayer money to put your names, like Kasich and Taylor do, on the 'Welcome to Ohio' highway signs?"

They replied, "No; but if someone's names [were] already on there, we would have to spend some money on getting that removed or replacing the signs.

Anita would issue an executive order stating that the practice of putting elected official[s]' names on signs should not be permitted as it is a frivolous waste of tax dollars for the sake of promoting politician[s]' names."

Yes, unfortunately, taking the signs off will cost money, but it has to be done sometime.  From the looks of them, the sign with the names can just get unscrewed from the main sign, but since I'm typically driving past the signs at 65 miles per hour, I can't say for sure.  In any case, it would be great to get the names off the signs as soon as possible and start a tradition of not having taxpayers shell out thousands of dollars every time the governor or lieutenant governor changes.

Well, I haven't heard from the other campaigns yet, but I know which candidates I'm voting for now!  I promised!

Updates! Updates! Updates!

With the end of summer, things get hectic, so, as you no doubt, noticed, blogging has slowed down.  So here is a speed round of updates.

1) I saw a rough cut of Monster Of Party Beach.  It was very funny.  Mark Justice told me that he filmed it for less than $200 or something.  I've seen Hollywood films made for millions that I have liked far less.  Fans of Ed Wood and films such as The Naked Gun will likely enjoy it.  My acting is horrible, but Mark seemed to enjoy it, so maybe you will as well.  I don't know when the first public showing is, but I will keep you posted.

2) I have doggedly (ok, a couple of emails a week probably doesn't count as "doggedly" but I don't see anyone else concerned about this issue, so I'm sticking with that as a fair description) been pursuing trying to turn putting the governor's name on highway signs into a campaign issue, but without much luck.  I emailed Melissa Ayers of the Ohio Department Of Transportation (ODOT) to find out how much it cost to put the governor's and the lieutenant governor's names on all the "Welcome to Ohio" signs.  From some articles that I've been able to dig up from Maryland and Pennsylvania, that work of political vanity seems to cost taxpayers between 9,000 and 12,000 dollars.  Ayers works in the communications department of ODOT, so I figured that she would know whom I should talk to in order to find out how much Ohio wastes on that (more would be my guess since the lieutenant governor's name goes up as well).  Unfortunately, she's on leave until Sept. 15th. (well, maybe fortunately for her; I know that I enjoy my time away from work), so I emailed Brian Cunningham of the same department as well, but he apparently is content to let Ayers handle it when she returns.  If I don't hear from them, then I will followup elsewhere in the department.  I also emailed the Democratic (Ed Fitzgerald and Sharen Neuhardt) and Green (Anita Rios and Bob Fitzrakis) Party gubernatorial campaigns, asking for their positions on the issue (I'm hoping for a pledge that the new governor will abandon the practice), but I didn't hear from them either.  That kind of hurt, especially since the Green Party campaign website is a Wordpress blog.  I mean I use Blogger, but then again I'm not running for governor of Ohio.  I didn't bother contacting the Republicans (John Kasich and Mary Taylor) since their names are up on the signs.  I'm assuming that they have no intention of taking down the signs.  But if a pledge can be gotten from one of the other campaigns, then maybe they will reconsider.  In fact, if you're really bored, email the campaigns and ask them to pledge that they will not put their names on the "Welcome to Ohio" signs (and in Kasich and Taylor's case that they will take them down).  This should be an easy issue that will unite people of most political persuasions, though I would love to hear some ridiculous counterargument for why motorists need to know who the governor is.  I also emailed Mike McIntyre of The Plain Dealer and WCPN in hopes that he was really hardup for story ideas.  Again, no dice.  I will keep plugging away and keep you posted.  In the meantime, I will make a campaign promise.  The first set of candidates who promise not to put their names up on the sign (or take them down) get my vote.

3) The talent show that I entered didn't go so well.  The website for the submission was buggy, so I emailed the organizers to make sure they had received my submission.  They assured me that if they didn't they would let me know, but I couldn't find my video among the ones up for a vote.  I kind of got the impression that they were disorganized, so I wasn't surprised.  By that point, my buddy Matt had already invited me to his birthday party, which was the same night as the show, so it worked out well.  Maybe next year!

4) I did play the Sam Ash open mic.  I'm supposed to get a $10 giftcard as a result, but it's a month later and it still hasn't arrived in the mail.  Seeing as they were also disorganized, I think I'll just skip playing there in the future, though the next time I go there, which frankly might be years from now, I'll try to remember to ask them about it.

Taxpayer Supported Campaign Ads?

When I used to drive to Pennsylvania on I-80, I would pass the welcome to PA sign and for years it listed the governor's name on it.  Quite honestly, do many motorists really care who the governor is?  It's not like one is visiting a general store and it's nifty to know the proprietor's name; it's not like any motorist is likely to drive to the state capital and ask for the governor by name to register a complaint about the potholes on the highway or something (if so, just ask for the governor--that usually will work).  It's a whole state (or commonwealth, in PA's case, to be technical).  Basically, the metal signs with the governor's name appears to be taxpayer supported campaign advertising for future campaigns by that politician.  I imagine those metal signs aren't cheap either nor do the highway folks put them up for free.

It was quite annoying.

Thankfully, PA finally ditched the governor's name on the signs.

Alas, Ohio is even worse.  I was driving on 80 into Ohio and noted that the Ohio welcome sign has the governor's and lieutenant governor's name.  Who cares who the lieutenant governor is?  I doubt 100 buckeyes in the entire state could even name the current lieutenant governor.  Which I suppose is the point of the sign.  It builds up name recognition for politicians, and taxpayers get to pay for it.  To confirm this, I've contacted someone at the Department Of Transportation.  I'll let you know if I hear anything.

I mean letterhead, business cards, the website, and whatnot are fine.  Change them for the new governor and lieutenant governor.  But signs on every highway?  No, that's a waste of money.  Tell the politicians to stuff it and pay for their own signs.  What's really annoying about the I-80 sign is that right after it is a closed rest area, presumably due to budget cuts.

The current sign can stay up (and probably for the next four years as it looks as if the current governor is going to get reelected--his main opponent has a scandal about driving without a license; given how badly most people in Ohio who have licenses drive, he must be an extra-special bad driver), but I would love to see that when the name sign gets taken down that no other one ever goes up.  "Welcome to Ohio" is quite sufficient.