"Neither presidential primary is truly over yet, but Sen. Ted Cruz threw down the first gauntlet of the 2016 veepstakes Wednesday, naming former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate during a rally in Indianapolis," Dispatch Washington reporter Jessica Wehrman writes.

Want to know what�s happening in Ohio government and politics from Columbus to Washington, D.C.? The Columbus Dispatch has you covered.

The Cruz-Fiorina ticket: �Neither presidential primary is truly over yet, but Sen. Ted Cruz threw down the first gauntlet of the 2016 veepstakes Wednesday, naming former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate during a rally in Indianapolis,� Dispatch Washington reporter Jessica Wehrman writes.

In a 4 p.m. announcement that his campaign had teased all day, Cruz called Fiorina � an individual who I trust.��

A change in the day�s narrative? �Cruz made his announcement one day after billionaire Donald Trump swept primaries in five states, winning them with as much as 64 percent of the vote in Rhode Island,� Wehrman writes. �Cruz came in second in only Pennsylvania, Ohio Gov. John Kasich�s home state. Kasich came in second in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland and Delaware.�

What Team Kasich said: "Carly Fiorina ran an honorable campaign but most Republicans will meet this decision with a collective shrug," said Mike Schrimpf, a Kasich campaign spokesman.

Will Kasich name a running mate soon? On Sunday, Kasich said his team had begun the vetting process. �We have some old hands now who are beginning to do that. These things come quickly, and you don't want to have yourself in position where you have got to pick somebody out of a hat."

But... �Cruz has set a precedent, so don't be surprised if Kasich follows suit at some point. But to counter immediately with his choice would only make him seem like a copycat. No one from Team Kasich wanted to offer shortlist names as Cruz prepared to make his announcement," cleveland.com�s Henry Gomez writes.

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Yeah, about the Kasich-Cruz alliance: �The Ohio governor canceled some public events after striking a deal with Mr. Cruz to cede certain states to each other , but Mr. Kasich still met privately Tuesday in Indianapolis with about two dozen convention delegates and other prominent Republicans. He also attended two fundraisers,� Wall Street Journal reporter Beth Reinhard writes.

�It�s definitely confusing,� said Mike Murphy, a convention delegate and former chairman of the Indianapolis GOP who was at the meeting. �A lot of the people who were going to go with Kasich in Indiana now feel really adrift� I think the deal was a mistake. It�s contrived and smacks of desperation.��

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Kasich loses his hometown: On the campaign trail, Kasich often talks about his roots in McKees Rocks, Pa. But Kasich lost his hometown to Trump in Tuesday�s primary, Wehrman writes.

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Where the governor is today: Kasich is campaigning in Oregon where his campaign released a new TV ad Wednesday.

�Wednesday morning saw the release of a new TV ad in Oregon, touting that rival �Ted Cruz pulled out of Oregon� and that Kasich �is the only one that can stop Trump and defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall,�� according to CNN. �The ad doesn't describe the agreement reached by the Cruz and Kasich campaigns that had Kasich pulling his resources out of Indiana, with Cruz doing the same in Oregon and New Mexico. The plan allows for each candidate to have a "clear path" to compete against Trump in those states."

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On the countdown: 194 days until the general election.

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Talk of Tiberi for Senate: It appears Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, has his eye on the U.S. Senate, according to USA Today�s Deirdre Shesgreen.

�He is very serious about exploring the possibility, and there are a lot of people out there encouraging him to do it,� said Jai Chabria, a longtime Republican strategist in Ohio who worked on Tiberi�s first congressional bid in the 2000 election cycle. �People around the state think he�d be a strong candidate.�

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Public record problems? Ohio Senate President Keith Faber wants to help.

�Arguing that legal costs shouldn't stop Ohioans from gaining access to public records, (Faber) on Wednesday proposed giving people a low-cost recourse when records are denied,� Dispatch reporter Jim Siegel writes. �The bill seeks to address one of the biggest weaknesses of Ohio�s public records law � the ability of state and local entities to withhold public records without legal justification, knowing that the average person doesn�t have the resources for a court fight.�

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Tax holiday coming to an August near you: �For Ohioans who liked shopping for clothes and school supplies during a three-day sales tax holiday last August, looks like the temporary tax break will return this summer,� Siegel writes. �The Ohio House voted 94-1 to reinstate the sales tax exemption for the first Friday-Sunday period in August, when parents and students are preparing to return to school. The bill is headed to Gov. John Kasich, who is expected to sign it.�

Who voted against it? Rep. Jim Butler, R-Oakwood, who said, �While it�s good for retailers � the overall impact on this is people are spending more because of this artificial period. They�re buying things that very likely are not made anywhere in this country, let alone the state. That means wealth is going out of our state.�

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More medical marijuana talk: People struggling with illnesses told their stories in favor or legalizing marijuana at press conference Wednesday.

�Ohioans for Medical Marijuana spokesman Aaron Marshall said 300 volunteers and a team of paid circulators already have gathered tens of thousands of petition signatures toward a vote on making Ohio the 25th state to legalize medicinal use. The group needs 305,591 valid signatures by July 6 to qualify for the ballot,� Dispatch reporter Randy Ludlow writes. �The group is critical of a bill pending in the Ohio House of Representatives to legalize medical marijuana, citing �numerous shortcomings� that it says will create hardships for physicians, patients and caregivers.�

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Of note: �Scott A. Zody, a former chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Wildlife, is being remembered as a dedicated public servant,� Dispatch reporter Mary Beth Lane writes. �Zody, 50, was found dead on Wednesday at his home near Sugar Grove, south of Lancaster. It appeared he died of natural causes, a county official said.�

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On this day: According to the Dispatch library, on this day in 2000, �A state law requiring that communities be notified when sex offenders move is ruled constitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court. The unanimous decision reverses a ruling by the 11th District Court of Appeals in northeastern Ohio, which had said requiring notification of communities when a convicted sex offender moves in violates the offender's right to privacy and leaves little room for further challenge.�

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meverhart@dispatch.com

@meverhart26