CINCINNATI (AP) — The state never listed on its Web site the job awarded to a Democratic Cincinnati councilwoman the day she withdrew from a House primary, a newspaper reported Sunday.



Public records reviewed by The Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporting show that Laketa Cole was the only applicant and that she was hired on March 5, the day she dropped out of the race against Alicia Reece.



Reece is a former Cincinnati vice mayor appointed this month to finish the term of a Democrat who took a municipal judgeship. Democratic officials had wanted to avoid a May primary in Reece's bid to keep the seat.



Cole, 36, was hired for the $78,000-a-year job of chief of reliability and service analysis for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, with a June start date. She earns about $61,000 on council.



The administration of Gov. Ted Strickland said Cole, a black woman, was hired to add diversity to the staff.